Upcoming Events - 2009
Boston University School of Law
765 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
E-mail: lawevent@bu.edu
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FEATURED UPCOMING BU LAW EVENTS
Conference on Ronald Dworkin’s Justice for Hedgehogs
September 25 - 26, 2009
9:00a.m. - 6:00p.m., Barristers Hall
Boston University School of Law will hold a conference on Ronald Dworkin’s forthcoming book Justice for Hedgehogs. Dworkin himself will deliver the keynote address on September 25 and a response on September 26. The Boston University Law Review will publish the papers and proceedings.
In Justice for Hedgehogs, Dworkin defends the unity of value – the one big thing he knows – and argues against “several foxy causes:” value skepticism, value pluralism, value conflict and, in particular, the supposed opposition between the values of self-interest and those of personal and political morality. He argues for the integration of ethics (the principles that tell human beings how to live well) and morality (the principles that tell them how they must treat other people), and for a morality of self-affirmation as against a morality of self-abnegation. In doing so, he develops accounts of the indispensable conditions of living well – dignity, self-respect and authenticity – and of our moral duties to others regarding aid and harm. He also argues that law is a branch of political morality that is in turn a department of morality more broadly understood.
Distinguished Lecture featuring Kim Lane Scheppele
October 15, 2009
Time to be determined, Barristers Hall
Kim Lane Scheppele, a professor at Princeton University, concentrates on comparative constitutional law, using ethnographic, historical and doctrinal methods to understand the emergence and collapse of constitutional systems. Since 9/11, Scheppele has researched the effects of the international "war on terror" on constitutional protections around the world. Her book-in-progress, The International State of Emergency, explores the creation of international security law through UN Security Council resolutions and examines the effect that apparent compliance with these resolutions has had on constitutional integrity.
Sixth Annual Health Law Conference: Electronic Health Records: Benefits and Costs of Sharing Information
October 24, 2009
9:00a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Location to be determined
Electronic health records create exciting new opportunities and difficult challenges for sharing medical information and protecting personal privacy. Our existing patchwork collection of laws has not kept pace with the rapid roll out of Health Information Technology, spurred by the Stimulus Package (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). The Sixth Annual Health Law Conference examines the benefits and costs of ehealth records and the regulatory options for collecting and sharing medical information. Experts in health law, bioethics, quality assurance and health information technology will analyze the value of using medical information for public benefit, such as research and disease surveillance, as well as personal medical care, and the normative values that can inform the choice of regulatory strategy.
Speakers include Boston University Professors George Annas, Wendy Mariner, Fran Miller and Patricia Roche, and Dr. Karen Bell, former Director in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, US Department of Health and Human Services.