Fall 2025 Law Review Symposium | The University and Democracy

The scholars, practitioners and advocates participating in this year’s Law Review symposium bring a robust and diverse set of experiences, ideas and perspectives. We’ve invited each participant to share a piece of work-product related to the Symposium’s focus on ‘the University and Democracy.’ To learn more about the participants and their work, we invite you to explore their work below.

Maryam Ahranjani	UNLV Boyd Law	Link 1, Link 2
Susan Akram	Boston University School of Law	Link
Sofya Aptekar	CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies	Link
Sameer M. Ashar	University of California, Irvine School of Law	Link
Sahar Aziz	Rutgers University Law School	Link
Michael Banerjee	UC Berkeley Law	Link 1, Link 2
Dawn Belkin Martinez	Boston University School of Social Work	Link
Ahmmad Brown	Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University; Working IDEAL	Link
William (Chip) Carter	University of Pittsburgh	Link
Carliss Chatman	SMU Dedman School of Law	Link
Ryan Cieslikowski	Class Action	Link
Danielle Conway	Penn State Dickinson Law and School of International Affairs	Link
Pamela Coukos	Working IDEAL	Link 1, Link 2, Link 3
Steven Dean	Boston University School of Law	Link
Michel DeGraff	MIT	Link
Andrew J. Douglas	Morehouse College	Link 1, Link 2
Charlie Eaton	University of California, Merced	Link
Nina Farnia	Albany Law School	Link
Jonathan Feingold	Boston University School of Law	Link
Mike Gavin	Delta College/Education for All	Link
Caitlin Glass	Boston University School of Law	Link
Jonathan D. Glater	University of California, Berkeley	Link 1, Link 2, Link 3
Sandy Grande	University of Connecticut	Link
Maryam Jamshidi	University of Colorado Law School	Link
Shilpa Jindia	Freelance	Link
Isaac Kamola	Trinity College	Link
Timothy Kaufman-Osborn	Whitman College	Link
Sunita Patel	UCLA School of Law	Link
Spencer Piston	Boston University	Link
Dylan Rodríguez	University of California	Link
Darren Rosenblum	St. John’s University	Link
Aaron Saiger	Fordham University School of Law	Link
Amanda Shanor	University of Pennsylvania	Link
Brian Soucek	UC Davis School of Law	Link
Nomi Stolzenberg	USC Gould Law School	Link
Allison Tait	Richmond Law	Link
Irene Ten Cate	Brooklyn Law School	Link
Jason Wozniak	West Chester University	Link
Yiran Zhang	Cornell University ILR School	Link

As a reminder, all concurrent sessions will take place after lunch from 1:15pm-2:45pm. Room assignments are forthcoming. 

Session 1: Universities, the Empire, and Academic Freedom 

This panel reexamines the assumption that American universities safeguard free expression, arguing that they have historically curtailed dissent in alignment with U.S. geopolitical priorities. Recent suppression of pro-Palestine advocacy—through expulsions, disciplinary sanctions, and the weaponization of antisemitism charges—demonstrates institutions’ active role in reinforcing the U.S.–Israel alliance. This pattern is consistent with earlier moments: Cold War loyalty oaths, McCarthy-era dismissals, sanctions on anti-war and anti-apartheid activists, and more recent initiatives targeting scholars of Chinese descent. Across these episodes, First Amendment protections have proven malleable when confronted with the imperative of sustaining U.S. imperial legitimacy. The panel will analyze this continuity and explore strategies for cultivating scholarly networks that preserve academic freedom in the face of imperial constraint. 

• Leo Yu, Assistant Professor of Law (University of Massachusetts Law School) 
• Sahar Aziz, Distinguished Professor of Law (Rutgers University Law School) 
• Danya Reda, Assistant Professor of Law (Wayne State University) 
• Faisal Chaudry 

 

Session 2: Leveraging History to Respond to Higher Education’s Obligation to Promote American Democracy 

The panel attempts to analyze the mission of universities as guardians of democracy and defenders of truth through the lens of the history of formal higher education, generally, and formal legal education, specifically. By engaging with history and historicity, the panel seeks to develop a framework from which to analyze the current impact of the coordinated actions by government officials and political organizations to challenge the foundational values promoted by institutions of higher education—democratic governance and the rule of law. In this moment, too many institutions having responsibilities to uphold democratic ideals have pre-complied or capitulated to actors committed to the gradual erosion of democratic norms. Through narratives and storytelling, examination of historical events illustrating oppression and domination and the resistance by ordinary people and organizations to these events, and memory about the promise and purpose of academic freedom within higher education, the panel seeks to encourage universities to renew their commitment to actively promote democratic ideals, retake their place as leaders of intellectual inquiry, and reembrace their role as convenors of experimentation with American democracy. 

• Danielle M. Conway, Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law (Penn State Dickinson Law and School of International Affairs) 
• Darren Hutchinson 
• Martha S. Jones, Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor, Professor of History and Professor of the SNF Agora Institute. Director, Hard Histories at Hopkins (The Johns Hopkins University)

 

Session 3: Reclaiming the Mission of Higher Education: Advancing Equity and Institutional Accountability in Social Work Education 

Given the ongoing attacks on the University as a democratic center of higher learnings, engaging in resistance to authoritative policies and practice is of upmost importance. This panel highlights a five-year initiative at BU School of Social Work that seeks to align university governance, curriculum, and culture with democratic values, equity, and justice focused practice. Panelists will share lessons from required anti-racism and structural oppression training, inclusive pedagogical supports, curriculum revisions, and community-driven policy changes. Through an honest reflection on successes, challenges, and ongoing questions, the panel will explore how academic institutions can resist entrenched inequities and move toward more participatory, justice-oriented models of higher education. 

• Lyndsey D. McMahan, Assistant Dean, Teaching and Innovation (Boston University School of Social Work) 
• Darren Rosenblum, Professor (St. John’s University) 
• Dawn Belkin Martinez, Clinical Professor, Associate Dean of Equity and Inclusion, (Boston University School of Social Work) 
• Layla Khayr, PhD, LICSW (Boston University School of Social Work) 
• Marcus Jarrett Shaw, Equity and Inclusion Student Researcher (BUSSW Equity and Inclusion Committee) 
• Lily Winston Grob, Equity and Inclusion Research Assistant; Clinical MSW Student (BUSSW Equity and Inclusion Committee) 
• Ava Thornton, Equity and Inclusion Research Assistant (BUSSW Equity and Inclusion Committee) 

 

Session 5: Sites of Resistance and New Horizons for Higher Ed 

This concurrent session will explore sites of resistance and new horizons for higher education. Participants will approach these themes with varied focuses spanning constitutional law, labor law, corporate law, human rights law and beyond. 

• William (Chip) Carter, Professor of Law and Judge J. Quint Salmon & Anne Salmon Endowed Chair (University of Pittsburgh) 
• Yiran Zhang, Assistant Professor of Labor and Employment Law (Cornell University ILR School) 
• Lolita Buckner Innis, Dean, (University of Colorado Law School) 
• Corinne Blalock, Academic Fellow (Harvard Law School) 
• Sahiba Gil, Deputy Legal Director (Global Labor Justice)  
• Elizabeth King, Associate Professor (Boston University School of Law) 

 

Session 6: Higher Education’s Internal Vulnerabilities & External Threats 

This concurrent session will explore the vulnerabilities and threats higher education faces from outside and within. Specific topics of inquiry will range from the university’s non-profit status, scholarly conventions within academic disciplines, and higher education’s failure to meaningfully reckon with white supremacy and other vestiges of American apartheid. 

• Shilpa Jindia, Freelancer 
• Zamir Ben-Dan, Associate Professor of Law (Temple University Beasley School of Law) 
• Randle B. Pollard, Assistant Professor of Law (Albany Law School)
• Spencer Piston, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science (Boston University) 
• Matthew Charity, Professor of Law (CUNY School of Law)
• Farah Adeed (Boston University)

 

Session 7: Policing the University 

This concurrent session will interrogate questions and dynamics that coalesce around the theme of “policing the university.” Broadly construed, this will include discussion on the policing of speech and protest, the policing of curriculum and research, and policing who is a member of the university and more. 

• Sameer M. Ashar, Clinical Professor of Law (University of California, Irvine School of Law) 
• Maryam Ahranjani, Professor of Law (UNLV Boyd Law) 
• Sheldon A. Evans, Professor of Law (Washington University in St. Louis School of Law) 
• Amanda Shanor, Associate Professor & Wolpow Family Faculty Scholar (University of Pennsylvania) 
• Vanessa Miller, Assistant Professor of Law (FIU College of Law) 
• Sunita Patel, Professor of Law (UCLA School of Law) 

 

Session 8: Competing Conceptions of the University 

The present moment continues to surface an array of converging and competing conceptions of the modern American university and its history, function, purpose, governance structure and animating values. Participants will surface and place into conversation some of those sites of debate and model how we might navigate these competing conceptions of the university and what they mean for the future of higher education and multiracial democracy in the United States. 

• Aaron Saiger, Albert A. Walsh Chair in Real Estate, Land Use, and Property Law, and Professor of Law (Fordham University School of Law) 
• Paul Horwitz, Gordon Rosen Professor (University of Alabama School of Law) 
• Jennifer Hendricks, Professor (University of Colorado Law School) 
• Nomi Stolzenberg, Nathan and Lilly Shapell Chair in Law (USC Gould Law School) 
• Michael Banerjee, PhD Candidate (UC Berkeley Law) 
• Irene Ten Cate,  Associate Professor of Legal Writing (Brooklyn Law School)