Professor Cheryl Harris, nationally recognized expert in critical race theory, will present the Fall 2004 Social Justice Diversity Lecture on Thursday, September 30 at 4 p.m. in Bannan 127. (A wine and cheese reception will follow at 5 p.m. in Strong Common.)
Critical race theorists study race, racism, and power for the purpose of societal transformation. Professor Harris, author of Whiteness as Property (Harvard Law Review) will address equality in the context of Brown v. Board of Education (the noted school desegregation case) and Grutter v. Bollinger (the University of Michigan Law School affirmative action case). Here is an abstract of her lecture, Brown, Grutter, and the Elusive Nature of Equality.
In its landmark school desegregation decision, Brown v. Board of Education, the United States Supreme Court overruled the doctrine of separate but equal. The decision gave life to the previously-dormant equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. Five decades later, in Grutter v. Bollinger, the Court revisited the meaning of equality in education, demonstrating that the nature of equality remains illusive. Professor Harris will explore the notion of equality as illuminated by these decisions.
Cheryl Harris teaches Constitutional Law, Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination, and other courses concerning race and the law.
She worked as a senior attorney for the City of Chicago in a practice that included criminal appellate and trial work and municipal government representation. She also served as First Assistant General Attorney for the Chicago Park District.
As the National Co-Chair for the National Conference of Black Lawyers for several years, she developed expertise in international human rights, particularly concerning South Africa. Through organizing a conference in 1991 at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa, she helped establish a dialogue between U.S. legal scholars and South African lawyers during the development of South Africa’s new constitution.
Professor Harris’ publications focus mainly on property and critical race theory. She also has taught at Chicago-Kent College of Law.
The Center for Social Justice and Public Service, Black Law Students Association (BLSA), Law School Admissions and Diversity Services, and the Public Interest and Social Justice Coalition will co-sponsor Professor Harris’s talk.
The lecture has been approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) credit by the State Bar of California in the amount of one hour. Santa Clara University School of Law certifies that this activity conforms to the standards for approved education activities prescribed by the rules and regulations of the State Bar of California governing minimum continuing legal education.
