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Trends in Curricular Reform?

Brian Leiter

A faculty member writes:

As a loyal blog reader and the lucky soul speaking at our faculty retreat on what other law schools are doing in curricular reform these days, I was wondering if you have heard any rumblings from Texas or elsewhere.

We have looked at general trends and what specific institutions are doing now, but my crystal ball is a bit out of focus on what the next three to five years will bring.

Feel free to either respond directly, if you know of schools undergoing this process, or post it.

We have not done anything in curricular reform in a few years–we finally gave our 1Ls a Spring elective, and reduced all 1L courses to a single semester, several years ago, and that was it.  Comments are open; as usual, non-anonymous postings are preferred.  (Comments may take awhile to appear; post only once.)

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2 responses to “Trends in Curricular Reform?”

  1. Vic Fleischer

    I’m on the AALS Curriculum Committee. Ed Rubin (the chair) and the folks at AALS have circulated a survey on the topic of curricular reform so we can get a sense of what people are doing. The Committee is planning to write up the results and make those available. We also plan to discuss particular innovations at different schools, such as the “Week One: Law in a Global Context” at Georgetown, “Deals” courses at various institutions, and the reforms at Vanderbilt.
    I’ve got some awareness of what’s going on in the transactional and business law contexts, and I’ve started to put together a “Resources” page for teachers intrested in curricular reform related to “Deals” or other transactional courses. I’d love to hear about any changes people are making regarding the transactional curriculum at their schools.
    Victor Fleischer
    University of Colorado
    victor.fleischer [ at ] colorado.edu

    Reply
  2. Franklin Gevurtz

    Victor mentions Georgetown’s Week 1 program. This is an example of a broader curricular movement whose goal is to ensure all law school graduates have some exposure to international and comparative law. Alternative approaches to Georgetown’s are Michigan’s required course in Transnational Law, and our effort at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, to encourage the pervasive introduction of international and comparative law issues into traditionally domestically oriented core courses, such as Civil Procedure, Property, Corporate Law, etc.

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