Newbie property law prof here. This summer is marked by great transition for me and my family – from practice to the academy and from Indianapolis to Winston-Salem. There is so much to do and think about that it is sometimes difficult to figure out where to start. Just when I thought I had a handle on things, I had the opportunity to attend two AALS conferences back-to-back. I just got back from the New Law Teachers Conference, which I will blog about later. The previous weekend was spent in New York City, at the AALS Mid-Year Workshop on Property.
The Mid-Year Meeting was a really fantastic opportunity to meet (in person) some of the people who so generously helped me in this process. The weekend was also chock-full of interesting ideas.
The first plenary session focused on what should be included in the introductory Property course. The panelists were Professors Al Brophy (UNC), Henry Smith (HLS), Stewart Sterk (Cardozo), and Molly Van Houweling (Berkeley). They each offered a different and interesting perspective. Professor Brophy discussed incorporating some non-traditional cases to highlight ethnic and racial tensions in the history and development of American property law. Professors Smith and Van Houweling each presented their thoughts on the inclusion and exclusion of certain topics in the first year course, particularly how to handle intellectual property. Finally, Professor Sterk shared his approach, which emphasizes asking students to role-play as lawyers and apply doctrine to client counseling problems.
More after the jump.