Time flies. Each evening I fall in bed exhausted, having once again postponed the idea of writing down the impressions I have gotten during the day.
Routine takes its toll. I work for home office, although I really try to cut the hours as my academic projects are lingering. I try to go for a walk each day and most days I succeed, even if this is just a walk along Norwottuck Rail Trail (a 11-mile bicycle/pedestrian paved path linking Northampton, Hadley,. Amherst and Belchertown). Only today I finally got to finish the last class in academic research course. Next projects are in line
Routine takes its toll. I work for home office, although I really try to cut the hours as my academic projects are lingering. I try to go for a walk each day and most days I succeed, even if this is just a walk along Norwottuck Rail Trail (a 11-mile bicycle/pedestrian paved path linking Northampton, Hadley,. Amherst and Belchertown). Only today I finally got to finish the last class in academic research course. Next projects are in line
But two days in this week were special: in a workshop organized by Center for Justice, Law, and Societies, established at UMass and lead by prof. Jamie Rowen and Paul Collins.
The idea of the workshop was to give an opportunity for junior scholars to meet and discuss their papers. We read each other’s papers, and there were two senior scholars – discussants, who have their feedback. This was worth a billion! To have your paper read by an expert in the field, and other scholars, who have got their impressions, questions, comments – it was very valuable. I have downloaded 18 (!) articles based on the recommendations and comments I heard.
The idea of the workshop was to give an opportunity for junior scholars to meet and discuss their papers. We read each other’s papers, and there were two senior scholars – discussants, who have their feedback. This was worth a billion! To have your paper read by an expert in the field, and other scholars, who have got their impressions, questions, comments – it was very valuable. I have downloaded 18 (!) articles based on the recommendations and comments I heard.
In the workshop there were also “panel discussions”, where experts shared their opinion or expertise on various subjects. There were three main topics: how to publish an article (or book), how to find funding, and where is the future of law & society scholarship. While funding issues were of least interest to me (simply, I do not qualify), the other panels were valuable. I'm a fan of prof. Kim Scheppele (she is a professor of sociology and international affairs at Princeton, has interesting works on authoritarianism in Central Europe, and is overall admirable and her talks – interesting. I got to know law professor from Amherst College prof. Austin Sarat, and was inspired by talk by prof. Laura Beth Nielsen, who is both a professor at the American Bar Foundation and a director of the Center for Legal Studies at Northwestern University.
Similar workshops will take place in future as well, it looks like that both online and in person. I strongly encourage to follow the homepage of CJLS and apply for the next one!
Similar workshops will take place in future as well, it looks like that both online and in person. I strongly encourage to follow the homepage of CJLS and apply for the next one!