Law students from several affinity groups at the University of St. Thomas School of Law will together launch an event series exploring issues of legal significance from the diverse perspectives of their groups.
The series, dubbed Perspectives, will bring in several expert speakers and national exhibits, and offer free continuing legal education (CLE) credits to lawyers who attend. The focus for the inaugural series is World War II and the Law. Joining together to offer the series are the UST School of Law chapters of the Black Law Students Association, Military Law Society, Jewish Law Students Association, Louis D. Brandeis Law Society, Latino/a Law Students Association, Immigration Law Society, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, St. Thomas More Society, and OUT!Law. Non-student groups participating include the Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law, and Public Policy; Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions; Minnesota State Bar Association Military and Veterans Affairs Section; and Twin Cities Cardozo Society.
Organizers expect the series to be an annual offering. All events are held on the UST School of Law campus in downtown Minneapolis, 1000 LaSalle Ave. They include:
- “Hot Topics: Cool Talks – The Architecture of an Apology,” from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, in room 235. This event features Dr. Mahmoud El-Kati, professor emeritus of history at Macalester College in St. Paul, and Dr. Kimberly Vrudny, associate professor of systematic theology at the University of St. Thomas, exploring what countries do or don’t do to apologize for atrocities of the past. Lunch is provided to those who register in advance, and CLE credit is pending. This event is presented by the University of St. Thomas Black Law Students Association and the Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law, and Public Policy.
- “Mid-Day Reflection: Misconceptions Jews Have About Christians,” from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, in room 244. This event features Rabbi Norman Cohen, senior and founding rabbi of Bet Shalom in Minnetonka. Lunch is provided to those who register in advance. This event is presented by the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions.
- “Echoes of War: The Combat Veteran in Criminal Court,” from 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, in the Frey Moot Courtroom. This event features Brockton D. Hunter, criminal defense attorney and partner at Brockton D. Hunter P.A., discussing the evolution in the public perception of post-traumatic stress disorder, from World War II to the present. CLE credit is pending. This event is presented by the University of St. Thomas Military Law Society and the Minnesota State Bar Association Military and Veterans Affairs Section.
- “Global Democracy after World War II and Freedom of Speech, Censorship and the Nazi Genocide: Are There Lessons from World War II?” from 12:30-2:30 p.m. Thursday, April 16, in room 244. This event features former U.S. Senator Rudy Boschwitz, who will speak about his family’s experience leaving Berlin and the United States’ role in the spread of Democracy, and UST School of Law Professor Robert Kahn, who will explore lessons we can learn from WWII related to freedom of speech, censorship and the phrase “never again.” Lunch is provided to those who register in advance, and CLE credit is pending. This event is presented by the University of St. Thomas Jewish Law Students Association and the Louis D. Brandeis Law Student Chapter, and co-sponsored by the Twin Cities Cardozo Society.
- “From St. Louis to Today: How Attitudes Toward Immigrants Shape Immigration Law and Policy,” from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Friday, April 17, in room 235. This event features Michael H. Davis, founder and managing partner of Davis & Goldfarb, PLLC, who will explain how xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism defeated the Wagner-Rogers refugee aid bill, shaped immigration policies and led to the tragedy of the St. Louis. Lunch is provided to those who register in advance, and CLE credit is pending. This event is presented by the University of St. Thomas Latino/a Law Students Association and the Immigration Law Society.
- “The Japanese-American Experience During WWII,” from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Monday, April 20, in room 244. This event features Sally Ohno Sudo, whose family lived in the military exclusion zone at the outbreak of WWII and was incarcerated at the Puyallup, Washington, fairgrounds and then sent to an American concentration camp in Minidoka, Idaho. Lunch is provided to those who register in advance. This event is presented by the University of St. Thomas Asian Pacific American Law Students Association.
- “Edith Stein: A Mind and Heart for God,” from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, in room 244. This event features Dr. Catherine A. Deavell, associate professor of philosophy at the University of St. Thomas, who will discuss the life, intellectual and religious conversion, and death of Edith Stein, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, a German-Jewish philosopher who became a nun in the Roman Catholic Church and was killed in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Lunch is provided to those who register in advance. This event is presented by the University of St. Thomas St. Thomas More Society.
- “The Holocaust: The Assault on Humanity and Human Dignity,” from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23, in room 235. This event features Rabbi Michael Adam Latz, senior rabbi of Shir Tikvah, who will discuss the Final Solution and the manner in which the Nazis’ quest to exterminate Jews expanded to target gays and lesbians, the disabled, and ultimately became an all-out assault on humanity and human dignity. Lunch is provided to those who register in advance, and CLE credit is pending. This event is presented by the University of St. Thomas OUT!Law.
Two national exhibits, “Lawyers Without Rights” and “Always Lost: A Meditation on War,” also will be housed on campus during the series. “Lawyers Without Rights” offers a portrait of the fate of Jewish lawyers in Germany during the Holocaust, and is presented by the Jewish Law Students Association and the Louis D. Brandeis Law Student Chapter. It will be shown April 15-24. “Always Lost: A Meditation on War” features individual photographs with the names of the more than 6,500 U.S. military war casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001, as well as literary works by writing groups and classes, veterans and their families. This exhibit is presented by the Military Law Society and will be shown April 15-24.
