Teaching

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Mitch Crusto, a long-term buddy from past Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) conferences, contacted me last year about participating in a discussion group at this year’s SEALS conference on issues surrounding and emanating from Jeffrey Epstein’s significant asset transfers to a trust (for the benefit of his brother) two days before his death, currently ruled to be a death by suicide.  The discussion group, held yesterday afternoon/evening, was designed to explore interdisciplinary approaches to legal problem-solving, with the thought that the conversation might spur us to bridge doctrinal silos not merely for ourselves, but also for the benefit of our students (in and outside the classroom).  Megan Chaney and Victoria Haneman spoke passionately on that issue to lead-off our discussion.  Doctrinal areas covered in the session included trusts & estates, business associations, federal income taxation, criminal law, civil rights, and professional responsibility (and I am sure that I am missing some . . . ).

In our initial set of communications, I asked Mitch what possible angle I could have on the Epstein trust matter based on my work and areas of expertise.  He noted in response that he would like the session to address, e.g., whether veil…

Greetings from SEALS (virtually). I’ve just finished sitting in on the last of several excellent panels on online teaching. Below are tips from the panelists, some of my own lessons learned, and key takeaways from the excellent book Small Teaching Online.  For more of the foundations of online teaching see Part I,   Part II,  Part III, and Part IV.

  • Have a class zero- you and students can record an introduction of themselves, pets, hobbies, skills, talents etc. Make sure you’re smiling and conveying your excitement in the video about the class.
  • You can also have a class zero where you spend 5 minutes on Zoom with each student before the first day of class talking to them about any questions they have about the class, their tech etc. 
  • Let students know that this online format is not just a pandemic issue. Virtual offices are increasingly common in practice.
  • Think about how to motivate students- what counts as a grade? Should you raise the class participation component and if so, how will you measure it? Will watching videos before class and participating in discussion boards count?
  • Stand when recording your video lectures or teaching synchronously. Students

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So, I knew about TEDx and TED Talks, but I just learned about TED-Ed today in viewing Professors George Siedel & Christine Ladwig’s “Ethical Dilemma: The Burger Murders” (here).  If you’re planning to incorporate an ethics module into your business law courses this year, including their video and accompanying teaching materials could be a great, entertaining addition to your class that I think students would love.  Along with their fun, short video, Siedel and Ladwig have provided teaching materials (here) that include multiple choice and open ended questions; a “dig deeper” piece; and, a guided discussion section.  They posted only yesterday, and have already had 152,224 views and 744 comments!  Check it out!  And if you didn’t see my prior post on Siedel’s negotiation materials, check that out too (here)!      

In a past post (here), I mentioned stumbling (thankfully!!) into teaching in the area of Negotiation and Dispute Resolution while a PhD student focused on financial regulation.  For so many reasons, the opportunity to pursue doctoral studies in the Ethics & Legal Studies Program at the Wharton Business School was truly a great blessing!  So, I’m delighted to share with BLPB readers that applications for the Program’s incoming class of 2021 are now being accepted.  If you – or someone you know – might be interested in learning more, an quick overview is provided below and an informational flyer here: Download Ethics&LegalStudiesDoctoralProgram

The Ethics & Legal Studies Doctoral Program at Wharton focuses on the study of ethics and law in business. It is designed to prepare graduates for tenure-track careers in university teaching and research at leading business schools, and law schools.

Our curriculum crosses many disciplinary boundaries. Students take a core set of courses in the area of ethics and law in business, along with courses in an additional disciplinary concentration such as law, management, philosophy/ethical theory, finance, marketing, or accounting. Students can take courses in other Penn departments and can pursue joint degrees. Additionally, our program…

Earlier today (July 14), Fordham University hosted a webinar entitled Reopening Justly or Just Reopening: Catholic Social Teaching, Universities & COVID-19.   

Speakers on the topic of the ethics of reopening schools include the following theology professors: 

Christine Firer Hinze discussed Catholic Social Thought, human dignity, and solidarity. She reminded us that reopening universities is literally a question of life and death, but is also a question of livelihood. Gerald Beyer stressed looking to the the latest science and considering the common good (the flourishing of all). Craig Ford commented on the reality that some universities may be facing financial collapse, that the pandemic is likely to be with us for a long while, and that there are no perfect solutions. Ford also suggested a focus on protecting those who are most vulnerable. Kate Ward talked about moral injury, lamentation, and redemption. A question and answer period — including on the topics of racial justice, transparency, shared sacrifices and mental health — followed opening remarks.

Helpful article here (on SSRN) by Nina Kohn. (H/T to Jessica Erickson on Twitter).

As law school classes move online, it is imperative that law faculty understand not only how to teach online, but how to teach well online. This article therefore is designed to help law faculty do their best teaching online. It walks faculty through key choices they must make when designing online courses, and concrete ways that they can prepare themselves and their students to succeed. The article explains why live online teaching should be the default option for most faculty, but also shows how faculty can enhance student learning by incorporating asynchronous lessons into their online classes. It then shows how faculty can set up their virtual teaching space and employ diverse teaching techniques to foster an engaging and rigorous online learning environment. The article concludes by discussing how the move to online education in response to COVID-19 could improve the overall quality of law school teaching.

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A few months ago, I mentioned taking the free Yale University online course The Science of Well Being taught by Professor Laurie Santos.

Before jumping into the substance of the course, I wanted to talk a bit about the format. The course was likely filmed with better equipment than most of us will have in the fall. The videos were mostly under 15 minutes each, and the videos usually had quiz questions to keep you engaged. Then there were longer quizzes at the end of sections and discussion boards.

Even though this was a Yale course, on an interesting subject, with a gifted professor, I probably would not have paid even $1 for this course. The material was surely worth more than $1, but there is simply too much good free information online, in this format, for me to pay anything for it. This fact is sobering to me as a professor, given that at least some of my students will be online-only this fall. The real value, I think, springs from interaction – between professor and student, and between the students themselves. As such, I need to plan my courses with a fair bit of this interaction.

Moving…

Greetings from Miami, Florida, COVID19 hotspot. Yesterday, 33% of those tested had a positive result. Although my university still plans to have some residential instruction as of the time of this writing, most of us are preparing to go fully online at some point. In Part I,   Part II, and Part III, I provided perspectives from experts in learning. I’m still gathering that information.

This week, however, I spoke to the real experts — students. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to hear from students studying business and human rights from all over the world courtesy of the Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum. I’ve also been talking to research assistants and other current and former students. Here’s a summary of their conclusions:

  • We know that Spring was hard for everyone and that everyone is still learning how to teach online. Do not be worried about making mistakes. 
  • Don’t assume that we are all digital natives. Some of us are older students or not used to the technology that you have decided to use. Make sure that the interface is intuitive and use tech in fun and interesting ways. (One professor used Jeopardy online and students

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The title of this post is the title of a panel discussion I organized for the 2019 Business Law Prof Blog symposium, held back in September of last year.  (Readers may recall that I posted on this session back at the time, under the same title.)  The panel experience was indescribably satisfying for me.  It represented one of those moments in life where one just feels so lucky . . . .

Why?  Because it fulfilled a dream, of sorts, that I have had for quite a while.  Here’s the story.

About ten years ago, I ended up in a conversation with two of my beloved Tennessee Law colleagues while we were grabbing afternoon beverages.  One of these colleagues is a tax geek; the other is a property guy.  Somehow, we got into a discussion about mergers and acquisitions.  I was asked how I would define a merger as a matter of corporate law, and part of my answer (that mergers are magic) got these two folks all riled up (in a professional, academic, nerdy way).  The conversation included some passionate exchanges.  It was an exhilerating experience.

I have remembered that exchange for all of these years, vowing to myself…

What remains when the intoxicating distractions of life are removed?

Albert Camus in The Plague (1947) engages this question, and nearly 70 years later, so does Doctor Paul Kalanithi in When Breath Becomes Air (2016).

I read both of these books on vacation at Ocean Isle, NC late last month; this was not exactly light, uplifting beach reading.

Before the plague engulfed the Algerian coastal town of Oran, Camus’ narrator notes that:

Our citizens work hard, but solely with the object of getting rich. Their chief interest is in commerce, and their chief aim in life is, as they call it, “doing business.” Naturally they don’t eschew such simpler pleasure as love-making, sea bathing, going to the pictures. But, very sensibly they reserve these past times for Saturday afternoons and Sundays and employ the rest of the week in making money, as much as possible . . . . Nevertheless there still exist towns and countries where people have now and then an inkling of something different. In general it doesn’t change their lives. Still they have had an intimation, and that’s so much to the good. Oran, however, seems to be a town without intimations; in other words,

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