Dear Sir/Madam, The Law and Society Committee, National Law School of India University (NLSIU) is organizing a workshop on the 12th of May at the NLSIU campus, on *'Encouraging Socio-Legal Scholarship on University Campuses'*. Please find attached the concept note for the workshop which outlines the basic ideas and themes that will be the subject of discussion. We would like to extend an invitation to members of the faculty and interested students in your institution to attend the same. Our aim is to engage law and social science institutions in a dialogue involving the challenges to socio-legal scholarship, and to discuss the possibilities of creating a network of young scholars, academicians and activists. This network will provide a common platform for conversations on socio-legal issues. A discussion of this nature will be incomplete without the perspectives that an institution such as yours can provide. We therefore look forward to your participation in this event. For any additional details, please contact any of the members of the Committee.
Sincerely, Kalyani Ramnath Convenor, Law and Society Committee NLSIU *Organisers:* Kalyani (+919880192436) Aishwarya (+9886947147) Vivek (+919986154594) Nirupama (+9886290069) Cyril (+9886267185) Bipin (+9845251066) Srijoni (+9886580824) Sarayu (+9886294076) -- Bipin Pradip Aspatwar, National Law School of India University [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] *Encouraging Socio-Legal Scholarship on University Campuses* Law and Society Committee National Law School of India University, Bangalore The five year law school model in India, at first glance, appears to be geared to towards encouraging interdisciplinary approaches to the study of law. While course structure and curriculum seem to reflect this, experiences suggest that perhaps a more proactive step, in terms of encouragement rather than a mechanical integration is necessary. Student experiences engaging with socio-legal work, both at the academic and at the activist level have prompted a rethink on how this can be made possible. The theme of this workshop is therefore centred around ways and means of encouraging socio-legal scholarship on university campuses. The objective is to ensure that the interest in the scholarship is kept alive through better access to scholarly discussions and writings, based on thorough understandings of the methodologies involved. Thus far, it is noted that most of the interaction between academics, activists, on one hand, and students on the other hand, has been erratic at best. There exists no space/platform in the current framework that allows for systematic, sustained and long-term engagement between these individuals, notwithstanding a professed interdisciplinary approach in the curriculum. The larger loss in this case is for the students who miss out on the opportunity to be exposed to new avenues of thinking and to then pursue studies/ activities in this field. The consequence is that in law schools the space for debate, discussion, innovation and sharing of ideas is shrinking. As students interested in preserving and expanding these spaces, our attempt is to invite suggestions on how best to ensure the same. We identify several problems with the current situations. First, there exists an imperfect understanding of the methodologies followed in socio-legal work and its merits / demerits. Second, there is a lack of access to study and engage with current developments in the field. This is due to both the lacunae in the curriculum and methods of teaching as well as barriers to interfacing with such discussions outside a university campus. Third, there is a lack of a concerted effort amongst universities in India, both law and non-law, to provide a platform for generating discussions on such ideas and sharing experiences. Our attempt during this workshop would also be to provide for a model that can eliminate some, if not all, of these problems. This workshop seeks to investigate and devise means of bridging this gulf. In particular it aims at putting in place infrastructure that will ensure that the interactions with students are regularized and streamlined, thus making them more productive. Further there should be more scope for networking between the various constituencies involved in the scene besides creating the space for bringing in more number of universities and people into these networks. Concrete steps such as an annual conference hosted by different universities or a journal aimed at developing socio-legal scholarship amongst students may also be discussed. Thus, the following issues may be considered the broad themes: 1. Understanding 'Socio-Legal': Means of studying the term, its usage and methodologies - in the classroom and beyond 2. Building a Culture of Socio-Legal enquiry among Law Students : Ideas on reinventing formats used by universities 3. The Place of the Law and Society Committee and Equivalents in Law Schools: Building a Network across India * * *Programme* Date: 12th May 2008 Place: National Law School of India University, Bangalore 9.30 AM – 10.00 AM Introductions 10.00 AM – 11.00 AM Session 1: Understanding 'Socio-Legal' 11.00 AM – 12.00 PM Student inputs / Discussions 12.00 AM – 1.00 PM Lunch 1.00 PM – 2.00 PM Session 2: Building a Culture of Socio-Legal enquiry among Law Students 2.00 PM – 3.00 PM Session 3: The Place of the Law and Society Committee and Equivalents in Law Schools 3.00 PM – 3.30 PM Concluding Comments -- Bobby Kunhu --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
