Diverse Washburn Law Faculty Provide Unique Perspectives in Family Law Seminar
Students enrolled in Professor Nancy Maxwell's spring 2005 Family Law Seminar are having the opportunity to learn about family law from the diverse personal lives of members of the law school faculty.
During the class session on "Marriage in Other Cultures" Professor Robert Rhee spoke about marriage in Korea, a country that within the last 10 years has experienced phenomenal changes in marriage, changes that took over half a century to occur in the U.S. Joining Professor Rhee was Interim Dean for Student Affairs and Associate Professor Alex Glashausser, who spoke about marriage in Japan and the different cultural expectations that his wife, a Japanese national, and he, as a U.S. citizen, have about marriage. During the class session on "Prohibited Marriages--Polygamy" Law Library Director and Professor John Christensen gave a historical overview of polygamy in the Church of the Latter Day Saints and Professor Ali Khan spoke about polygamy under Islamic law, particularly as it is practiced in Pakistan. For the class session "Prohibited Marriages--Race" Professor Ronald Griffin talked about the fact that his marriage to his wife had to take place in Washington D.C. because, in his home state of Virginia, inter-racial marriages were a crime. In addition, Associate Professor Aliza Organick spoke about her parents' marriage, which also was prohibited in numerous states. Her mother is Navajo and her father is a white observant Jew; their marriage was the inspiration for her father's novel Blessings.
Later in the semester, Professor Organick, who teaches in the law clinic, will be discussing the Indian Child Welfare Act and how the courts struggle with its implementation. Professor Sheila Reynolds, who also supervises students handling family law cases in the law clinic, is scheduled to speak to the seminar students about ethical issues in family law practice, using the short story, "About Boston" by Ward Just, as the vehicle for the class discussion.
The willingness of the faculty members to speak in the family law seminar has allowed the students to experience the diversity of the faculty, and the different perspectives that diversity brings, beyond the limited scope of these faculty members' legal expertise. The faculty guest speakers also provided the students with an opportunity to develop an appreciation for the complexity of the lives of their family law clients in "the real world."
