Saturday, November 08, 2008
A Senior Lecturer as President
(cross-posted at Law School Innovation)
Among the many other things he represents, Barack Obama's victory in the presidential race makes him the second among the last three presidents whose occupation outside of politics was teaching in law school.
As laid out in the New York TImes, President-elect Obama was an outstanding teacher for twelve years at the University of Chicago's law school. He was good enough, in fact, to have been offered tenure without having published (an offer he declined). He was also an anamoly on the faculty; a liberal amongst a largely conservative faculty.
But, importantly, he was a lecturer. I would like to think that his election sends an important message about non-tenure track faculty; about what they have to offer and the relevance of their thoughts. They often are more political than us tenured profs, or more "practical," and that is sometimes thought of as a bad thing. This lecturer, though, is now about to author the most relevant scholarship any of us will ever see, in the form of his presidency. Perhaps, behind everything else that his Barack Obama means to different people, his election will open our eyes in this way, too.
Among the many other things he represents, Barack Obama's victory in the presidential race makes him the second among the last three presidents whose occupation outside of politics was teaching in law school.
As laid out in the New York TImes, President-elect Obama was an outstanding teacher for twelve years at the University of Chicago's law school. He was good enough, in fact, to have been offered tenure without having published (an offer he declined). He was also an anamoly on the faculty; a liberal amongst a largely conservative faculty.
But, importantly, he was a lecturer. I would like to think that his election sends an important message about non-tenure track faculty; about what they have to offer and the relevance of their thoughts. They often are more political than us tenured profs, or more "practical," and that is sometimes thought of as a bad thing. This lecturer, though, is now about to author the most relevant scholarship any of us will ever see, in the form of his presidency. Perhaps, behind everything else that his Barack Obama means to different people, his election will open our eyes in this way, too.
Comments:
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I am excited about this lecturer taking office.
Take a look at this if you haven't:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/us/09defender.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
("Citing Rising Workload, Public Lawyers Reject Cases")
Take a look at this if you haven't:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/us/09defender.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
("Citing Rising Workload, Public Lawyers Reject Cases")
# posted by 
: 4:09 PM
: 4:09 PM
Does this mean that one day I will be voting for Osler for President?
Here is your campaign slogan:
"Osler for President:
Because he is an expert on Crack Cocaine."
Just don't spend too much on your campaign wardrobe.
Here is your campaign slogan:
"Osler for President:
Because he is an expert on Crack Cocaine."
Just don't spend too much on your campaign wardrobe.
And a con law professor to boot! We've gone from having someone that can't spell habeas corpus to someone that could author a scholarly treatise on it.
Ah. Change.
Ah. Change.
Was Bill Clinton a law-school professor? I can't remember.
I think professors are among the most well-qualified to be President. They already know how to sift through huge amounts of information and make sense of it, and have a sense of history too. And being a teacher is being a leader.
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I think professors are among the most well-qualified to be President. They already know how to sift through huge amounts of information and make sense of it, and have a sense of history too. And being a teacher is being a leader.
# posted by : 7:28 AM
: 7:28 AM << Home
