Victoria F. Nourse, professor of law at Georgetown University and DePaul's 2013 Enlund Scholar-in-Residence, will discuss legal education and civic illiteracy at the annual Enlund Lecture on October 10 at 3 p.m. in the DePaul Center, 1 E Jackson Blvd, Chicago.
Her lecture, "The Democratic Paradox: Legal Education and Civic Illiteracy," will address how law students spend years reading cases, but may never be required to spend even a semester reading statutes, as well as how law schools fail to teach congressional or presidential procedure. She notes that students leave law school having contempt for democratic institutions, believing in a government of courts, not people.
Professor Nourse teaches classes on Congress and the Constitution and is director of Georgetown University Law Center's first Center on Congressional Studies. She has published widely on Congress, constitutional history and criminal law. Prior to entering the academy, she served in various capacities in the government, as an appellate lawyer for the Department of Justice and as senior counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. She is widely credited for her work drafting the original Violence Against Women Act for then-Senator, now-Vice President Biden.
The Enlund Lecture is approved for one hour of Illinois MCLE credit. For lecture details and to register, visit the eventbrite page.
About the Enlund Scholar-in-Residence Program
Established in 1988, thanks to a gift from the late E. Stanley Enlund (’42), the endowed Enlund Scholar-in-Residence Program deepens our understanding of the law and its role in society. The College of Law selects the scholars, jurists and lawyers who serve as Enlund Scholars based on the meaningful contributions they have made to the development of law and legal institutions through their research, advocacy and practice. Attracting the nation’s foremost legal minds, Enlund scholars provide the College of Law community of students, faculty, alumni and friends with differing perspectives on law, lawyers and social justice. They do so by participating in classes, meeting socially with students and faculty, and sharing their ideas through formal presentations.