Friday January 19, 2007

When students think about what they are going to learn at law school, most focus on what goes on in the classroom. While that is a big part of the law school experience, there is also much to learn outside the classroom.

For example, at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, we host a series of activities intended to get students (and alumni) thinking about, well, interesting topics. We hold Dean's Debates in which faculty members debate each other in front of the students on "hot" ethical issues. (Examples from previous debates include issues related to representing "Enron-type corporations," the Schiavo case in Florida, and international law issues related to the war on terror.) We also host speakers, panel discussions, and conferences.

I mention this because last night we hosted one of our annual events: The McElroy Lecture on Law and Religion. And the topic could not have been more timely: "Law, Islam, and the Future of the Middle East." The speaker was Prof. Noah Feldman (currently Professor at NYU, just accepted an appointment at Harvard Law School) who previously served as an advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq on issues related to drafting that country's constitution.

This was a fascinating and thought-provoking lecture. Feldman asked why in democratic elections in Islamic countries voters have elected parties that pledge to incorporate Islam into the governing structure. He treated the audience to a historical lesson in terms of the role that Islam has played in governing structures over the last 1200+ years. One of his core points was that in countries that have suffered from dictatorship during recent generations, Islam offers the promise of a certain balance of power, since under Islamic Law there is a separation between the entity making the law and the entity executing the law. He argued that a structure true to Islamic precepts would have a balance between scholars and the executive branch -- a balance which he said has not existed in many Islamic countries either because the executive has displaced the scholars (e.g., dictatorship) or because the scholars have displaced the executive (e.g., Iran). Feldman offered his thoughts both in terms of the present and the future in Iraq and elsewhere.

After Feldman's talk, a lively series of questions from the audience sparked an interesting discussion with the speaker. Not surprisingly, many questions focused on different approaches to Iraq.

One of your goals at law school should be to stretch your mind, by being exposed to different ways of thinking and different approaches. It strengthens your analytical skills, it deepens your knowledge, and it's also just plain fun and interesting. The idea is not just to listen to people with whom you agree, but to test your own ideas against the best thinking of others. That's very much a part of the law school experience.