FEMINIST LEGAL STUDIES QUEEN’S WORKSHOP
LAW 692/693
Fall/Winter

FALL PRIMARY CONTACT: 				WINTER PRIMARY CONTACT:

Professor Bita Amani 				Professor Kathleen Lahey
Office Hours: Tuesday 2:30-3:30 		  	Office Hours: Wednesday 11:45-12:30
Office: 518 Macdonald Hall 				Office: 503 Macdonald Hall
Email:	amanib@queensu.ca 				kal2@queensu.ca

Course Description

The Feminist Legal Studies Workshop is designed to enable students to work closely with faculty in analyzing and discussing the topics of visiting speakers’ papers with leading feminist theorists, scholars, other students, and faculty.

The Feminist Legal Studies Workshop course is offered for one course credit per term. In the fall term, it is designated as Law 692; in the winter term, it is designated as Law 693.

Students may enroll for one credit in the fall term, or for one credit in the winter term, or for a total of two credits in both terms combined. This course can also be combined with an ISP for students who may wish to carry out in-depth independent supervised work in relation to one or more of the areas discussed in this workshop.

Pedagogy

This is a workshop course. It does not assume any previous knowledge or background in the field, but assumes that all students will bring with them a keen curiosity, sense of passionate scholarly interest, and investment of the self that are de rigueur to academic investigations. Participants in this class should expect to embrace diverse and interdisciplinary approaches to their learning beyond the conventional lecture format, and to be alive and attentive to the potential scope of legal application through engagement with guest speakers and the substantive work they present.

The classroom will be our community for engaging in the discussions. Thus participation in the organized speaker events is expected and is reflected in the course requirements and forms of evaluation. Beyond the scheduled speakers, students may be asked to meet from time to time as a unit (at least once at the beginning of each term). If you have any questions, concerns, or conflicts in scheduling, or simply want to bounce some paper ideas, the best way to reach either of us is by email with questions or to make an appointment during office hours preferably or outside of them at a mutually convenient time.

Evaluation Format:  Students will — 

1.	Attend all the speakers events (4/term or minimum of 7 for the full year);	
2.	Prepare by completing advance reading for the first session of each term	
3.	Prepare two advance questions for the rest of the speakers in that term (1-2 pages of briefing notes after each session, 60% of course credit);	
4.	Participate in the discussion at the speakers visit (10% of course credit);	
5.	Write and submit a short term paper (approx. 10-12 pages on a topic that relates to any one of the speaker events (this is given broad interpretation), 30% of course credit).	

Note: the paper component may be extended by ISP, and, if so, may be considered for the substantial paper requirement for graduation from the J.D. program.

The evaluation method seeks to allow students diverse opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and engagement with the course content and is described in further detail below.

I.   Attendance at the Scheduled Speakers’ Events
Students are expected to attend at least 4 of the scheduled sessions per term (or 7 if enrolled for the full year, with at least 2 in the winter term based on speakers outside the conference). If you are unable to attend any of the organized speakers, you may with prior permission of either instructor instead write in substitution for the missed speaker on any of the panels from the FLSQ conference held in Kingston in Feb.-Mar., treating each panel or keynote address as a separate speaker for purposes of general course requirements, advance reading, and sets of briefing notes. If that is not a feasible alternative for scheduling reasons, then the student may select an appropriate speaker event from university or community offerings, and treat that as a substitute speaker with permission of one of the course instructors.

II.  Advance Reading, Advance Questions, and Briefing Notes
The advance questions should be electronically submitted by email at least 24 hours in advance of the session to which they pertain. Briefing notes are due two weeks after the specific talk/event. Together, these will help us to assess the student’s questions for investigation, and the post-talk knowledge-acquisition, comprehension, and reflection on the materials and speakers to which they have been exposed. The briefing notes should integrate any description of the readings or talks with a critical reflection of them by the student. For both terms, please send them to Professors Amani and Lahey and copy Professor Amani’s assistant, Melissa Howlett (Mhowlett@queensu.ca) for fall term work and Professor Lahey’s assistant, Megan Hamilton (Megan.Hamilton@queensu.ca) for winter term work. Briefing Notes are evaluated on a scale of 1 to 10.

III.  Class Participation
Students are expected to attend and actively participate in each session.

IV.  Final Paper
The final paper should be an analytical paper, between 10-12 pages in length. We encourage you to prepare a proposal (1 page) with a preliminary list of sources for approval. The earlier you submit it, the more time you will have to reflect on any feedback. Final paper submissions should be sent electronically to both of us and to each of our assistants.

Due date for Fall term:  Before 4:30 pm Monday Nov. 30, 2015. There is an automatic class extension for those who want it, without penalty or permission, to Monday Dec. 7, 2015, before 4:30 pm.

Due date for Winter term: Any time in the last week of classes, before 4:30 pm Monday March 28, 2016. There is an automatic class extension for those who want it, without penalty or permission, to Monday, April 4, 2016, before 4:30 pm.

Administrative Details

All work should be typed in 12 point font, double spaced, on white 8 1/2” x 11” paper.

Scheduling Details

The workshop speakers will be scheduled for the regular visitor slots on Mondays and Fridays, which run from 1 to 2:30 pm. If other meetings are needed, they will be scheduled around everyone’s class and other commitments. Speaker dates and locations are listed on the FLSQ website. Please check the FLSQ website from time to time for updates on speakers and any changes to the schedule: http://femlaw.queensu.ca/Law692Law693/law692Fall2014.html
 
We will hold an introductory meet and greet session for Law 692 on Monday September 21, 2015 from 1:00-2:00 pm and for Law 693 on Monday January 11, 2016 from 1:00-2:00 pm. The room location, once confirmed, will be posted on the webpage for the courses and circulated by announcement. A quick reference of speakers by dates is noted below. Abstracts for talks and bios for speakers will be posted on the webpage as they become available.

Fall Term 2015 Lectures at a Glance
Monday, September 28, 2015, 1pm-2:3pm, Macdonald Hall 100 – Make-up first meeting

Monday, October 5, 2015, 1-2:30pm, Macdonald Hall (Law building), room 202 
Marguerite Russell is a barrister (UK and Ont.) and is one of the Founder Members of Garden Court Chambers in London.  She is committed to developing understanding of equality and human rights issues both within the legal process and in society at large.

Topic: Trafficking in Women: International Legal Perspectives 

Monday, October 19, 2015, 1-2:30pm, Macdonald Hall (Law building), room 202 
Dr. Sule Tomkinson, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Institute for Policy and Social Research, University of Kansas. Doctoral Studies in the Department of Political Science at the Université de Montréal. 

Topic : Knocking on the refugee law’s door: persecution claims based on gender and sexual orientation 

Monday, October 26, 2015, 1-2:30pm, Macdonald Hall (Law building), room 202  
Dr. Vrinda Narain, Associate Professor, McGill University, joint appointment to the Faculty of Law and the Institute for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies in the Faculty of Arts, and Research Associate at the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice at the University of the Free State, South Africa. 

Topic: Critical Multiculturalism 

Monday, November 9, 2015, 1-2:30pm, Macdonald Hall (Law building), room 202  
Dr. Elaine Brooks-Craig, Assistant Professor, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, researching in the areas of Evidence, Sexual assault law, Public commissions, Criminal law ethics, Constitutional law, Law, Feminist legal theory.

Topic: Sexual Assault Law: Legal Ethics of Trial and Experience of Complainants TBF 

Winter Term 2016 Lectures at a Glance
Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, 1-2:30pm, Macdonald Hall (Law building), room 202
Kuukuwa Andam, Lawyer, Ghana, and PhD student, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University

Topic: “A Flower without a Fence”: Female Sexual Minority Rights in Ghana

Friday, Feb. 05, 2016, 1-2:30pm, Macdonald Hall (Law building), room 202 
Prof. Jane Bailey, University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law

Topic: A perfect storm:  How the online environment, social norms and law shape girls’ lives

Friday and Saturday, February 26-27 1-2:30pm room TBA
FLSQ Conference: Keynote lecture:  Gender, Wellbeing and the Politics of Imagination: Law, Culture, Compassion

Law 693 students are to attend the keynote lecture, which is scheduled for 1 to 2:30pm on the Friday of the conference. Law 693 or full year 692/693 students may select one panel event from these sessions as a replacement for any other regularly scheduled speaker event that was missed due to conflicts or other factors; this replacement does require permission of either instructor.

Useful Links:
 
http://www.thecourt.ca/decisions-of-the-womens-court-of-canada/
 
http://www.leaf.ca/