Professor William Slomanson presented a TED talk on April 4, 2014, entitled “Why Flip Your Class & Macro Design Issues.” He was the opening speaker for the inaugural Igniting Legal Education Conference at American University in Washington, D.C. As the conference notice provides: “This conference will gather leading law school educators together for a conference about law school pedagogy.” It provided a forum for professors who are experimenting with cutting edge technologies in law teaching—with the related goal of spreading their ideas to the broader legal education community. Each speaker’s on-stage video will be available on the conference website.
Professor Slomanson’s presentation focused on his Fall 2013 class where he flipped his federal civil procedure class. Click here to view a summary of Professor Slomanson's experiment.
The conference organizer, Professor Michelle Pistone, provided a glowing assessment of Professor Slomanson’s presentation: “Your Flipped Class topic not only set the stage for your flipping group, but it was also an ideal inspirational message for opening this innovators’ conference, designed to change legal pedagogy. Almost 1000 people watched from the website that day and I am sure that even more will see your talk once it is published online. This is a new model for legal education conferences. I am so glad you were a part of it. We hope you’ll be back with us, and a continuing player in moving legal education to the next level. Job well done!”
The TJSL Admissions and Alumni Departments hosted a D.C. area alumni applicant event the next evening in Chevy Chase. TJSL Applicant Claytrice Henderson articulated her reaction as follows: “I just wanted to say thank you again for taking time to sit down and talk with me about the school, I really appreciate it! Your insight was very helpful for my being able to differentiate TJSL from any other school I have applied to, and I am thankful that you and the others helped me to see that. Thanks again Professor Slomanson!”
As Professor Slomanson observes: “It was an especially memorable weekend. I had the opportunity to meet leaders in the field of legal education, and our incredibly supportive D.C. area alums — Michael Jackson ‘94, Louise Dunn ‘12, and Aaron Gorman ‘12 — who have played an important role in our recruiting efforts. I also appreciated Christie Edwards ‘07 coming to the conference, given the demands on her time as the Director of International Humanitarian Law at the American Red Cross. She, and the alumni who spoke at length with Claytrice at the dinner event, exemplify the wide-ranging alumni success stories that make us all proud!”
