Leading black male legal scholars from around the U.S. gathered at the law school for the Eighth Annual John Mercer Langston Writing Workshop on July 7 and 8.

The workshop provides a forum for law professors to exchange ideas about scholarly works in progress.

Featuring professors from diverse law schools and universities, this year’s workshop covered a wide variety of topics in the law.

• Kline School of Law Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Research Bret Asbury discussed his paper, “The Law of Genome Editing,” with commentary from West Virginia University College of Law Professor Atiba R. Ellis and University of Colorado Law School Professor Craig Konnoth.
• Nova Southeastern Shepard Broad College of Law Professor Areto A. Imoukhuede discussed his paper, “Fisher and the Walk Away from Equality,” with commentary from University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law Professor Cedric Powell and Savannah Law School Professor Vinay Harpalani.
• Dean Mark C. Alexander of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law and Dean William M. Carter of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, gave a presentation on the path to becoming a law school dean.
• Princeton University doctoral candidate Martin Sybblis presented his paper, “Law and the Doing Business Indicator,” with commentary from University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law Professor Del Wright, Temple University Beasley School of Law Professor Hosea Harvey and University of California Irvine School of Law Senior Associate Dean and Professor Mario Barnes.
• Whittier Law School Professor Sheldon Lyke presented his paper, “Why Malia and Sasha Obama Need Affirmative Action,” with commentary from University of California Irvine School of Law Professor Jonathan Glater and Kline School of Law Professor Kevin Woodson.
• Howard University School of Law Professor Darin Johnson presented his paper, “ISIS and the Limits of the Law,” with commentary from University of Louisville School of Law Professor Goldburn Maynard and Suffolk Law School Professor Frank Rudy Cooper.
• Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center Newman Trowbridge Distinguished Professor Chris Tyson presented his paper, “Hell and High Water: Reflections on Race, Cities and Baton Rouge’s Summer of Reckoning,” with commentary from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Henry F. Bonura Distinguished Professor Mitch Crusto and Princeton University doctoral candidate Martin Sybblis.
• West Virginia University College of Law Professor Atiba R. Ellis presented his paper, “When Memes Imperil Democratic Legitimacy: On Fraud and the Distortion of the Right to Vote,” with commentary from DePaul University College of Law Distinguished Research Professor Terry Smith and University of Pittsburgh School of Law Professor Chaz Arnett.
• Attorney Amos N. Jones presented his paper, “’Black like Obama’ Revisited: Partial Postracialism’s Permanence,” with commentary from University of Miami School of Law Chair in Law and Professor Charlton Copeland and Whittier Law School Professor Sheldon Lyke.
• University of California Irvine School of Law Professor Jonathan Glater presented his paper, “Children of a Lesser Court,” with commentary from University of California Los Angeles School of Law Vice Chancellor and Harry Pregerson Professor Devon Carbado and Nova Southeastern Shepard Broad College of Law Professor Areto A. Imoukhuede.
• Suffolk Law School Professor Frank Rudy Cooper presented his paper, “From Backlash Criminology to Programmatic Stop and Frisk,” with commentary from Brooklyn Law School Stanley A. August Professor Bennett Capers and Kline School of Law Professor Donald Tibbs.

Asbury and Woodson served as site co-chairs of this year’s workshop.