In Spring 2013, CAP is hosting a Luncheon Series with Harvard Law School JD and Graduate Program students.
A different presenter will discuss his/her work-in-progress at each luncheon, and attendees will have the opportunity to brainstorm and provide feedback and suggestions on the presenter’s project. Lunch will be provided.
Conceiving the Child in Domestic Violence
Discussion with Harvard Law School SJD Candidate Claire Houston
Thurs, Jan 31, 2013
Noon – 1:00 PM
CAP Suite (WCC 4133)
Harvard Law School
Paper Topic: This presentation considers the construction of the child in domestic violence law. It focuses on how feminist ideas get translated into institutional theory and practice and the potential consequences for real children, women, and men. The presentation covers one part of a larger project aimed at locating the child within sites of gender conflict in American law and politics.
Biography: Claire Houston is a third-year SJD student at Harvard Law School. Her research focuses on feminist legal reform projects in the area of family law. She is especially interested in the impact such projects have on children’s interests.
Claire holds an LL.M. from Harvard, an LL.B. from Queen’ s University (Canada) and a B.A. in Women’s Studies and Sociology from Trent University (Canada). Prior to attending Harvard, she articled at Ontario Office of the Children’s Lawyer and clerked at the Ontario Court of Appeal. Claire is currently a Richmond Fellow at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.
Mandatory Newborn HIV Testing As A Model For Universal Newborn Drug Screening
Discussion with Harvard Law School JD Candidate Melissa Friedman
Thurs, Feb 7, 2013
Noon – 1:00 PM
CAP Suite (WCC 4133)
Harvard Law School
Paper Topic: Presently, mandatory HIV testing of newborns is legal in several states if a mother’s HIV status is unknown at birth. This presentation will examine why such testing is legal and how this model could be applied to legalize universal drug screening for newborns.
Biography: Melissa graduated summa cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis with majors in Latin American Stuides and Spanish. She spent two years after graduation in New York as a securities litigation paralegal, first with Stone Bonner & Rocco and then with Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During her time in New York, Melissa also became a court-appointed special advocate, working to protect the interests of children in the foster care system. She is currently in her second year at Harvard Law School, where she continues to work on child advocacy issues both inside and outside the classroom. She spent the summer of 2012 working with the Juvenile Rights Practice at Legal Aid in the Bronx, and will be spending this upcoming summer as a litigation summer associate with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in New York.
From Hysteria to Realism: Critiquing the Construction of Child Trafficking for Labor Exploitation in Nigeria
Discussion with Harvard Law School LLM Candidate Sedoo Manu
Thurs, March 7, 2013
Noon – 1:00 PM
CAP Suite (WCC 4133)
Harvard Law School
Paper Topic: This is an overview of Manu’s work in progress on the LL.M. long paper. This paper steps back and critically reflects on the construction of child trafficking for labor exploitation by focusing on the Nigerian context. It claims that what is currently understood as child trafficking is in fact the product of hyperbolic exaggerations designed to elicit attention and cooperation by creating outrage. Further, it contends that the policies emanating from such an understanding are skewed and portend negative distributive outcomes for their supposed beneficiaries.
Biography: Sedoo Manu is an LL.M. student at Harvard Law School. Before coming to Harvard, he was an Associate with Nigeria’s leading corporate/commercial law firm. He has an LL.B. (Honors) from Benue State University and a professional qualification from the Nigerian Law School. His current research interests include Critical Perspectives on International Human Rights Law; Legal Theory; and Child Labor Regulations.