Constitution Day Panel Explores Role of Law in Citizenship, Hot-Button Issues

This month, colleges around the country will celebrate Constitution Day with lectures and discussions about the country’s seminal governing document. On the Uptown campus, a free forum not only highlights the role of the Constitution today, it helps launch a new undergraduate certificate program that opens new career and job opportunities for students.

The panel includes Cincinnati area lawyers from the firm of Graydon Head, a former general counsel for a local 31,000-member union as well as a professor from Cincinnati Law, according to moderator and Political Science Assistant Professor Andy Lewis.

They will discuss pressing constitutional issues, from the Supreme Court to the role of citizenship, as well as discuss their career paths and advice for students interested in work that touches on the legal system.

Law has a broad reach into a wide range of multi-disciplinary fields, Lewis said, a reality that helped inspire the College’s new Legal Studies Certificate. Students have much to gain by looking at legal questions about environmental law, social justice, business and politics through different disciplinary lenses.

The interdisciplinary nature of the 18-credit hour certificate program gives a curricular home to a wide range of classes that carry common themes, Lewis said.

One of the event panelists, professor Chris Bryant of Cincinnati Law, taught the first undergraduate class that counts toward the certificate in spring 2016. 

“American Constitutional Landmarks” marked the beginning of a distinctive component of the Legal Studies Certificate—it includes undergraduate classes taught in UC’s law school, by law school professors.

Lewis, who has been working with Michele Bradley at Cincinnati Law to develop the certificate, sees its value in academic and professional development.

“If you want to go to law school, this provides a baseline understanding of what you are getting into,” he said. “If you are interested in social justice, the certificate’s grounding in law and politics will be very helpful.”

“We are delighted that the law school can share our faculty’s legal perspectives on the Constitution with the larger legal community,” said Jennifer Bard, Cincinnati Law dean. “We welcome opportunities to be part of conversations on legal topics and extend a warm invitation always to members of the university community interested in initiating these programs.”

Panelists include: 

• Bruce Petrie of Graydon Head

• Brian Thomas of Graydon Head

• Pamela Newport, Cincinnati Law alumna and former general counsel, United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 75)

• Chris Bryant, Professor, Cincinnati Law

Discussion will be on Monday, Sept. 19, in TUC Cinema.