Conference Announcement: Law and the Emotions - New Directions in Scholarship
U.C. Berkeley Law School (Boalt Hall), February 8th and 9th, 2007.

Sponsored by Boalt Hall Law School, DePaul Law School, The Gruter
Institute for Law and Behavioral Research, The Vanderbilt Law School Law
and Human Behavior Program, and The U.C. Berkeley Center for the Study
of Law and Society.

Recent work in the still-emerging field of law and emotion has moved
well beyond the initial debates about reason and emotion, into diverse
and exciting areas of interdisciplinary study. Some scholars have
continued the investigations, in philosophy and psychology, for example,
that helped establish the field. Others are doing important new work in
other disciplines, including cognitive neuroscience, evolutionary
biology, and the sociology of emotion. Early focal points, such as
criminal law and courtroom practice, have been supplemented by a much
broader range of inquiry. However, scholars pursuing these nascent
directions often have little exposure to work in related areas. This
conference aims to facilitate the interdisciplinary connections and
collaborations that are vital for the continued development of the
field.

The conference will commence on Thursday, February 8th at 4 PM and end

on Friday, February 9th at 5 PM. Panels include:

Law, the Mind Sciences, and Emotions. This panel will view emotion and
its implications for law through the lens of neuroscience, cognitive and
social psychology, and behavioral biology.

Law and Emotion in Action. This panel will explore emotions as affective
responses developed in institutional and collective contexts, and
institutions (such as the jury, the workplace, and the social welfare
system) as entities that both shape and are shaped by emotion.

Theorizing Law and the Emotions. This will be a roundtable devoted to
reflections on the varied ways in which law is capable of engaging the
emotions, for example, by acting on emotions, moderating or channeling
them, scripting them, or helping them come into being.

New Directions in Scholarship on Law and the Emotions. This panel will
consist of a series of short presentations showcasing exciting new
approaches to the analysis of law and emotion.

Keynote Speakers: Arlie Hochschild and Dacher Keltner
Confirmed speakers: Kathy Abrams, Susan Bandes, Jeremy Blumenthal, Devon
Carbado, Laurel Fletcher, Oliver Goodenough, Mitu Gulati, Peter Huang,
Owen Jones, Hila Keren, Sharon Krause, Terry Maroney, Elizabeth Phelps,
Jeffrey Rachlinski, Carol Sanger, Susan Silbey, Elizabeth V. Spelman,
and Robin West.

Organizers: Kathy Abrams (Boalt Hall Law School); Susan Bandes (DePaul
Law School); Hila Keren (Hebrew University of Jerusalem Law School) and
Terry Maroney (Vanderbilt Law School).

To register and for further information visit
http://www.law.berkeley.edu/institutes/csls/lawemotion_conference
or contact Debra Krauss at dkrauss@law.berkeley.edu