Law & Health Care Program students and faculty are finding creative ways to stay informed about the COVID-19 pandemic and its ramifications and engaged throughout their virtual semester.
Professor Rena Steinzor and her research assistants, Saul Slowik and Matthew Williams, followed up their summer research into how the federal government is addressing the pandemic by starting a fall COVID-19 Reading and Discussion Group. The Reading Groups were part of a concerted effort on the law school to arrange small group gatherings of faculty and students to get to know each other through topics of mutual interest. Interested students read and discussed public health and regulatory issues as they relate to the pandemic.
Health Law Professor Diane Hoffmann is also participating in the discussion group, which has met every two weeks online to discuss topics such as the causes of the pandemic, conspiracy theories, the government response, individual rights and public health, federalism, and potential solutions. Students have watched and discussed everything from the debunked but widely distributed “Plandemic” video to topical materials from major news outlets. Putting their knowledge of administrative and public health law to use, students are learning from each other as they dissect these important and timely topics in an informal atmosphere.
Health Law Professor Kathleen Hoke is also hosting a 1L Public Health Law Reading Group this semester. This group of ten students has met four times during the semester and has one session remaining, and Professor Hoke also offers bi-weekly office hours to the students. The Reading Group has allowed for 1L students to engage with a faculty member in the student’s area of interest and in an informal venue, with no cold calls or grades to worry about. This has offered these new students a way to connect with a faculty member who can provide them with support as they transition into law school and as they work through the tough first semester. They also get to meet likeminded students in a small group setting, building their internal network of classmates. Professor Hoke has allowed the students to select the topics of discussion, which have included 1) COVID-related legal issues (focusing on mask regulations and eviction protections); 2) social determinants of health; 3) public health law 101; and 4) careers in public health. Professor Hoke explains that “I also take the time to check in with the students on their classes and what is going on in their lives—one student had a baby the week before classes started! The students are relaxed and engaged and it gives us all a sense of “normalcy” in exceedingly abnormal times.”