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Dean's Speaker Series

Pepperdine Caruso School of Law has a well-earned reputation for welcoming distinguished scholars, judges, government officials, and leaders to campus to share their views on important current issues with our community. Our speakers, like our community, have diverse perspectives and believe that we all benefit when we engage in meaningful dialogue with each other in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

Through the years, we have hosted over a dozen Supreme Court Justices on campus to share their varying judicial philosophies, from Harry Blackmun to Sandra Day O'Connor, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Antonin Scalia.

Caruso Law holds several high-profile events each year with esteemed guest speakers, including our annual graduation ceremony and law school dinner, as well as symposia and the William French Smith Lecture Series. In recent years we have hosted speakers such as English Court of Appeals Lord Justice Mary Mance Arden, California Governor Jerry Brown, Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas.  

A recent peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Legal Studies examined the political ideologies of all law school faculties and determined that the Pepperdine Caruso faculty is the most ideologically diverse in the country [Adam Bonica (Stanford), Adam Chilton (Chicago), Kyle Rozema (Northwestern), and Maya Sen (Harvard), The Legal Academy's Ideological Uniformity, 47 J. Legal Stud. 1 (2018)]. The chart below has more details of the article's findings.

Caruso Law launched a Dean's Speakers Series in 2019 to enrich the intellectual life and enhance the diversity of speakers on our campus.


 

2023-2024 Speakers

  Sherif Girgis

Sherif Girgis

Associate Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School

"What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense"

April 18, 2024

About Sherif

  Rachael Denhollander

Rachael Denhollander

Attorney, Author, Educator, and Victim Advocate

"Choosing the Harder Right over the Easier Wrong" 

March 13, 2024

About Rachael

  Heather Anderson

Heather Anderson

Vice President, Original Content and Business Affairs ESPN

"The Importance of Movement and Perspectives from a Black Attorney"

February 22, 2024

About Heather

  Benjamin Alarie

Benjamin Alarie

Professor & Osler Chair in Business Law, Toronto Faculty of Law, CEO Blue J Legal

"The Impact of AI on Legal Education and Law Practice"

November 8, 2023

About Benjamin

  John Inazu

John Inazu

Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law & Religion, Washington University School of Law

"Navigating Deep Differences: Christianity, Law, and Legal Education"

October 26, 2023

About John

  Shane Claiborne

Shane Claiborne

Author, Speaker, and Activist — Leads Red Letter Christians

"Amazing Grace: Christianity and Justice"

September 6, 2023

About Shane

 

2022-2023 Speakers

  Mike Paulsen | Barry McDonald

Mike Paulsen

Mike Pausen | Distinguished University Chair and Professor, University of St. Thomas School of Law

Barry McDonald | Professor of Law, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law

"The Supreme Court's Decision in Dobbs: Law, Politics, or Morality"

February 15, 2023

  Ruth Okediji

Ruth Okediji

Jeremiah Smith Jr. Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

"Justice and Poverty in Biblical Law"

February 15, 2023

  Sanford Williams 

Sanford Williams

Lecturer of Law at UCLA Law School, Special Advisor to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, and Deputy Managing Director at the Federal Communications Commission

"Accessibility, Diversity, and Digital Discrimination" 

February 1, 2023

  Morse Tan | Colleen Graffy | Donald Earl (Trey) Childress

Morse Tan

Morse Tan | Dean, Liberty University and Ambassador at Large, U.S. State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice

Colleen Graffy | Associate Professor of Law, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law

Donald Earl (Trey) Childress | Professor of Law, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law

"The Role of the State Department in Global Justice"

November 10, 2022

  Danny Drysdale | Ed Larson | Tom Stipanowich 

Danny Drysdale

Danny Drysdale | Director, The Prayers of Both Could Not Be Answered documentary

Ed Larsen | University Professor, Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law

Tom Stipanowich | Professor of Law, William H. Webster Chair in Dispute Resolution, Straus Institute, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law

"Abraham Lincoln's Use of the Bible In His Second Inaugural Address "

September 28, 2022

 

2021–2022 Speakers

  Father Gregory Boyle

Father Booyle

Founder, Homeboy Industries

"The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness"

March 31, 2022

  Blake Morant | Patricia Wilson

Blake Morant

Patricia Wilson

Blake Morant | Professor and Former Dean, George Washington and Wake Forest

Patricia Wilson | Former Dean, George Washington and Wake Forest

"Faith and Black Leadership"

February 23, 2022

  Allyson McKinney Timm

Ally Mckinney

Founder and Executive Director, Justice Revival

"Why Equal Rights? The Story Behind Justice Revival’s #Faith4ERA Campaign"

January 20, 2022

  Honorable Ann Claire Williams (Ret.)

Ann Williams

Judge (Ret.) and Of Counsel, Jones Day

"Insights and Lessons Learned"

September 16, 2021

 

 2020-2021 Speakers

  David Nammo

David Nammo

Executive Director and CEO, Christian Legal Society

"The Road From Babylon to the Christian Legal Society"

April 7, 2021

  Eugene Volokh

Eugene Volokh

Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law, UCLA

"Protecting Free Speech in 2021 and Beyond"

March 11, 2021

  Dr. Anita Phillips

Anita Phillips

Trauma Therapist and Life Coach and Host, "In The Light with Dr. Anita Phillips"

"Deconstructing Us: Self-Interrogation at the Intersection of Christian Worldview and Social Justice"

February 2, 2021

  Eugene Cho and Sharon Brous

Eugene Cho
Sharon Brous

Eugene Cho | Pastor and President/CEO, Bread for the World

Sharon Brous | Founder and Senior Rabbi, IKAR

"The Intersection of Faith, Social Justice, and Racial Reconciliation" 

January 26, 2021

  Father William Morris

William Morris

Deputy Global Tax Policy Leader, PwC Assisting Priest for Engaging Faith and the Workplace, St. John's Church (D.C.)

"Where Is God At Work? Love Thy Colleague: Being Authentically Christian at Work"

November 17, 2020

  Robert George

Robert George

McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton

"Campus Illiberalism and the Future of Higher Education"

October 19, 2020

  Dorothy Brown

Dorothy Brown

Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law, Emory University

"Critical Race Theory: Fighting Racial Bias in the 21st Century"

September 14, 2020

 

2019–2020 Speakers

  Blake Morant

Blake Morant

Professor and Former Dean, George Washington and Wake Forest

"Preparing the Next Generation of Diverse and Dynamic Leaders"

February 24, 2020

  Noel Francisco

Noel Francisco

U.S. Solicitor General

"The Rule of Law and the Role of the Solicitor General"

January 20, 2020

  Haben Girma

Haben Girma

Disability Advocate

"The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law"

November 11, 2019

  Honorable Neil Gorsuch

Justice

U.S. Supreme Court Justice

"A Republic, If You Can Keep It"

September 11, 2019

 


 

Nominate a Speaker

The Pepperdine Caruso Law community is invited to participate in developing a robust roster of speakers with diverse backgrounds and perspectives for the Dean''s Speaker Series. Submit a speaker or topic for consideration by completing this form. All submissions will be considered and evaluated based on programming needs.

 

 


 

Ideological Diversity of Caruso Law Faculty

Pepperdine Caruso Law has an almost even split between liberal, moderately liberal, moderately conservative, and conservative law professors. Whereas other universities like Arizon, Colorado, Hastings, Wake Forest, Utah, Florida, and American have more that fifty percent of liberal facutly.

Graph demonstratinig ideological diversity at Caruso Law and other universities