Faculty News

With conversational and generative AI systems like ChatGPT on the rise, Professor Sylvia gave a talk on the ramifications of using artificial intelligence in the professional sphere.

Professor Owens recently published a new Article in a special issue of Frontiers in Sociology on Ethnography in the Open Science and Digital Age. The Article, Encountering Deception in Virtual Spaces: Guidelines for Virtual Ethnography, draws from an experience of deception in virtual fieldwork and considers implications for those designing methodologies for virtual ethnographies.

Duncan and Tocci publish a paper on the use of silence in legal history.

Professor Owens recently published a discussion-based activity she developed to help students learn more about the function and concepts of law and society. The exercise encourages students to build a new ‘court’ in the classroom which will adjudicate the excuses that students communicate to instructors.

Professor Owens was invited to serve as a judge in Harvard Law School’s inaugural mock trial tournament. The tournament brought together 24 mock trial teams from law schools across the country.

Professor McDonald published an article on bankruptcy solutions to homelessness in the Yale Law and Policy Review.

Professor Ralph Clifford submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court that argues that real estate tax foreclosure systems are unconstitutional.

On an expert panel called “Good Intentions vs. Good Laws: Why Housing Advocacy Matters”, Professor Lisa Lucile Owens discussed the Housing Choice Voucher Program and its strengths and shortcomings.

Professor Owens led a workshop to help local New Bedford entrepreneurs with the legal challenges of starting a business.

UMass Law Adjunct faculty member Judge George Phelan looks back on an accomplished year.