TORONTO, July 8, 2008 -- Some of the most promising doctoral students in law in the world are meeting this month at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University for a three-week academy, called an Agora, organized by the Association of Transnational Law Schools (ATLAS), a consortium of seven of the world’s leading law schools.

A total of 30 doctoral students from London School of Economics and Political Science, New York University, Osgoode Hall Law School, University of Cape Town, Universidad de Deusto (Bilbao), University of Melbourne and Université de Montréal are spending from July 7 to 25 networking and taking part in discussions, seminars and lectures on this year’s Agora theme of “Law, Change and Regulatory Challenges in the Contemporary World.”

Osgoode Professor Craig Scott, Academic Director of the 2008 ATLAS Agora, said the inaugural Agora is an historic first for graduate legal education in North America.

“The Agora is the centerpiece of the ATLAS collaboration, which aspires to make a major contribution to research and scholarship through cooperative learning opportunities,” Scott said.  “Through ATLAS and the annual Agora, we are fostering the development of sought-after graduates who will shape the directions of legal scholarship and legal education in generations to come.”

In addition to three weeks of teaching and learning, the students will also hear major addresses from this year’s Distinguished ATLAS Lecturers. 

New York University School of Law Professor Robert Howse will discuss “The End of the Globalization Debate, Continued” on Wednesday, July 9; McMaster University Philosophy Professor Wil Waluchow will speak on the topic of “Analytical Philosophy Meets Metaphor: The ‘Living Tree’ of Judicial Interpretation” on Wednesday, July 16; and Simon Taylor, Co-Founder and Director of Global Witness, will lecture on  “A Failure of Leadership: Lame Thinking on Energy and the Risk of Conflict” on Wednesday, July 23.  All lectures will take place at 7.15 p.m. in Room 206 at Osgoode Hall Law School.

Agora participants are chosen by each partner’s graduate program from among its own doctoral cohort.

“The value of the Agora for doctoral students is that it provides a singular opportunity to network and initiate lasting intellectual partnerships as well as receive feedback with respect to one’s work and ideas from peers and professors,” said Scott.  He added that the venue of the Agora will rotate annually among the founding partners of ATLAS with the 2009 Agora to be hosted by London School of Economics and Political Science.

There is also a virtual dimension of the ATLAS experience, consisting largely of optional participation in Internet nodes – notably discussion threads, chat facilities and information-sharing facilities – designed to promote interaction among students.  Prior to this year’s Agora, participants were invited to use the Virtual ATLAS to learn something about the other participants and their doctoral work.  After the Agora, participants will be encouraged to use Virtual ATLAS to keep each other informed of their ongoing doctoral work and subsequent careers.

For more information about ATLAS and the 2008 Agora, please visit: www.ATLASdoctorate.com

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For further information, please contact:

Virginia Corner

Communications Manager

Osgoode Hall Law School of York University

416-736-5820

vcorner@osgoode.yorku.ca