The Faculty Lounge

Let the Good Times Roll

"Let the Good Times Roll" has been the title of several songs, perhaps best known today as the lead track on BB King's 1999 album of the same name. That version, originally recorded by Louis Jordan in 1946, was written by Sam Theard and Fleecie Moore (Jordan's wife). Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee had a 1956 hit with a completely different "Let the Good Times Roll," often covered in concert by the Grateful Dead. Sam Cooke's 1964 "Good Times" is sometimes titled "Let the Good Times Roll," as it is in the clip below. Don't miss Memphis Slim's "Let the Good Times Roll Creole" at the bottom of the post. (I don't know anything about the Cars' song.)

(Happy birthdays, Sarah and Shoshana. Laissez les bons temps rouler.)

My Good Luck In England

As I noted in an earlier post, I had a number of conferences, lectures, and workshops this semester. All of them were really wonderful and I felt extremely grateful to have been invited. But every once in a while you attend an event that is really special. I was fortunate to be a part of two this year, both in England (coincidence? Maybe not).

The first was the annual Baron de Lancey Lecture at the University of Cambridge hosted by the Centre for Law, Medicine and Life Sciences. To be honest, law school lectures can be a mixed bag. Large law schools just have a lot going on at any given time -- general workshops, specialty workshops, student events, fed soc debates, conferences, etc. So lectures sometimes (not universally, of course) often feel forced and not something the faculty are excited about. The Cambridge folk were absolutely fabulous, however -- welcoming, inquisitive, engaged, etc. 

The second event was the fourth annual Normative Foundations of the Market conference at Oxford. The workshop was organized by Professor Tsilly Dagan, Emeritus Professor Colin Mayer, Professor Hanoch Dagan (Berkeley), and Professor Amy Sepinwall (Penn). Hanoch and Amy have been the primary organizers of all four iterations of this conference and it has only gotten better each time. They managed to attract an all star and multi-disciplinary line-up. And everyone was engaged and enthusiastic throughout the two days of papers, despite the jet lag of the participants, since everyone had come from various timezones, including the US east and west coasts, Israel, China, and more. 

Anyway, as I wrap up another academic year I am tired, but definitely counting my blessings! Congrats to all for surviving yet another academic year!

"This Research Was Funded By Viagra"

Brian Leiter reports on this very funny book review funding statement by my former Duke colleague, Michael Munger, in the Journal of Value Inquiry: 

For reasons that are literally incomprehensible, the publisher is insisting that I include a “funding statement” in the manuscript. It is worth pointing out that this is a book review. But the publisher has refused to process the manuscript unless a “funding statement is included in the manuscript. So, here goes: Oxford University Press failed to provide a copy of the book, in spite of repeated requests to do so. I purchased the book, paying for it out of my own pocket. I believe the source of those funds was a consulting job that I did in 1989, and the money had been aging in my bank account since that time, and frankly losing considerable value because of inflation. I paid for the book on Amazon, using an American Express card. The time I spent writing the review was during nights and weekends, but I suppose that it was funded by Duke University. My job at Duke University, Department of Political Science, in Durham, North Carolina, involves writing and doing research, and I read the book and wrote the review during the time that I was employed at Duke University. In fact, I am still employed by Duke University, and expect to continue to be employed at Duke University for a considerable period, because I have tenure. In fact, I have a University Endowed Professor Chair, funded by Pfizer. They make Viagra. So, now that I think of it, this research was funded by Viagra.

The review is of Common Law Liberalism: A New Theory of the Libertarian Society, New York: Oxford University Press, 2024, by Georgetown's John Hasnas. Hasnas is also a Duke guy, having received his JD and Ph.D. there and also was a visitor (more than once, I think), which is how I first met him. 

 

🤣 leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2025/05...

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— Kim Krawiec (@kimkrawiec.bsky.social) May 9, 2025 at 8:03 AM

Martin Brinkley Stepping Down as Dean of UNC School of Law

University of North Carolina School of Law has announced that Martin Brinkley will step down as dean of the law school at the end of the 2025-26 school year.  Brinkley became dean in 2015.  He will return to the faculty.

Law Prof Juan Perea in Downbeat

Thanks to Orin Kerr for the pointer to this super cool glowing review of Loyola Chicago Law Professor Juan Perea's debut album, Lightkeeper, in Downbeat magazine. From the review, which is screenshotted (photo courtesy of Orin Kerr):

Juan Perea is a seasoned pianist who knows his way around a keyboard and his versatility shines with indisputable brilliance on his debut release, Lightkeeper. Debut? Yep, at 68: An arrival delayed in part by his practice of law. . . .

The judge and jury may be out on Perea's next case, but the verdict on Lightkeeper is a unanimous thumbs up. 

 

 

 

Is he a law professor? Or is he a jazz pianist whose new album just received a glowing review in Downbeat magazine? In the case of Juan Perea of @loyolachicago.bsky.social, he's both. Very cool.

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— Orin Kerr (@orinkerr.bsky.social) May 12, 2025 at 8:35 AM

Hiring Announcement: Florida A&M University College of Law

From a recent email message:

Florida A&M University College of Law (FAMU Law) welcomes applications for Visiting Instructors of Law to teach its Legal Research and Writing (LRW) I and II courses on a full-time basis at its Orlando, Florida, location for the 2025-2026 academic year, starting in August 2025. The LRW courses are part of a two-semester, six-credit, required first-year offering. These positions are full-time, non-tenure track, visiting positions. These are in-person and not remote positions.

 

The FAMU Law LRW program is director-led with a shared syllabus, course assignments, and emphasis on creativity, collaboration, and teamwork. The Visiting Instructors will be responsible for developing the course collaboratively with the LRW Director and other Instructors on the LRW team. Visiting Instructors will also be responsible for the direct instruction of two LRW sections each semester, with each section having approximately seventeen (17) students. The Instructors’ primary responsibilities will include teaching classes, preparing assignments, critiquing student assignments, meeting with students, and evaluating oral arguments. Instructors teach in both the day and evening programs, depending on curricular needs.

 

New Data For Medical AI

Nature has the story:

A generative artificial-intelligence (AI) model has been let loose on an entire nation’s health records for the first time.

The model, called Foresight, predicts hospitalizations, heart attacks and hundreds of other conditions, and researchers trained it on de-identified data from 57 million patients in England’s National Health Service (NHS).

. . . 

The development comes as AI is increasingly being integrated into medical research through models that diagnose diseases and perform other medical tasks — in some cases better than humans.

 

“A generative AI model has been let loose on an entire nation’s health records for the first time. The model, called Foresight, predicts hospitalizations, heart attacks and hundreds of other conditions, and researchers trained it on de-identified data from 57 million patients in England’s NHS”

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— Kim Krawiec (@kimkrawiec.bsky.social) May 12, 2025 at 8:04 AM

Networking The Conclave

This interesting analysis by a group of Bocconi scholars—Giuseppe Soda, Alessandro Iorio, and Leonardo Rizzo—done before the conclave conclusion, is careful to note that “We do not claim to predict the outcome of the Conclave.”  But they did, at least on one of their measures.  As detailed here "The innovation of the study lies in the definition of the three criteria that determine the “prominence” of a cardinal in the ecclesiastical network:" Status, information, and alliances. As you can see below, Robert Prevost led in status, though not in information or alliances. Like Kieran Healy, who first brought this to my attention, I'd be willing to count it as a win. 

Top 5 by Status

Robert Prevost (moderate, US)
Lazzaro You Heung-sik (soft liberal, South Korea)
Arthur Roche (liberal, UK)
Jean-Marc Aveline (soft liberal, France)
Claudio Gugerotti (soft liberal, Italy)

Top 5 for Information Control

Anders Arborelius (soft conservative, Sweden)
Pietro Parolin (liberal, Italy)
Víctor Fernández (liberal, Argentina)
Gérald Lacroix (moderate, Canada)
Joseph Tobin (liberal, USA)

Top 5 for Coalition Building Capacity

Luis Antonio Tagle (soft liberal, Philippines)
Ángel Fernández Artime (soft liberal, Spain)
Gérald Lacroix (moderate, Canada)
Fridolin Besungu (soft conservative, Congo)
Sérgio da Rocha (soft liberal, Brazil)

 

Chalk one up for the networks people. www.unibocconi.it/en/news/netw...

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— Kieran Healy (@kjhealy.co) May 11, 2025 at 1:05 PM

Bradley Myers Named Interim Dean of North Dakota Law

Professor and Associate Dean Bradley Myers has been named interim dean of University of North Dakota School of Law effective July 1.  Myers joined the faculty as a visiting assistant professor in 2001 and holds a JD from University of Oregon and an LL.M. from NYU.

Southern Gothic

"Delta Dawn," written by Larry Collins and Alex Harvey, is best known for then 13-year old Tanya Tucker's 1972 hit, but it was actually recorded a year earlier by Bette Midler on her first album The Divine Miss M. Midler grew up about as far from the Mississippi Delta as possible in the U.S., in a Jewish family in Honolulu; her professional debut was in Fiddler on the Roof. The Australian Helen Reddy, who grew up even farther from Mississippi, also had a hit with "Delta Dawn" in 1973. Bobbie Gentry wrote and released "Ode to Billie Joe" in 1967. A smash hit, it reached number one on Billboard's Hot 100; remarkably, it also charted on the Adult Contemporary, Country, and R&B lists. Gentry has never revealed what was thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge. Tony Joe White's "Polk Salad Annie" (or sometimes "Poke Salad") charted at number 8 in 1969. It was a regular feature of Elvis Presley's live sets. White also wrote "Rainy Night in Georgia," which he didn't release as a single. It was a major hit for Brook Benton.

Child Trade or Adoption? South Korea Halts Fraud Investigation

NPR has the story, here:

South Korea's government investigation into human rights violations in past international adoptions, which led to a landmark admission of government responsibility in March, has ground to a halt. . . .

South Korea is one of the leading countries that sends children abroad for adoption. According to official data, nearly 170,000 babies have been adopted from South Korea since 1955, while experts suspect the actual number is higher. Sixty-five percent of them went to the United States. . . .

The commission found that adoption agencies sent away babies as "abandoned children" when they in fact they were missing children or had parents. The South Korean government gave the agencies a free hand, through legislation and neglect, to collect adoption fees and donations in what the commission called a "child trade."

Read the whole thing here. 

“South Korea is one of the leading countries that sends children abroad for adoption. According to official data, nearly 170,000 babies have been adopted from South Korea since 1955, while experts suspect the actual number is higher. Sixty-five percent of them went to the United States.”

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— Kim Krawiec (@kimkrawiec.bsky.social) May 6, 2025 at 2:00 PM

Jeffrey Dobbins Named Dean of Willamette Law

Willamette University has announced that Jeffrey Dobbins is its law school's new dean.   He joined the law school in 2006 and has been serving as interim dean.  Dobbins, who holds a JD from Duke, took over in May.

Adam Chilton Named Dean of University of Chicago Law

The University of Chicago Law School has announced that Adam Chilton will be its next dean.  He joined the faculty in 2014.  Chilton, who holds a JD and a Ph.D in Political Science from Harvard, will take over on July 1.

Telman on NIL and the Iamaleava Brothers

Over at ContractsProfBlog, Jeremy Telman has an interesting post on the current state of NIL concluding that "the center cannot hold" and urging a move to a development league model:

If we were to move to the Development League model, following every other country on the planet, young athletes can still get a college education while playing, but they will be actual, professional athletes, earning a living wage or better. And when they are not professional athletes during the off-season, they will be students, subject to the same expectations as other students, enriching both education and athletics without enriching the people who for decades have been exploiting college athletes and taxpayer dollars. A man can dream.

Read the whole post here. 

Selling Buddha

The BBC has the story, here: 

"Are the relics of the Buddha a commodity that can be treated like a work of art to be sold on the market?" wonders Naman Ahuja, a Delhi-based art historian. "And since they aren't, how is the seller ethically authorised to auction them?
"Since the seller is termed the 'custodian', I would like to ask – custodian on whose behalf? Does custodianship permit them now to sell these relics?"

Chris Peppé, great-grandson of William, told the BBC the family looked into donating the relics, but all options presented problems and an auction seemed the "fairest and most transparent way to transfer these relics to Buddhists".

 

“"Are the relics of the Buddha a commodity that can be treated like a work of art to be sold on the market?" wonders Naman Ahuja, a Delhi-based art historian. "And since they aren't, how is the seller ethically authorised to auction them?”

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— Kim Krawiec (@kimkrawiec.bsky.social) May 6, 2025 at 3:38 AM