Women, Law, and Leadership (de Silva de Alwis)
Faculty
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| Rangita de Silva de Alwis Senior Adjunct Professor of Global Leadership rdesilva@law.upenn.edu |
Additional Information
Skills Training
Oral Presentations
Team Projects
Expository Writing
Grading
50% Paper,
50% Other (Half the grade will be for interviews in class. )
No
Class meets in person.
Course Continuity
Students are encouraged to stay home if you are ill or experience flu-like symptoms. If you miss a class for any reason, it is still your responsibility to make up the work missed.
I offer the following to students who miss class due to illness:
- Class sessions are regularly recorded. I will make these recordings routinely available on the course site to everyone in the class.
Meeting Times/Location
T 12:50PM - 2:50PM
Silverman Hall 280
Category
Seminar
Credits
3.0
Women Law and Leadership Class
Rangita de Silva de Alwis Associate Dean of International Affairs University of Pennsylvania Law School rdesilva@law.upenn.edu Office Hours: Tuesdays 6:00-7:00pm and by appointment
This THREE-credit seminar is for law students who aspire to leadership positions in public and private settings and is meant to address the under-examination of the leadership role of women lawyers in addressing the challenges of our time, including systemic inequalities, and intersectional bias. Western civilization’s vision of a leader grew out of heroic epics: The Iliad and The Odyssey- a brave warrior leading by example in the Trojan War. The warrior/leader has taken hold of our public conscience, but this idea that leadership is a divine or masculine trait has long been debunked. At a time of global public reckoning, more must be done to elevate women as leaders in the public conscience. Primarily through the readings of the eminent legal scholar Deborah Rhode, we will critically examine the model of women lawyers as statesmen and leaders in the world. Despite evidence-based research that women's leadership is smart macroeconomics, unequal caregiving responsibilities, conscious and unconscious gender bias, stereotypes, and exclusion from professional development networks, reinforce women's underrepresentation in leadership both in public and private. History, too, has given primacy to powerful leadership positions of male lawyers and rendered invisible women in the law. Rhode stresses that we cannot address the problem at the individual level; instead, she argues that we need broad-based strategies that address the deep-seated structural and cultural conditions facing women. We will explore the work of Lani Guinier's 1994 article “ Becoming Gentlemen: Women’s Experiences at One Ivy League Law School,” published in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, What has changed and what remains unchanged in the last three decades?
Students will critically evaluate traditional leadership theories through an intersectional lens: including the "Great Man" theory of leadership; Max Weber's theory of charismatic leadership; transformational vs. transactional leadership; Joseph Nye's theory of soft power/hard power leadership; Heifetz’s adaptive leadership, David Wilkins's theory of "Royal Jelly" in leadership, and Joan William's "Bias Interrupted." Drawing on a broad range of interviews with leading women in law, and public life students will examine leadership, and what women lawyers and leaders have done and continue to do to advance the greater public good. Through this examination, we hope to elevate women's leadership to a higher intellectual plane - and help shape a more inclusive research agenda for the next generation of leaders, leadership scholars and practitioners.
International and Comparative Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of international and comparative law, both substantively and procedurally; Perform legal analysis in the context of international and comparative law; Communicate effectively on topics related to international and comparative law; Demonstrate an understanding of the role of international and comparative law, and their interconnection with domestic law.
Family Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of family law; Perform legal analysis in the context of family law; Communicate effectively on topics related to family law; Demonstrate an understanding of how family law affects other areas of law.
Equity and Inclusion Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of the varied legal aspects of equity and inclusion; Perform legal analysis in the context of topics related to equity and inclusion; Communicate effectively on the legal aspects of equity and inclusion; Demonstrate an understanding of how equity and inclusion are connected to and affected by a wide variety of legal and regulatory structures and doctrines.