Study

The course will take the place of the Student Scholarship Workshop of past years, which did not offer academic credit, and is intended for students potentially interested in careers in academia and/or in publishing work in a scholarly publication. 

Legal scholars spend a great deal of time writing and presenting, and this course will allow students to develop both of these skills.  On the writing front, this workshop will help demonstrate the differences between writing as a law student and writing as a legal scholar and will aid students in making this transition.  Students taking the course for two credits will be able to work on writing projects with the goal of developing a publishable piece of writing.   On the presenting front, students will participate in scholarly workshop presentations as both members of the audience (both one- and two-credit options)—who are providing comments and feedback—and as presenters themselves (the two-credit option).  Legal scholars present their work, because the writing process—which can sometimes be perceived as a solitary endeavor—is a collaborative process. 

Students interested in enrolling are asked to submit a statement of interest to Professor Veronica Root Martinez no later than November 3. This course is open to 2L, 3L, LLM and SJD students, with priority given to students graduating in the spring of 2024. Students will be assessed on meaningful engagement with and comment on presented scholarship, and for those enrolled for two credits, their own writing and presentation of their work.

Application information: 
Students must apply to participate in this course during the registration process.  The application should include a paragraph that addresses the following:

• Are you a 2L, 3L, LLM or SJD student?
• Are you hoping to take this class for one or two credits?
• If you are interested in taking the course for one credit, please share the basis of your interest in learning more about legal scholarship. 
• If you are interested in taking the class for two credits, in addition to sharing your interest in learning more about legal scholarship, please indicate whether you be revising an existing writing project or writing a new project?
  • If you are revising an existing draft, please include a copy of that draft.  Please include a description of how you hope to revise the piece.
  • If you are going to write a new project, please provide an outline of the project which includes: (i) the research problem, (ii) the proposed thesis, (iii) a rough outline of the paper.
  • Please indicate if you are going to be using this project as your Substantial Research and Writing Project.  Note, that only new writing projects may exercise this option.
  • Please recommend two faculty members at Duke Law to invite to your presentation.  Ideally, these individuals will be in the scholarly area of your project.