“Some countries are putting up border walls, making it harder for immigrants to enter. At the same time, cultures are erecting more and more conceptual borders, making it hard for us to have meaningful discussions.” In the words of Professor Art Cockfield, Law’93, these are the driving reasons for an upcoming conference that will see five Queen’s Law faculty members and the Dean join other leading scholars from around the world at Stanford Law School in California.

Stanford and Queen’s have partnered to host “Borders: Laws of Physical and Conceptual Space,” on March 6 and 7. This conference, co-organized by Cockfield and Stanford’s Professor Amalia Kessler, will be held on the partner school’s campus located in Silicon Valley near Palo Alto.

“Physical borders are obviously a very pressing legal concern all throughout the world but particularly in Western countries and certain Pacific Rim countries,” says Cockfield. “We want to help people think about all these real walls that inhibit refugees from crossing our borders.”

Then there’s the other phenomenon to address. “All these other conceptual borders – whether it’s elites versus non-elites or conservative- versus left-thinkers – are having an impact on laws throughout the U.S. and throughout the rest of world right now,” he adds.

The conference kicks off with opening remarks by Dean Mark Walters, Law’89, of Queen’s Law, and Stanford Law’s Dean Jennifer Martinez and renowned Professor Lawrence Friddman, whose 90th birthday will be celebrated at the event. 

Queen’s Law faculty will be contributing to four of the five sessions. Associate Dean (Graduate Studies and Research) Josh Karton will chair “Borders Between the Rural and the Urban: China, India, United States.” Professor Bev Baines, Law’73, will lead “Borders Between Religion and State: Israel, United States and Elsewhere.” The session “Borders in the Digital Age: Democracy, Markets & National Security” will be chaired by Professor Noah Weisbord.  
Professor Cherie Metcalf, Law’02, will be presenting a paper for the session “Borders Between Law and Culture: State, Society and Community.” Yet another session will feature a roundtable on borders and statehood in U.S. history. Friedman will deliver a lunchtime talk titled “Real and Imaginary Borders.”

This year’s “Borders” conference isn’t the first one featuring Queen’s Law faculty at Stanford. Three years ago, Cockfield and Friedman co-organized “What’s Law Got to Do with It? Examining the Role of Law in a Changing World.”

For more information and to register for “Borders: Laws of Physical and Conceptual Space,” visit Stanford Law’s website. 

By Lisa Graham