John Mercer Langston Annual Writing Workshop
June 27-29, 2024
Paper Submission Deadlines
- Abstracts due: May 17
- Full drafts due: May 31
About the Workshop
Langston is happy to be partnering with the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago to host our Annual Writing Workshop on June 27-29, 2024. This event will also commemorate the 15th Anniversary of Langston.
The Annual Writing Workshop is our flagship event every year. Across this three-day event, dozens of scholars and Langston members convene to discuss their scholarly projects, participate in career-building programming, and conduct the business of the organization.
For participants looking to present their work, Langston provides a unique workshop experience that dedicates nearly an hour to each author with multiple assigned commentators. The audience at large is also presumed to have read each piece and provides further oral and written feedback. This format ensures that each presenting scholar receives individualized attention on their draft from experts in their field. The Workshop typically also includes plenary discussions and keynote addresses on topics such as navigating to tenure, publishing books, and engaging with the news media.
Special attention is given to aspiring law professors and those looking to join the legal academy. Langston prides itself as a welcoming forum where dozens of scholars have presented their work, found success on the job market, and matriculated to become tenure-track and clinical professors.
Among all of these formal structures, the Annual Writing Workshop has also become an organic community that has built and maintained a community of Black scholars in the legal academy. Perhaps as important as the development of scholarly rigor are the conversations over meals and between presentations with fellow scholars confronting the same kinds of professional situations. Untold numbers of book projects, co-written articles, mentorship relationship, lateral opportunities, and the like have come from the networking opportunities and warm community of Langston.