Last academic year’s HLS Beyond programming included technology, finance, music, current events

‘HLS Beyond’ was developed by the Harvard Law School Library and is an innovative program that seeks to equip HLS students with ideas and skills that expand their humanity as citizens and future leaders in the legal field and beyond. Through smaller-scale, interactive sessions led by faculty, alumni, staff, and students themselves, the HLS student body, and other members of the Harvard community, are invited to tackle concepts and practical skills at the forefront of law, technology, politics, and even the arts. Through trainings, workshops, modules, and discussions, HLS Beyond brings students together and expands the horizon of what they should be thinking about as they prepare for a legal career. 

The 2024-2025 season of HLS Beyond programming featured a variety of subject matter and skills-based learning opportunities, as well as new collaborations with the HLS Dean of Students (DOS), Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society (BKC), Harvard Kennedy School (HKS); and other student and alumni-initiated programming.  

Unfortunately for HLS Beyond, our dynamic jazz band leader Cosimo Fabrizio (J.D. ’25), who spear-headed the ‘Jazz Night in Langdell’ series with HLS Beyond, graduated in May. HLS Beyond Program Manager Emily Neill is now in talks with other student musicians to continue a program of music exposure/education for HLS students.   

In collaboration with BKC and Professor Alan Raul, HLS Beyond held a reading group on TechReg, which tracked and discussed emerging tech policy from the new federal administration, during six meetings over the spring semester. Prof. Raul proved a well-connected affiliate who brought many guests to the conversations.  

BKC co-founder Charles Nesson ran a workshop for students on the future of classroom speech featuring his constructive discourse app Nymspace; and Nieman-Berkman Klein Fellow Ben Reininga engaged students in workshopping his research on what makes users trust news videos given the current climate of distrust for legacy media outlets and the rise of social media.  

In perhaps the most attention-grabbing session of the season, Lawrence Lessig and Larry Schwartztol engaged in a session, just before the November election, entitled “How to Protect a Presidential Election” based on Lessig’s new book, How to Steal a Presidential Election. Students were riveted and had many questions for the two discussants as they explored possible cracks in the US voting system and opportunities for legal redress post-election.  

DOS co-sponsored a workshop on the ever-popular topic of personal finance featuring Dr. Darla Bishop; and Student Financial Services (SFS) co-sponsored a session on real estate ownership and investment with AccessLex Institute’s Director of Financial Education Derek Brainard.  

Master of Laws (LL.M.) students Florence Seghers (LL.M. ’25) and Stefan Heiss (LL.M. ’25) put together a panel discussion on comparative AI regulations in the EU and US; and alumnus Lowry Yankwich (J.D. ’22) ran a two-part workshop on how to create and produce a podcast, which featured both interview and storytelling techniques as well as hands-on software and hardware instruction.  

Visiting HKS Professor John Tien, who has worked in the Department of Homeland Security and the multiple agencies it oversees across four administrations, led an interactive session with students on security in the 21^st century.  

Visiting Professor of Law Michael Stein led a session on Disability Issues in the Practice and Teaching of Law. Cyberlaw Clinic’s Alejandra Caraballo and the HLS LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic’s Deborah Lolai led a conversation and discussion about current legal challenges and civic engagement strategies regarding transgender rights. And HLS Library’s Debbie Ginsberg ran sessions in the fall and spring terms covering How to Use Word Like a Lawyer, and how to use (current) AI to do legal research (the pros and cons).  

Lecturer on Law Arevik Avedian presented a program with HLS student Felicia Caten-Reines (J.D. ’25) on policy implications of good empirical analysis—including data quality check and cleaning, best practices of creating and sharing replication data and code, and data analysis and visualization. They produced this work as part of an impactful report co-authored with researchers from HLS, Harvard Medical School, and Physicians for Human Rights entitled “’Endless Nightmare’: Torture and Inhuman Treatment in Solitary Confinement in U.S. Immigration Detention.” 

The last program of the year was the always-popular faculty panel Why I Changed My Mind, which this year featured Professors Noah Feldman and Lucie White, and visiting professor and former solicitor general of the United States Elizabeth Prelogar, who discussed, among other things, the legal and practical problems that can arise from the universal remedy of the nationwide injunction, a judicial practice recently curtailed by the US Supreme Court.  

The following programs are being planned for the 2025-2026 academic year:  

• Discussion of Richard Primus’ book, The Oldest Constitutional Question, featuring Primus and Prof. Feldman
• Conversation with HKS Professor Danielle Allen about issues raised in her article “America and Its Universities Need a New Social Contract” in The Atlantic
• Student workshop using the bipartisan quiz game Tango, designed by psychology Professors Joshua Green and Lucas Woodley, and proven to build bridges among those with varying viewpoints (currently used as part of Harvard College’s freshman orientation)
• Many more programs to be announced. 

For more details on HLS Beyond, including program suggestions, visit hlsbeyond.law.harvard.edu/