Events
Participatory Law Scholarship (PLS) Convening: Reconstructing Legal Knowledge From the Bottom Up
Friday, March 12, 2027
Philadelphia, PA
Call for Participants
We invite applications from legal scholars and experiential co-authors to participate in a Convening on Participatory Law Scholarship (PLS).
PLS brings together legal expertise and experiential expertise to produce legal scholarship collaboratively. It recognizes that people who have experienced, navigated, or been affected by legal systems possess forms of knowledge that can meaningfully shape legal research, analysis, and reform.
Building on the PLS framework developed by Rachel E. López, Kempis Songster, and Terrell Woolfolk, this Convening will bring together a small group of legal scholars and experiential co-authors to consider how participatory approaches can expand the possibilities of legal scholarship.
The Convening
Through panels, discussions, and collaborative workshops, participants will have the opportunity to share work, exchange ideas, and engage with others developing participatory approaches to legal scholarship. The Convening is intended not only to workshop individual projects but also to foster a broader community of scholars and experiential experts committed to this work.
Who Should Apply?
What began as a passion project has evolved into something more. We’re proud of where we’ve been and even more excited for what’s ahead. What sets us apart isn’t just our process—it’s the intention behind it. We take time to understand, explore, and create with purpose at every turn.
Selection
To facilitate meaningful collaboration, we are intentionally keeping the Convening small, and participants will be selected through an application process. We will consider the perspectives, experiences, projects, and questions that applicants would bring to the Convening, as well as their potential to contribute to the broader PLS community.
Travel Support & Accessibility
Limited funding is available to help with travel expenses for participants who do not have institutional support. Information about requesting support is included in the application. We are also committed to making the Convening accessible to all participants. Please let us know of any accommodation needs in your application or by contacting us directly.
Application
The application asks applicants to briefly describe their background, their engagement with participatory law scholarship, any current or potential co-authors, and what they hope to gain from and contribute to the Convening.
Applications are due Friday, December 4, 2026, and can be submitted here. We will notify applicants of decisions in early January 2027.
If you need another way to submit an application or have any other questions, please contact Elizabeth Rapkin at elizabeth.rapkin@temple.edu.
Past Events
Incorporating Lived Experiences with the Criminal Legal System in the Classroom
Association of American Law Schools (AALS) 2026 Annual Meeting
January 8, 2026
Participatory Law Scholarship
Stanford Legal Design Lab & Access to Justice Network Research Working Group
December 3, 2025
2025 Friel-Scanlan Lecture
No Justice Without Us: Participatory Law, Lived Realities, and the Making of Transformative Legal Futures
October 22, 2025
Faculty Workshop
If Lived Experience Could Speak: A Method for Repairing Epistemic Violence in Law & The Legal Academy
Centre for Applied Human Rights, University of York
September 27, 2024
Faculty Workshop
If Lived Experience Could Speak
Loyola Law School
April 4, 2024
Virginia Law Review Sixth Annual Symposium on “Participatory Law Scholarship: A Seat at the (Legal) Table”
The Demosprudential Potential of Participatory Law Scholarship
University of Virginia Law School
March 29, 2024
Participatory Law Scholarship: Reimagining Legal Academia
The Law and Political Economy (LPE) Project at Yale Law School
March 26, 2024
Author Talk
Participatory Law Scholarship & Regarding the Other Death Penalty
Columbia Law School
October 17, 2023
Second Annual Graciela Olivárez Latinas in the Legal Academy (“GO LILA”) Workshop
Participatory Law Scholarship
Stanford Law School
May 31, 2023
Faculty Workshop
Participatory Law Scholarship
Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
February 6, 2023
Panel
Participatory Law Scholarship
MAPOC/NEPOC 2022 Conference
October 21, 2022
Texas Law Review Symposium on “Mercy”
Redeeming Mercy
University of Texas at Austin, School of Law
January 17, 2024
Faculty Workshop
Participatory Law Scholarship
University of British Columbia, Allard Law
October 12, 2023
Eighth Amendment Workshop
Cardozo Law School
April 20-21, 2023
Faculty Workshop
Participatory Law Scholarship
University of Baltimore School of Law
January 19, 2023
The Role of Self-Narrative in Legal Scholarship
Association of American Law Schools (AALS) 2024 Annual Meeting
January 4, 2024
Faculty Workshop
Participatory Law Scholarship & Regarding the Other Death Penalty
Cardozo Law School
September 20, 2023
Workshop
Redeeming Legal Scholarship: Centering the Lived Experience of Non-Lawyers through Participatory Law Scholarship
Northwestern University Law Review & Drexel Law Review
February 2, 2023
Faculty Workshop
Participatory Law Scholarship
Tulane University School of Law
November 29, 2022