Indian Law at Harvard Law School
Oneida Nation Professorship of Indian Law
Harvard Law School has one of the most developed Indian law programs in the Northeast. The Oneida Nation recently endowed a Professorship of Indian Law that sponsors one visiting Indian Law professor each year. So far we have hosted noted Indian law professors Rob Williams, Carole Goldberg, Alex Skibine, and Gerald Torres.
This year we are hosting Professor Kevin Washburn, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. His teaching and research interests include American Indian Law, administrative law, criminal law and procedure, gaming law, and property. Professor Washburn’s professional experience includes time at the U.S. Department of Justice and as a federal prosecutor in New Mexico.
Each year the Oneida Indian Law Visiting Professor teaches the basic Federal Indian Law course and a seminar. Previous seminars have included Current Issues in Indian Law, Tribal Legal Systems, and Social Movements, Law Stories and Law Making. This year Professor Washburn is teaching Gaming Law and the 1L Criminal Law course in addition to Federal Indian Law. Within the next few years, one of these professors will be selected to permanently chair the Oneida Professorship.
Indian Law Your First Year
If you’d like a taste of Indian Law your first year, you can take Federal Indian Law as your spring elective or participate in a first-year reading group on tribal sovereignty hosted by Professor Joseph Singer, a tenured professor and co-editor of the 2005 edition of Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law.
Indian Law Your 2L or 3L Year
As an upperclassman, you can enroll in Federal Indian Law, the Indian Law seminars, and/or the winter Indian Law clinical course with the Native American Rights Fund. This course is being offered for the first time in the winter of 2008.