Chicago-Kent College of Law's Professor Christopher W. Schmidt has been elected to a three-year term on the Board of Trustees for the Law and Society Association. The association is an interdisciplinary organization dedicated to analyzing law through social scientific, interpretive, and historical lenses across various social contexts.
Professor Schmidt emphasized the importance of understanding how law interacts with other disciplines. “Law never operates in a vacuum,” he stated. “Law is always informed by and affecting things outside of formal legal institutions.”
The association brings together experts from diverse fields such as sociology, economics, political science, and anthropology. “There are people from all different disciplines—sociologists, economists, political scientists, anthropologists—pretty much from across the board,” Schmidt noted.
Schmidt's academic focus includes the relationship between social movements, legal institutions, and constitutional change during the twentieth century. He is currently authoring a book about the history of the U.S. Supreme Court and its evolving role in American politics.
Beyond his duties at Chicago-Kent, Schmidt serves as a research professor at the American Bar Foundation (ABF). At ABF, he has been editing their scholarly journal "Law & Social Inquiry" for ten years.
Reflecting on his new role with the Law and Society Association, Schmidt expressed his commitment to fostering opportunities for newcomers in academia. “As we move through our academic careers," he said, "it’s important to try and step up and play roles where you can help guide the future direction of different institutions."