What are
we teaching our students when we require people of color to leave significant
parts of themselves outside the gates of the University?"—Mari
J. Matsuda
The title
of her speech for the NCORE 2001 conference (Seattle) was: WHO IS
EXCELLENT? THOUGHTS ON
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE, AND PROGRESSIVE IDENTITY
POLITICS
Background
Information
Professor
of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, Mari Matsuda is an "activist
scholar," who brings in the "outsiders" perspective.
A powerful practitioner of Critical Race Theory, she can also be credited
as one of its developers. Matsuda has lectured at every major university;
served as a judicial training consultant in countries as diverse as
Micronesia and South Africa, and her work is quoted by Supreme Court
Justices. For Matsuda, community is linked to teaching and scholarship.
She serves on national advisory boards of social justice organizations,
including the ACLU, the National Asian Pacific Legal Consortium, and
Ms. Magazine. By court appointment, she is a member of the Texaco Task
Force on Equality and Fairness. She was recognized by A Magazine as
one of the 100 most influential Asian Americans for her representation
of Manual Fragante accent discrimination case, and others.
Professor
Matsuda has written well-known articles on constitutional law and jurisprudential
issues. Three of her publications were ranked by a Yale Law School librarian
as among the "top ten most cited law review articles." Judge
Richard Posner, lists Mari Matsuda as among those scholars most likely
to have lasting influence. Book signing of her most recent book, co-authored
with Georgetown professor Charles Lawrence, We Won't Go Back: Making
the Case for Affirmative Action, and by Matsuda, Where is Your Body:
And Other Essays on Race Gender and the Law. |