Temple University Beasley School of Law is gearing up for its annual conference, this year themed, “Bullying: Redefining Boundaries, Responsibility, and Harm. ”
The Feb. 23 event, which will run from 9:15 a.m.-6:15 p.m. in Klein Hall, 1719 N. Broad St., is sponsored by Temple Political & Civil Rights Law Review.
The conference is open to the public and will include opportunities to earn five substantive and one ethics Continuing Legal Education credits.
Temple Law’s first conference in 1997 focused on relationship recognition for same-sex couples, which was just beginning to get attention at that time.
Nancy Knauer, Temple law professor and director of the university’s D.C. Law & Public Policy Program, said the conference is designed to examine timely issues.
“The goal is to identify immerging issues in the area and then try and get as many national legal scholars and folks who are involved in the issue to come to Philadelphia,” Knauer said.
Last year’s symposium drew 175 attendees — a figure Knauer hopes to double.
The symposium was designed to take the attendee through the life journey of bullying — with workshops on bullying in elementary education, higher education, the workforce and aging services. It will also include a panel that will discuss the future of bullying and what can be done about it.
The event will feature more than 20 speakers, including federal policy director of the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network Shawn Gaylord, chair of Philadelphia Human Relations Commission Rue Landau, legislative counsel and administrative advocacy for the Human Rights Campaign Robin S. Maril and legal director of the Mazzoni Center David Rosenblum.
Knauer expects the event to bring more than just an understanding of bullying.
“What the symposium does is bring together individuals who have been working on various aspects of bullying and redefining bullying as behavior that is no longer acceptable and, in some instances, illegal,” she said. “We hope to make connections between these different aspects of bullying and hope that we will see what can be learned from bullying in the schools and apply it to the workplace and assisted living.”
Registration fees vary. General registrant admission is $150, non-attorney admission is $50 and non-Temple Law student admission is $40. Temple Law students, faculty and staff have free admission, but the free lunch is not included.
For more information on the symposium, visit www.law.temple.edu.