����̽��

December 19, 2025

Faculty Appearances: November Highlights

Our November faculty digest highlights Southwestern scholars whose work is shaping courts, campuses,  national media, and beyond.

Luke Boso

• On November 6, Luke’s most recently published full-length Article, , 66 Boston College Law Review 295 (2025), was cited by Judge James L. Dennis in his partial concurrence in , 157 F.4th 775 (5th Cir. 2025). This case concerned a First Amendment challenge to a Texas law regulating “sexually oriented performances on public property and in the presence of minors.” Judge Dennis directly quoted Luke’s piece for the proposition that drag performances constitute “expressive conduct” warranting free speech protection. 

Michael Epstein

• On November 18, Michael gave the invited keynote address to the Europe-wide conference: . Michael’s address, Information Sovereignty: A Content-Neutral Approach to Countering Foreign Disinformation Campaigns, was informed by his experience as a Fulbright specialist in Slovenia last summer. 

• On November 18, Michael was the featured guest on the GOV.SI Podcast for the Republic of Slovenia’s Ministry of Communication. Michael sat for an hour-long video interview with Slovenian media personality Zoran Potič, and the two spoke about a number of media and online issues in Europe, including foreign information threats.
• On November 4, Michael participated in the  at the University of Paris I, Sorbonne-Pantheon. In his talk, Focusing on the Foreign: Taking the Information out of Disinformation, Michael argued that “false designation of origin” should be understood as the salient disinformation component in foreign manipulation campaigns—not the information itself.

• On October 27, Michael gave an invited presentation during the October 2025 meeting of the . Michael’s remarks focused on media information literacy initiatives specifically designed to address foreign information manipulation and interference campaigns in Europe.
• On October 23, Michael gave a presentation at the Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law in Highland Heights, Kentucky. Michael’s talk, Fighting Disinformation without Censorship: A Content-Neutral Approach to Online Influence Campaigns, stemmed from his work-in-progress summarizing the research from his 2025 Fulbright specialist project in Slovenia.
• On October 21, Michael spoke at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law. At this event, organized by the Federalist Society, Michael participated in a debate with faculty and students on the topic: The Future of Disinformation Regulation.

Andrea Freeman

• On November 21, Andrea participated in a virtual interdisciplinary workshop sponsored by the Utrecht University and hosted by the Freie Universitat in Berlin, Germany: . Andrea presented her work on breastfeeding, race, and injustice.

Anahid Gharakhanian & Natalie Rodriguez

• On November 12,  about AccessLex’s partnership with Southwestern stemming from Anahid’s and Natalie’s waitlist interview project. The waitlist interview project has been a labor of love for both Anahid and Natalie since 2019, and they describe it in great detail in their previously published Article: , 107 Minnesota Law Review 2431 (2023). Anahid notes that a “couple of parts aren’t quite accurate” in the Law.com piece (the reporter has been notified), but the positive publicity is nevertheless excellent for Southwestern.

Andrew Gilden

• On November 19, Andrew virtually attended the  as part of the Queering Private Law Project at King’s College London, Dickson Poon School of Law. For this inaugural event, Andrew participated in a round table discussion about applying queer methodology to the study of private law.
• In late October, Andrew attended the  at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri. The Workshop was co-sponsored by the Law, Identity & Culture initiative and was co-directed by Professors Rebecca Wanzo and Adrienne Davis. While there, Andrew gave a presentation on his proposed book project: Just Pleasure: Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll in the Legal Imagination.

Hila Keren

• On November 6, Hila’s and Danni Hart’s co-organized panel, Why Contract Law is Worth Having; A Myth Examined, launched at the  at the University of British Columbia’s Peter A. Allard School of Law in Vancouver, Canada. The other panel participants were Rebecca Stone (UCLA) and Sadie Blanchard (Notre Dame). Hila's remarks drew from a draft of a new book chapter: Contract Law and the Right to Make Contracts. In her presentation and draft, Hila takes a critical view of the freedom of contract currently adopted by the law governing contracts. She argues that, while many people indeed have vast freedom, others face a limited ability to make contracts absent protection from the body of law designed to secure this right.

Faisal Kutty

• On November 23, Faisal was a featured speaker at the Canadian Council of Indian Muslims Annual Gala in Toronto, Ontario. Faisal spoke on the theme of Constitutional Courage Beyond Borders: A Lawyer’s Case for Global Solidarity, and he shared the stage with Siddharth Varadarajan—founder of The Wire and former Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu (India’s second-largest daily newspaper).
• On November 4, Faisal was quoted in Newsweek for an Op-Ed entitled: The piece included Faisal’s analysis of the broader legal and democratic implications of Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory, including what his populist platform signals for governance, public policy, and power dynamics in New York City. Faisal further offered perspective on how the election reflects shifting voter priorities and growing challenges to establishment politics.

Andrea Ramos

• On November 19, Andrea co-organized and co-moderated Public Counsel’s law enforcement certifier roundtable discussion: U and T Visa Law Enforcement Certifier Roundtable: Working in Partnership to Support Immigrant Survivors. Law enforcement attendees included representatives from the California Attorney General’s office, L.A. Police Department, L.A. Sheriff's Department, L.A. County District Attorney’s office, L.A. City Attorney’s office, and L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services. During the discussion, speakers reviewed and discussed each law enforcement agency’s certification protocols and procedures.

Orly Ravid

• On November 14, Orly participated in Southwestern’s Journal of International Media & Entertainment Law event: Of the Press: Revisiting the Rights and Responsibilities of Journalists on the World Stage. Orly presented a draft of her work-in-progress: Power, Privilege, and Responsibility: Rethinking Press Protections in an Age of Misinformation.

John Tehranian

• On October 24, John attended the Critical Race Studies Symposium——at the UCLA School of Law. John’s presentation, (C)aptured: Copyright Law’s Authorship Doctrine, the Body Politic and the Politics of the Body, was part of a panel discussion that “interrogates how emerging technologies and intellectual property law reproduce racial hierarchies.” “Drawing on Critical Race Theory, decolonial scholarship, and feminist critiques, the panel reveals how technological and legal regimes—often framed as neutral or progressive—can reinforce subjugating systems.”
• On October 20, John participated in the Intellectual Property Colloquium held at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law, Hofstra University, in New York, New York. At the Colloquium, John gave a presentation stemming from his most recently published book: .

Rachel VanLandingham

• In mid-November, six Democratic members of Congress produced a video urging service members to do their duty and disobey illegal orders. The video sparked strong backlash from the Trump Administration. President Trump posted to Truth Social that the videos amounted to “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” Secretary Hegseth announced that the Pentagon is investigating Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, a Navy veteran, for possible violations of military law, and he threatened to recall the Senator to active duty to face military charges. The six Democratic lawmakers who contributed to the video recently shared that the FBI has requested interviews with each of them, signaling an apparent investigation into possible wrongdoing. Following the video’s release and the furor in its wake, Rachel has become a go-to media source for this story (and other Trump Administration actions) given her expertise in national security and military law. Her appearances are too numerous to individually list, but some examples include: Rachel’s TV and radio interviews on ; NPR’s  with Elsa Chang; CNN; ; ; and . Additionally, Rachel was quoted in numerous articles discussing these topics and their legal implications, including on , the , , and . In total, Rachel appeared in over twenty major media network and print interviews during November, demonstrating a remarkable resolve to speak out against lawlessness and promote the rule of law in uncertain times.
• On November 13-14, Rachel attended an invite-only conference at The University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law—co-sponsored by The University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL), Perry World House, and Georgetown’s Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession—entitled: . Rachel’s remarks focused on the intersection of free expression and the law of war during armed conflicts.

Dov Waisman

• On November 6, Dov attended the  at the University of British Columbia’s Peter A. Allard School of Law in Vancouver, Canada. At the Conference, Dov presented his current work-in-progress: A Puzzle About the​ Justifiability of Reliance in​ Promissory Estoppel. Dov’s “promissory estoppel theory” project explores how courts should assess the justifiability of reliance in promissory estoppel cases. His core claim is that, while no recovery should be permitted if the reliance was unforeseeable, there are cases in which unreasonable reliance should not be a complete bar to recovery.