ASSOCIATE DEAN DODGE ACCEPTS OFFER FROM UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA JOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIAL CHANGE TO PUBLISH ARTICLE
April 2025 — Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Assistant Professor of Law Jeffrey A. Dodge’s new article “Weaponizing Religion Against the Human Emotion of Empathy: A Call to Fight Coercive Settlement Attempts on the Merits” will be published in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change in early 2026.
The offer of publication included the following note about the article from the journal editors: “The piece generated a strong and timely discussion about conservative efforts to weaponize religious liberty claims against empathy-centered curricula. Our seminar participants appreciated your arguments on the nexus between empathy instruction, broader democratic and inclusive values, and how this situates the lawsuit within a broader campaign by groups like Moms for Liberty. Your perspective — as an LGBTQ+ parent — added depth and served as a call to protect educators and future generations. The message of your article resonated with everyone, and we unanimously voted to extend you an offer of publication.”
Jeffrey A. Dodge, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Assistant Professor of Law and Joseph H. Goldstein Faculty Scholar at Penn State Dickinson Law, has spent nearly 20 years in legal education. Dean Dodge has broad experience overseeing law school and University-level offices of student services, international programs, admissions, academic success, career services, and more. He has taught and presented on topics in the fields of family law, education law, international human rights, and LGBTQ+ inequality. His scholarship focuses on the intersection of educational access and minoritized communities. Dean Dodge is past chair of the Association of American Law Schools Student Services, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues, and International Legal Exchange sections. He has served on the national diversity committee of the Law School Admissions Council, as an American Bar Association accreditation site evaluator, and a three time director of the CLEO Pre-Law Summer Institute.