Professor Abi Hassen contributes to pioneering scholarship at AALS Symposium

CARLISLE, Pa.—Professor Abi Hassen will present at the “AALS Symposium: Impact, Excellence, Resilience—Contemporary Views on Pioneering Legal Education Scholarship,” co-hosted by New York Law School and the Journal of Legal Education, on October 8.

Hassen and co-author Professor Lisa Lucile Owens will share their work, “After the End of History in Legal Education.” Building on Francis Fukuyama’s “end of history” thesis, the project argues that decades of legal pedagogy were shaped by the assumption of long-term global institutional stability and eventual convergence on the American model. Today, those assumptions are in contention and affect legal education. Drawing from courses such as “Professional Responsibility” and “Law & Emergency,” Hassen connects this research to his teaching, emphasizing how law students can critically confront real and perceived threats to the rule of law and prepare to engage with the contingent, often unstable systems they will enter—and potentially reshape—as lawyers.

The symposium highlights pioneering approaches to legal education and scholarship at a moment of institutional and societal transformation. Sponsored by the Journal of Legal Education and New York Law School, this national gathering provides a prestigious platform for examining how law schools can adapt to polarization, democratic strain, and legitimacy crises while cultivating the next generation of legal professionals.

Abi Hassen is a visiting assistant professor of law at Penn State Dickinson Law, where he has taught "Professional Responsibility," "Law in Emergency," and "Trial Advocacy." His research examines the implications of institutional dynamics on race/racism, civil liberties, and the rule of law.