SIU LAW Dean Camille Davidson has a conversation with EDUP Legal - The Legal Education Podcast

In today’s episode, we welcome Camille M. Davidson, Dean, and Professor of Law at Southern Illinois University School of Law. Dean Davidson started as Dean amid the pandemic after serving as a judicial hearing officer for the State of North Carolina and as a tenured law professor and associate dean of academic affairs in faculty development in Charlotte, North Carolina.

This year Southern Illinois University School of Law, founded in the public interest to serve the public good, celebrates its 50th anniversary. Dean Davidson tells us that as part of the celebration, the school will host activities for the next 12 months, culminating with a gala in the spring of 2023. Dean Davidson shares with us that, as part of the celebration, they have showcased and celebrated the 166 alums that are serving or have served in the judiciary in a wall of judges.

Dean Davidson shares with us how she moved into legal academia, what prompted her to apply to be a dean, and how her experience has served her in being a dean. She gives us an insight into her priorities when she started her deanship, such as branding, diversity, and building a pipeline of students interested in law practice, and how those priorities have transpired throughout her deanship. Along with her priorities, she tells us about the joint JD and MD program they have at SIU and the courses she teaches.

Dean Davidson also shares her predictions for legal education in the upcoming decade. She tells us that she thinks we will see more schools going hybrid and online. She also tells us that legal education will have to figure out how to deliver in non-traditional ways while adjusting to the need to learn on the job and adapt to the next generation bar.

Listen to the podcast here