Faculty co-organizer Andrew Jordan received a major conference grant from the UI Arts and Humanities Initiative for the symposium, which will take place September 17.
Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Written by: Gloria Kosir

The Iowa Law Review will hold its biennial symposium, “Philosophy at Trial,” on Sept. 17, 2026, in Iowa City. The one-day symposium will explore how philosophical ideas shape legal doctrine, judicial decision-making, and the pursuit of justice. 

Associate Professor Andrew Jordan received a major conference grant from the Arts & Humanities Initiative (AHI) to host Philosophy at Trial. He is serving as a faculty organizer for the symposium along with Mihailis Diamantis, the Ben V. Willie Professor in Excellence, and Stephanie Patridge, visiting professor and philosopher in residence. 

The trio also directs Law & Philosophy at Iowa, an initiative that aspires to become a Midwestern hub and resource for research, education, and engagement into all aspects of legal theory. 

“I would like to draw more attention to the fact that there are philosophical issues that are implicit, or even sometimes explicit,” Jordan said. “People sometimes think that philosophy is this kind of esoteric discipline, and it’s a nice way of reminding people that, actually, the methods and concepts of philosophy have very substantial applications—like Supreme Court decisions.”

The symposium will examine philosophical issues at the heart of recent Supreme Court jurisprudence through three panels: State Power and Legitimacy; Constitutional Rights and the Relevance of History and Tradition; and Interpretation and Legal Content. The panels will be moderated by Amin Ebrahimi Afrouzi (Peking University, formerly UCLA), Samantha Godwin (Yale), and Mohammad Khalilzadeh (Illinois).

Invited speakers include: 

  • Emad Atiq (Cornell) 

  • Brian Bix (Minnesota)  

  • Michael Cecil (Gonzaga) 

  • Claire Finkelstein (Penn)  

  • Stephen Galoob (Tulsa)  

  • Heidi Hurd (Illinois) 

  • John Kang (New Mexico)  

  • Michael Moore (Illinois)  

  • Susan Provenzano (Georgia State)  

  • Connie Rosati (Texas)  

  • Bill Watson (Illinois)  

  • Benjamin Zipursky (Fordham) 

The symposium will conclude with a keynote from Lawrence Solum, Professor of Law & Dean's Research Chair and director of the Center on the Structural Constitution at Texas A&M University School of Law. The keynote and Dean Todd Pettys’ welcome address will take place at 5 p.m. in the Senate Chamber of the Old Capitol Museum.

Though most of the symposium will be hosted in-person at the Boyd Law Building, virtual attendance is available. Register online to attend.

The symposium pieces will be published in Issue 5 of Volume 112 of the Iowa Law Review in July 2027. They will be available on the Symposium webpage.

For questions, contact the Iowa Law Review symposium editor, Abigail Bylund, at abigail-bylund@uiowa.edu.