6/01/04—Boston College Law School is pleased to announce that Professor Thomas Kohler has been named to the new position of Director of Law and Religion Programs for the Law School.

“This initiative represents both a confirmation of existing law school programs and an aspiration for the future,” said BC Law Dean John H. Garvey. “The Law School’s prominence in both academic and religious circles places us in a unique position to build our internal and external programs in this field. Our Jesuit and Catholic identity, including our goal to train not merely good lawyers but lawyers who lead good lives, leads us to develop a stronger focus on morals, ethics, justice, inquiries about the public interest, and the role of law and religion in our society.”

Professor Kohler presently serves on the University’s Strategic Planning Committee Task Force on Jesuit and Catholic Dimensions of the University’s Mission. His course at the Law School in Foundations of Western Law will anchor a developing curriculum at BC Law and complement initiatives taking place elsewhere in the University. He will also direct and develop an array of programs and activities including:

• Helping to organize and coordinate conferences, exhibits, and speakers on a variety of topics at the intersection of law and religion.
• Developing curricular offerings that give fuller attention to the subject of law and religion. Recent examples include our courses in Church and State, Law and Religion, Marriage: Law and Theory, Moral Responsibility of Lawyers, Jewish Law, and Canon Law.
• Closer cooperation with cognate Church and University academic programs, including the Philosophy and Theology Departments, the Office of the Vice President for Mission and Ministry, the Office of Campus Ministry, the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, the Center for Ignatian Spirituality, and the Institute for Administrators in Catholic Higher Education.
• Marketing and media outreach to attract students and publicize the Law School’s efforts in this area
• Recommendations to the Academic Dean and the Appointments Committee of adjunct, visiting, and permanent faculty who can contribute to our exploration of issues of law and religion.
• Cooperation with the Dean for Students’ Office in providing assistance to student organizations.
• Encouraging efforts, like the Sidebar program on vocational discernment scheduled for next August, that are concerned with the human development aspect of spirituality.

“I want to thank Tom for agreeing to contribute his talents to coordinate and improve our efforts in this area,” Dean Garvey said. “An internationally known scholar in the area of Catholic Social Thought, he is ideally suited to lead this initiative.”

Professor Kohler writes extensively about domestic and comparative labor and employment law issues; mediating institutions; and theories of civil society and personhood. He teaches a variety of labor and employment law courses as well as Foundations of Western Law. He has published extensively in prestigious journals both in the United States and abroad.

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