Call for Papers: Law Beyond Borders, 18th Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Conference [Ithaca, New York; 25-26 March 2027; Abstracts by 1 December 2026]

The Doctor of the Science of Law Association (JSDA) of Cornell Law School announces its 18th Graduate Conference in Legal Studies, themed Law Beyond Borders. The two-day inter-university conference is a forum for junior scholars to share current research projects in law and the social sciences, receive faculty input and discuss works in progress with peers. It accepts applications from around the world.

The conference opens with a Berger Keynote Speaker on a topic in international law and comparative studies, and will also offer professional talks on academic career paths in law schools in the United States and abroad, along with keynote lectures, professional development workshops and seminars. Further details are to be announced by the organisers.

The call invites emerging junior scholars to reimagine the contours of law across three kinds of boundary: between legal domains (for example, private and public law), between jurisdictions (comparative or international work), and between law and other disciplines (for example, law and sociology). The conference is interdisciplinary and welcomes participants from across the social sciences.

• Public International Law: the law on the use of force, the laws of armed conflict (IHL), international human rights law, the law of occupation, genocide, self-determination, jus cogens, arms exports and state responsibility, among others.
• Private International Law in a Digital World: jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of judgments, digital identity, online dispute resolution, cross-border data flows, smart contracts, international commercial arbitration, privacy, platform governance, agentic AI and open-source AI models.
• Comparative Law and Society: comparative work that goes beyond black-letter law through sociological, economic, historical, feminist and political perspectives, with particular encouragement for research on Asian law and society, across public law, private law and their intersection.
• Crime, Justice, and Society: restorative justice, victim participation, diversion, mediation, reparations, youth justice, transitional justice, indigenous practices, prosecutorial reform, alternatives to carceral responses, and the use of technology in restorative processes, access to justice and algorithmic bias.

Graduate students (JD, LLM, JSD), post-doctoral researchers, teaching fellows and recent graduates who are not tenure-track faculty members are eligible to apply. The conference accepts applications from around the world, so Indian LLM and doctoral researchers may apply.

• Submissions must be in English.
• An abstract of up to 500 words, with 3 to 4 keywords describing the research paper.
• A short bio of no more than 150 words, which will be added to the conference agenda if the paper is selected.
• File naming convention: (Last Name)_(First Name)_JSDA 2027_Paper Proposal.
• Proposals are selected on quality and connection with the conference themes.

Selected participants must submit the final paper by 15 February 2027 so that it can be shared with the other members of their panel and their discussant for feedback. The final paper should not exceed 10,000 words including footnotes and must be unpublished work. Papers already accepted for publication are considered as long as they have not yet been published and the author can still incorporate feedback from the conference.

The conference will be held in person at Cornell Law School in Ithaca, New York, on 25-26 March 2027. The call states no registration or submission fee, and the conference will cover meals and social events. Participants must seek independent funding for travel and accommodation; the organisers suggest approaching your own university or research institute for support.

Submit the paper proposal through the official Google Form linked on the call page by 1 December 2026. The form may ask you to sign in with a Google account. All applicants will be informed of the decision by 21 December 2026. Queries may be sent to jsda.law@cornell.edu.