Dean Melanie Leslie has announced the creation of a new leadership position at Cardozo to support curricular changes adopted by the faculty earlier this year. Professor Peter Markowitz will become the inaugural Associate Dean of Equity in Curriculum and Teaching, starting the role this summer. Professor Markowitz will oversee the implementation of additions to the curriculum and faculty training on issues of race, implicit bias and cultural competency.

“Peter’s experience fighting for immigrant justice and his passion for equity in the law make him the perfect choice for this position," said Dean Leslie. "It is critical that we develop new pedagogical approaches that squarely address the historical underpinnings of race and racism in legal doctrine.”

Associate Dean Markowitz will work with faculty members on a number of initiatives, including developing courses to satisfy Cardozo’s new upper-level race and the law requirement, facilitating faculty discussion sessions regarding, and monitoring steps toward, increasing the attention given to race and equity in standard law school courses, creating new upper-level courses on race and the law, and organizing faculty implicit-bias training sessions.

“I am excited to work with my colleagues to address issues that have long been neglected in too many  law school classrooms,” said Professor Markowitz. “We in the legal community must all work to confront the discrimination and structural racism built into our legal system and to produce lawyers with a deep understanding of how racism has been perpetrated through many of our laws and legal institutions.”

Professor Markowitz will be a member of the dean’s leadership team and a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group, helping formulate policy and creating a climate that is welcoming and supportive for all members of the community.

Professor Markowitz is the founding faculty member and co-director of the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic at Cardozo. He is a leading advocate for immigration law reform and has played a central role in creating the nation’s first public defender system for detained immigrants. He helped develop the Immigrant Justice Corps and pioneered the legal concept of sanctuary laws, which allow flexibility for cities that wish to disentangle themselves from federal deportation efforts.