The Unseen: Law, Invisibility, and the Margins of Social Policy (JLSP)
Schedule
Thu Mar 05 2026 at 09:00 am to 03:30 pm
UTC-06:00Location
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law | Chicago, IL
About this Event
Many of the most profound inequities in American life are unseen—not because they are small, but because our legal systems, institutions, and dominant narratives fail to recognize them.
This symposium examines how legal frameworks create and sustain invisibility through silence, bureaucracy, stigma, and structural design. It focuses on how that invisibility shapes reproductive rights, immigration rights, and housing rights. By bringing the “unseen” dimensions of bodily autonomy, migration and status, and housing instability into view, the symposium asks: What does the law fail to see? Whose experiences remain invisible? And what reforms are needed to make these realities legible and addressablewithin our legal system?
The symposium will run from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The program will include light refreshments in the morning, Panels I and II, a lunchtime keynote address, and Panel III, followed by a small reception.
This program is pending approval of 3.5 general CLE credits in Illinois. To receive credit, attendees must fill out an attendance log at or after the program, but no later than March 19th, 2026. Late requests for credit will not be accommodated. This program is only accredited in Illinois, but attendees may request an Illinois-format certificate to use to self-apply for credit in other states.
This symposium is supported in part by the Irving Gordon Symposia Fund, established in 1996 by the Gordon family, Northwestern alumni, and friends to honor the memory of Irving Gordon (Class of 1947) and a beloved faculty member of the Law School from 1966 until his death in 1994.
Agenda
🕑: 08:30 AM - 08:50 AM
Registration and Light Refreshments
🕑: 08:50 AM - 09:00 AM
Welcome & Opening Remarks
🕑: 09:00 AM - 10:20 AM
Panel I: The Unseen Body
Info: Rubloff 175
🕑: 10:30 AM - 10:40 AM
Break
🕑: 10:40 AM - 11:55 AM
Panel II: The Unseen Citizen
Info: Strawn Hall
🕑: 11:55 AM - 01:00 PM
Lunch and Keynote
Info: Strawn Hall
🕑: 01:00 PM - 01:15 PM
Break
🕑: 01:15 PM - 02:20 PM
Panel III: The Unseen Home
Info: Parillo Courtroom
🕑: 02:20 PM - 03:30 PM
Closing Remarks and Reception
Info: Parillo Courtroom
Where is it happening?
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, 375 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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