Welcome to the new and improved Public Service Blog at the Arkansas Journal of Social Change and Public Service!
After two years off, we’re back and ready to talk about the issues that impact us all.
Why a Public Service Blog?
The Journal is committed to providing a space for discussing a wide range of issues that affect the public. As a law review, the bulk of our effort goes into publishing longer academic pieces that explore important topics that are relevant to students, practitioners, and policymakers. Those pieces, however, are only part of the larger discourse around social change and public service. We created this blog to complement our academic publication, and to provide a broader forum where non-academic perspectives can participate in vital conversations.
Additionally, writing in a format that is purposefully aimed at a public audience is provides ample benefits for student authors. As Jack Goldsmith, Harvard Law School professor and founder of the Lawfare Blog, notes in his piece praising student law-blogging, there are many reasons for students to write for the public, including:
(a) to generate writing samples for various audiences (including judges and employers),(b) to develop expertise,
(c) to signal interest and expertise in a topic to a community of scholars or practitioners,
(d) to practice and thus improve one’s writing,
(e) the joy of discovery, or of figuring something out, or
(f) to have influence (even if that means nothing more than someone reading your work).
Finally, by soliciting blog posts from those outside of our immediate student body and faculty, we aim to connect the work of the Journal to a larger conversation. Striving for broader and deeper public engagement is key to participation in the important discussions of our time.
Who Writes for the Public Service Blog?
This blog will feature writers from diverse professional and academic backgrounds that interface with issues of public service, social justice, governance, and policy. You will find posts from professors, advocates, students, and wonks of all stripes. Of course, there will also be features produced by the Journal’s editorial board and student staff, all of whom are dedicated to discussing topics of public interest.
While the purpose of our blog is to share valuable ideas, rather than promote personal opinions, it is important to note that the views featured in the posts here are those of the writers and not of the Journal, the William H. Bowen School of Law, or UALR. As mentioned above, we are here to provide a forum for discussing ideas, and not to prescribe any particular approach to tackling the issues we face in our local, national, and global communities.
Enjoy!
-Zac Hale, Editor-in-Chief