Penn, Michelle

Teaching Assistant Professor and Head of Faculty Services

Positions

Prof. Penn's work focuses on legal research instruction and reference. As a reference librarian she assists library patrons, including students, faculty, and the public, with legal research. Her own scholarly research is primarily focused on the role of the Soviet Union in the development of modern international criminal law.

LAWS 5646 - Foundations of Legal Research
Primary Instructor - Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
Designed to move students from the brief introduction to legal research offered in the first-year legal writing classes to the problem-centered research students will perform starting in the summer after their first year. Provides students with a conceptual understanding of the organization and connectivity of legal authority and with instruction in research methodology at both the project and resource levels.
LAWS 6836 - Special Topics in Legal Research
Primary Instructor - Fall 2024
Builds upon first-year legal research problem solving skills by exposing students to the nuances of research topics in a specialized topic and tracking related doctrinal classes, e.g., environmental and natural resources law.