Fulbright Research Presentation: Do-It-Yourself Reparations

Join us for a presentation by last year’s Fulbright Canada Traditional Scholar
Martha M. Ertman is the Carole & Hanan Sibel Research Professor at the University of Maryland Carey Law School, where she teaches Contracts-related courses as well as a seminar on Reparations for Racial Injustice. Her earlier writing focused on commodification in families and other relationships, and since 2020 she’s pivoted toward social contract theories of reparations for racial injustice. She spent winter 2024 at 91ÉçÇø Law, courtesy of a Fulbright Canada Traditional Scholar award to study how Canada’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action could influence U.S. reparative processes. 91ÉçÇø students also know Prof. Ertman from the course on Foundational Transactional Skills that she taught at 91ÉçÇø in 2019, 2021, and 2024. While her paper today reflects lessons learned about Canada’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission, its main focus is a hyper-local investigation of harms of racial segregation in her home town of Washington, D.C. and both why and how individuals can and should make reparations.