Professor Kalsem joined the faculty of UC's College of Law in 2001. With Professor Verna Williams, she co-directs the university's joint-degree program in Law and Women's Studies, a pioneer program for which the College of Law is nationally known. Professor Kalsem teaches in the areas of commercial law, bankruptcy, feminist legal theory, and law and literature. In 2003, she received the Goldman Prize for Teaching Excellence.
Prior to joining the UC faculty, Professor Kalsem taught at the University of Iowa's College of Law and Department of English while completing her doctoral studies. Her interdisciplinary scholarship on 19th-century women and the law was supported by numerous fellowships and grants, including a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation Grant and an American Fellowship from the Association of University Women. Professor Kalsem continues to write in the areas of women's legal history and the cultural study of law. Most recently, she has written about issues of gender, race, and class in the contexts of bankruptcy reform and consumer protection.
Professor Kalsem has presented papers at national and international conferences, including meetings of the Law and Society Association and the Association of Law, Culture, and the Humanities. She has served as chair of the American Association of Law School's Section of Law and the Humanities and currently sits on the Executive Board of the Section.
Prior to teaching, Professor Kalsem practiced law in Chicago with the law firm Sidley & Austin.
Publications
Articles, Essays & Book Reviews
- Social Justice Feminism, 18 UCLA Women's L.J. ___ (2009) (with Verna L. Williams)
- Book Review, 25 J. Legal History 659 (2007) (reviewing Morris Kaplan, Sodom on the Thames: Sex, Love, and Scandal in Wilde Times (2005))
- Bankruptcy Reform and the Financial Well-Being of Women: How Intersectionality Matters in Money Matters, 71 Brook. L. Rev. 1181 (2006)
- Law, Literature, and Libel: Victorian Censorship of "Dirty Filthy" Books on Birth Control, 10 Wm. & Mary J. Women & Law 533 (2004)
- Looking for Law in All the "Wrong" Places: Outlaw Texts and Early Women's Advocacy, 13 S. Cal. Rev. Law & Women's Studies 273 (2004)
- Women's Work Is Never Done: Employment, Family, and Activism: An Introduction, 73 U. Cin. L. Rev. 361 (2004) (symposium) (with Verna L. Williams)
- Alice in Legal Wonderland: A Cross-Examination of Gender, Race, and Empire in Victorian Law and Literature, 24 Harv. Women's L.J. 221 (2001)
- In Defense of "Murderous Mothers": Feminist Jurisprudence in Frances Trollope's Jessie Phillips, 5 J. of Victorian Culture 179 (2000)
Presentations
- Social Justice Feminism, National Women's Studies Association Annual Conference, Cincinnati, Ohio (2008)
- Social Justice Feminism: Words, Movements, Theory, Practice, Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities, Berkeley, California (2008)
- Social Justice Feminism, Feminist Legal Theories and Feminisms Conference, University of Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland (2008)
- Bankruptcy Reform: Challenging Statutory Interpretations, Cincinnati Bar Association, Cincinnati, Ohio (2007)
- Social Justice Feminism: Historical Perspectives, Villanova University School of Law, Villanova, Pennsylvania (2007)
- Statutory Interpretation and the BAPCPA, Cincinnati Bar Association, Cincinnati, Ohio (2006)
- Still More Stories To Tell: Intimate Partner Abuse and Education, Keynote Address, Rape Crisis & Abuse Center Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, Ohio (2006)
- Barriers to Women's Financial Well-Being, Women's Leadership Conference, Oxford, England (2006)
- Bankruptcy Reform and the Financial Well-Being of Women, St. Louis University School of Law, St. Louis, Missouri (2006)
- Critical Perspectives on Commercial Law and Bankruptcy: A Re-Envisioned Reform Agenda, Tenth Annual Latcrit Conference, Puerto Rico (2005)
- Bankruptcy Reform and Consumer Protection: How Gender Matters In Money Matters, University of Iowa, Invited Speaker Series, Iowa City, Iowa (2005)
- An Intersectional Analysis of Bankruptcy Reform, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, Illinois (2005)
- Sex, Lies, and the Bankruptcy Code, Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities, Austin, Texas (2005)
- Law, Literature, and Libel: Victorian Censorship of ‘Dirty Filthy' Books on Birth Control, Law and Society Association, Chicago, Illinois (2004)
- Looking For Law in All the ‘Wrong' Places: Outlaw Texts and Early Women's Advocacy, Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and the Humanities, Hartford, Connecticut (2004)
- Outlaw Texts and Narrative Advocacy, Brigham Young University College of Law, Provo, Utah (2003)
- Women's Legal Herstories: Nineteenth-Century Publication of Private Wrongs, Subversive Legacies: Learning From History/Constructing the Future, University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas (2002)
- Outlaw Texts: Nineteenth-Century Novels That Don't Police, Law and Society Association, Vancouver, British Columbia (2002)
- Feminist Jurisprudence: A ‘Novel' Approach to Law and Literature, Law and Society Association, Chicago, Illinois (1999)
- ‘Delicate Matters For Mothers Alone': Family Planning in Jane Clapperton's Margaret Dunmore: or, A Socialist Home, Dickens Project Winter Conference, University of California, Riverside (1998)
- The Spectacle of White Queens: A Cross-Examination of Women, Law, Power, and Empire, Victorian Studies Association of Western Canada, University of Northern British Columbia, St. George, British Columbia (1997)
- In Defense of ‘Murderous Mothers': Feminist Jurisprudence in Frances Trollope's Jessie Phillips: A Tale of the Present Day, Midwest Modern Language Association, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1996)
- The Wife's Lament: A Riddle of Her Own, Medieval Association of the Midwest, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan (1995)
Courses
- Bankruptcy
- Feminist Jurisprudence
- Law, Literature & Feminism
- Secured Transactions
Summer 2009
Kristin presented In Contempt: 19th Century Women, Law, and Literature as part of the 13th Annual UC Faculty Summer Scholarship Series. Her article, Bankruptcy Reform and the Financial Well-being of Women: How Intersectionality Matters in Money Matters, 71 Brook. L. Rev. 1181 (2006), was cited in Andrew P. MacArthur, Pay to Play: The Poor's Problems in the BAPCPA, 25 Emory Bankr. Dev. J. 407 (2009).
June 2009
Kristin’s article, Bankruptcy Reform and the Financial Well-being of Women: How Intersectionality Matters in Money Matters, 71 Brook. L. Rev. 1181 (2006), was cited in Mitchell F. Crusto, Unconscious Classism: Entity Equality for Sole Proprietors, 11 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 215 (2009).
May 2009
Kristin’s article, Alice in Legal Wonderland: A Cross-Examination of Gender, Race, and Empire in Victorian Law and Literature, 24 Harv. Women's L. J. 221 (2001), was cited in Ruthann Robson, A Servant of One's Own: The Continuing Class Struggle in Feminist Legal Theories and Practices, 23 Berkeley J. Gender L. & Just. 392 (2008) (reviewing Alison Light, Mrs. Woolf and the Servants: An Intimate History of Domestic Life in Bloomsbury (2008)).
November 2008
The Freedom Center Journal, which is advised by Kristin, Verna Williams and Emily Houh, held a discussion of Pamela Bridgewater's article, Connectedness and Closeted Questions: The Use of History in Developing Feminist Legal Theory, dealing with reproductive rights and intersection of race, class, and gender.
Kristin's article, Looking for the Law in All the 'Wrong' Places: Outlaw Texas and Early Women's Advocacy", 13 S. Cal. Rev. Law & Women's Stud. 273 (2004), was cited in Renee Newman Knake, Beyond Atticus Finch; Lessons on Ethics and Morality from Lawyers and Judges in Postcolonial Literature, 32 J. Legal Prof. 37 (2008).
Summer 2008
Kristin's article, Social Justice Feminism, 19 UCLA Women's L.J. ___ (2008) (with Verna Williams), was cited in Megan Ryan, ed., Comments from the Spring 2007 Harvard Journal of Law & Gender Conference, 31 Harv. J. L. & Gender 378 (2008).
May 2008
Kristin's article, Social Justice Feminism (with Verna Williams) was accepted for publication in the UCLA Women's Law Journal and featured on Larry Solum's Legal Theory Blog.
April 2008
Kristin completed a new article, Social Justice Feminism (with Verna WIlliams). She and Verna presented Social Justice Feminism: Words, Movements, Theory and Practice at the 11th Annual Meeting Association for the Study of Law, Culture & the Humanities at Boalt Hall.
February 2008
Kristin attended the AALS Annual Meeting in New York City.
November 2007
Kristin's book review of Morris B. Kaplan, Sodom on the Thames: Sex, Love, and Scandal in Wilde Times, (Cornell University Press., 2005), was published in 25 Law & Hist. Rev. 659 (2007).
Kristin, Emily Houh, and Verna Williams organized and hosted the inaugural symposium of the Freedom Center Journal,
Reconstructions: Historical Consciousness and Critical Transformation. Speakers included:
- Pamela Bridgewater (American)
- Alfred Brophy (Alabama)
- Courtney Cahill (Roger Williams)
- James Campbell (Brown)
- Christine Zuni Cruz (New Mexico)
- Adrienne Davis (North Carolina)
- Katherine Franke (Columbia)
- Angela Harris (UC-Berkeley)
- Kevin Noble Mallard (Syracuse)
- Margaret Montoya (New Mexico)
- Natsu Taylor Saito (Georgia State)
Kristin participated in the Alumni Teach-In Day, as Lea Webb (Class of 2001), Web & Pillich (Cincinnati, OH), taught her Feminist Jurisprudence Class.
Please see Faculty News Archives for earlier issues.
Awards
- 2003 Goldman Prize for Excellence in Teaching
- 2000 Best Published Essay Prize, University of Iowa
- 1999 Walter L. Arnstein Prize for Dissertation Research in Victorian Studies, Midwest Victorian Studies Association
- 1998 John Gerber Teaching Award, University of Iowa
- 1996 Midwest Women's Caucus Distinguished Paper Award
