Two University of Wisconsin Law School professors have won awards from the Law and Society Association (LSA). Professors Mitra Sharafi and Howard Erlanger are among the 27 sociolegal scholars receiving honors this spring for outstanding contributions to the law and society community.

“LSA’s awards represent the best scholarship in the field of law and society,” said LSA executive officer Steven Boutcher. “The award winners come from a range of disciplines and backgrounds, and they embody the strong interdisciplinary and global community that defines the Association.”

Sharafi and Erlanger, along with all the honorees, will receive their awards at a virtual ceremony, scheduled for Wednesday, May 27. Attendees must pre-register for the Annual Meeting to view the ceremony live. A recording of the ceremony will be available on-demand afterwards.

Sharafi receives article prize

Sharafi won this year’s Article Prize for her paper, “The Imperial Serologist and Punitive Self-Harm: Bloodstains and Legal Pluralism in British India.” The article examines precipitin testing, a form of serum analysis that identified the species of origin of a bloodstain.

A legal historian of South Asia, Sharafi earned her second major LSA award in five years after winning the J. Willard Hurst Prize in 2015 for her book, “Law and Identity in Colonial South Asia: Parsi Legal Culture, 1772-1947.” Serving as a trustee and co- organizer for LSA’s Collaborative Research Network on South Asia, Sharafi hosts the South Asian Legal History Resources website and is a regular contributor to the Legal History Blog.

Erlanger wins service award

Erlanger has received the 2020 Ronald Pipkin Service Award. Erlanger has held many officer positions within LSA, serving as president from 2003-2005 and currently serving as treasurer.  In 2010, Erlanger received the LSA's Stan Wheeler Mentorship Award. He has educated and mentored key LSA stakeholders on the LSA's budget and has explained the budgeting process to many former treasurers.

Erlanger, the Voss-Bascom Professor of Law Emeritus and Professor of Sociology Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was a full-time faculty member from 1971 to 2013. He continues to teach trusts and estates law part-time.

Submitted by Law School News on May 11, 2020

This article appears in the categories: Articles, Faculty

Related employee profiles: Mitra Sharafi, Howard Erlanger