Frank S. Ravitch

Professor of Law & Walter H. Stowers Chair of Law and Religion, Director Kyoto Japan Program

Law College Building
648 N. Shaw Lane Rm 315
East Lansing, MI 48824-1300
517-432-6973
fravitch@law.msu.edu

Professor Ravitch is a world renowned law and religion scholar and has also become known for his work on Japanese law and law and interpretive theory. Since joining Michigan State University College of Law, he has authored numerous books, law review articles, essays, book reviews, and book chapters, as well as amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court. His articles, which have appeared in highly regarded law reviews and peer reviewed journals, have primarily focused on law and religion in the U.S. and Japan, but he has also written about interpretive theory, civil rights law and disability discrimination.

Professor Ravitch has given numerous academic presentations nationally and internationally. In 2001, he was named a Fulbright scholar and served on the law faculty at Doshisha University in Japan, where he taught courses relating to U.S. constitutional law and law and religion. He has also served on a Fulbright Review Committee under the auspices of the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars. Additionally, he is the Series Editor for the Law and Religion in a Global Context series published by Springer and serves as a peer reviewer for the International Journal of Semiotics and Law; the journal Religions; and has served as a peer reviewer for numerous books by publishers such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, NYU Press, Harvard University Press, and Routledge.

Professor Ravitch has made public presentations explaining the law before school groups, community groups, and service clubs and has served as an expert commentator for print and broadcast media.

His current research projects include an article addressing the United States Supreme Court’s recent radical decisions on the religion clauses of the First Amendment and the ways in which these decisions work to harm religious minorities and non-believers as well as the many issues raised by the Court’s “history and tradition” approach to religion clause decisions.

Professor Ravitch serves as faculty advisor to the Asian/Pacific Law Students Association; created and directs the Kyoto Japan Summer Program; has served on numerous faculty committees and tenure advisory committees; has served as chair of the Faculty Appointments Committee, the Programs Committee, and the Journals Committee; has served on the University Graduate Council; and currently serves on the Faculty Appointments Committee and as the law college’s representative to the University Committee on Faculty Affairs.

Prior to becoming a law professor, he gained experience in private practice and on Capitol Hill. He speaks English, Japanese and Hebrew.


Download Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

LL.M. Georgetown University Law Center
J.D. The Dickinson School of Law
B.A. Tulane University