The Law of the Territories” is becoming an increasingly prominent academic heading for legal scholarship concerning the liminal status of U.S. territories. This Essay argues that the incipient momentum of this “emerging field” presents an obstacle rather than a pathway to meaningful scholarly engagement, sidelining broader perspectives and more consequential inquiry. In questioning the would-be field’s unwitting formation and content, this Essay offers a preliminary exploration of how scholars might redirect the Law of the Territories toward more considered approaches to the study of U.S. territories and overseas imperialism in American law.

- The Yale law Journal

- VOLUME 134

James T. Campbell is an American historian renowned for his scholarship on African American history, the Black Atlantic, and the interplay between Africa and America. He currently serves as the Edgar E. Robinson Professor in United States History at Stanford University and holds the position of Senior Associate Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education .

Education and Academic Career

Campbell earned his B.A. from Yale University in 1980, followed by an M.A. in 1983 and a Ph.D. in 1989 from Stanford University . His academic career includes teaching positions at Northwestern University and Brown University. At Brown, he notably chaired the university's Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, which investigated the institution's historical ties to slavery and the transatlantic slave trade .en.wikipedia.org+1slaveryresearchgroup.olemiss.edu+1slaveryresearchgroup.olemiss.edu+1profiles.stanford.edu+1