Prof. on list of city's smartest

After 20 years as a litigator for women's reproductive rights and visiting 40 states within two years, Kathryn Kolbert was tired of commuting.

So when the opportunity arose for her to move into the more stable academic sector, Kolbert left her New York practice and headed for Philadelphia.

"I think I have been in more state capitals than anyone I know," Kolbert joked.

Now, three years after joining the faculty of the Annenberg School for Communication, Kolbert has been recognized as one of Philadelphia magazine's "76 Smartest Philadelphians," one of 18 Penn faculty members, both active and emeritus, to make the list. Other Penn representatives include History Professor Alan Kors, Psychiatry Professor emeritus Aaron Beck and Center for Bioethics Director Arthur Caplan.

"Praise is good," Kolbert said. "I am thrilled to be included on the list."

Kolbert has been accomplishing noteworthy deeds since she entered the advocacy profession. A graduate of Temple Law School, she has played a role in nearly every landmark abortion case to reach the Supreme Court since 1986, including several that reaffirmed the decision of Roe v. Wade. Kolbert has made a name for herself in the practice of reproductive rights, repeatedly being recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in America."

After 10 years of working as vice president and co-founder of the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, Kolbert was ready for a new challenge. She arrived at Penn in 1998 as a senior fellow in Annenberg School for Communication and began teaching a class entitled "Argumentation and Public Advocacy." The popular class has already enrolled 125 students for the spring semester and is still open for more.

But her work also stretches outside the classroom. Kolbert is the executive producer of Justice Talking, a weekly show on National Public Radio. Next semester, she will bring debates from the show's old taping locale in Old City directly to Penn's campus, making them more accessible to class members and other students interested in public advocacy.

Kolbert's office in the Annenberg School is surprisingly organized for the amount of information contained within its walls. Stacked neatly around the periphery of the room, on the floor, on shelves and randomly on the desk are archived Justice Talking shows. With 89 shows produced to date, not a single debate subject has been repeated thus far.

Kolbert was intrigued when Annenberg School Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson first suggested that she take her knowledge of public policy to the airwaves. Her motivations for the show came from her own development as a communicator and litigator.

"Kathleen gave me a great opportunity," Kolbert said. "Putting together a radio show about constitutional law and giving Americans the sound of the debate erupting behind every contentious issue has been amazing."

The goal of each Justice Talking session is the creation of an informed and balanced vehicle for discussion, taking an in-depth look at the cases and controversies before the nation's courts.

"Unlike so many other things, I think that oral communication is something that can be learned," Kolbert said. "Almost everybody talks. What I found out early on was the way I became a better communicator was by watching the way great communicators speak."

Students who have taken Kolbert's class have walked away with a better understanding and more insight into the world of public advocacy. College senior Steve Sullivan took Kolbert's class three semesters ago and still praises its value.

"I thought Kolbert's class was the one class that seriously prepared me for the real world in terms of public speaking," he said. "Not only did it help me learn to form and structure an argument successfully, but also I learned how to think on my feet as well."

"The class helped me think about, and feel passionate about, topics that I never knew would have interested me," he added.

And now Kolbert will be able to provide that service to students younger than her regular college-aged class through an oral communication curriculum for high school students developed by the Annenberg Public Policy Center with the cooperation of the American Bar Association's Division of Public Education.

The curriculum consists of ten sessions created to teach high school students oral communication skills. The textbooks are geared to both the high school and the general audience, focusing on Justice Talking debates, school vouchers and web censorship.

Despite a lack of firm data on the program's success in schools nationwide, teachers seem enthusiastic. Some have organized their class around when the show will be broadcast in their town, expanding the ten sessions into an entire class.

"The teachers like the ability to teach about current events and be assured that what they are teaching from is a balanced well-written argument," Kolbert said.

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