At New York University School of Law, colloquia are meta-seminars, in which small groups of faculty members and students engage in the most rigorous intellectual experience available in legal education.
Unlike a lecture course, colloquia generate a free flow of ideas among participants and the distinction between "teacher" and "student" is abandoned in favor of the joint pursuit of advanced study involving law and other disciplines.
Each colloquium consists of a series of workshops on a given subject. Generally, students and faculty members meet and discuss a recent paper by a leading authority in that week's topic of study. The next day they meet with the author, along with other visiting faculty members and invited guests, for a workshop about the paper (there may be smaller meetings and informal dinners with faculty, students, and guest speakers as well). The following week, reactions to the workshop are reviewed, and then, with the next topic, the whole process begins again.
In addition to colloquia, we have a number of workshops at which faculty from inside and outside NYU Law present papers.