Conrad Weiler
Associate Professor
463 Gladfelter Hall
Phone: 215-204-7746
E-mail: weilerc@temple.edu
Bio: I grew up in Springfield, Delaware County, near Philadelphia, received my BA from Swarthmore College, and my PhD from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. My doctoral dissertation was on the reorganization of local governments in the metropolitan area of Cologne, Germany.
For years I taught urban politics and was active in national and local neighborhood issues, especially helping the Queen Village neighborhood, helping to get noise barriers built along I-95 from Queen Village to Old City, and trying to find ways to prevent displacement of low and moderate income residents of gentrifying neighborhoods. In these capacities I spoke at many neighborhood and housing forums around the country, testified to many governmental bodies, including Congress, worked on a variety of legislation, and served as a consultant to the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. I served as a member and chair for two years of the City of Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment from 1983 to 1991, and also served as Chair of the Political Science Department from 1981 to 1986.
In the 1990’s I went to the Beasley School of Law at Temple University and received my JD in 1993. Since then I have taught law related courses and internships, and served as a prelaw advisor.
My research interests now focus primarily on how the Framers of the US Constitution understood the parts of the Constitution that relate to the economy, especially the original understanding of the power to regulate foreign commerce and commerce among the several states. I have been working for several years on a book on this topic.
I am married and have three grown children and now live in Brigantine, New Jersey.
I came to Temple specializing in urban politics. So many of the urban issues ended up in court that I decided to go to law school. After graduating from law school, my teaching broaded to include courses in constitutional law. I am also the pre-law advisor for students in political science.
Courses Taught:
PS 1101 American Political System
PS 2102 American State and Local Government
PS 3103 American Supreme Court
PS 3121 American Constitutional Law
PS 3122 Constitutional Interpretation
PS 3123 Civil Rights and LibertiesPS 4150 Seminar in Law and Society
Recent Publications:
Conrad J. Weiler, Jr., Philadelphia: Neighborhood, Authority, and the Urban Crisis, Praeger, 1975.
Conrad J. Weiler, Jr., Reinvestment Displacement: HUD's Role in a New Housing Issue, Original Research Report and Policy Recommendations, 78 pp., National Association of Neighborhoods, 1978. (This was the first report to analyze the issue that became known as gentrification and helped inject the issue and the term into mainstream politics and policy. It was originally done as a report for the US Department of HUD.)
Conrad J. Weiler, Jr., "Free-Trade Agreements: A New Federal Partner?," Publius; 1993-1994 Annual Review of Federalism, vol 20:3
Conrad J. Weiler, Jr., “Explaining the Original Intent of Lopez to the Framers, or, The
Framers Spoke Like Us, Didn’t They?” Washington University School of Law Journal of Law and Public Policy, October, 2004.