By Felicia Bennett

On April 25, 2026, at the First Annual Holloran Center Conference and Law Journal Symposium, Professional Identity Formation – Looking Back and Looking Ahead, Aric Short will receive the Holloran Center Professional Identity Formation Excellence in Teaching Award for his class exercise, Navigating and Excelling in Difficult Conversations. A professor of law and Director of the Professional Identity & Leadership Development Program at Texas A&M University School of Law, Professor Short has developed this learning experience within his 1L Professional Identity Formation course that aims to equip law students with an essential, and often overlooked, professional skill: the ability to engage thoughtfully and constructively across disagreement.

In his class activity, Short highlights how lawyers routinely navigate emotionally charged disputes, conflicting values, and polarized viewpoints in their work with clients, colleagues, courts, and communities. Through guided reflection, structured dialogue exercises, and small-group discussion, students learn to shift from reacting defensively to responding with curiosity and respect. The activity emphasizes practices such as empathetic listening, asking questions of understanding rather than persuasion, and recognizing how emotions and identity shape the lenses through which we communicate. By creating space for students to share experiences, examine how conflict affects their thinking, and practice respectful dialogue on complex issues, the exercise helps future lawyers develop the judgment, humility, and interpersonal awareness necessary for effective and ethical practice.

Professor Short’s work reflects the mission of the Holloran Center to advance innovative approaches that help law students develop a strong professional identity grounded in integrity, self-awareness, and service to others. At a time when the legal profession—and society more broadly—faces deep polarization, teaching future lawyers how to foster constructive, respectful dialogue is central to forming ethical leaders in their communities. By equipping students with the tools to navigate disagreement with professionalism and empathy, Professor Short’s teaching exemplifies the type of intentional professional formation the Holloran Center seeks to promote across legal education.

You can find materials for this classroom exercise here: Short Classroom Materials