Spotlight on Spring 2011 International Coursework

Bok Course: Women, Justice and Shariah (Hauwa Ibrahim)

*2011 Bok Visiting International Professor*
This one credit short-course will address the practical as well as theoretical challenges of protecting women's rights under Shariah Law as it is practiced in Nigeria. The outcomes of the course will be a white paper by students on the dialectics of justice and Shariah.

Bok Course: Rise and Decline of the Nation State (Michael Stolleis)

*2011 Bok Visiting International Professor*
This one credit short-course gives an overview on the most important European elements of "state" and "constitution" in the early modern times. This is contrasted with the formation of today's European confederation or pre-constitutional state from the treaties of Maastricht and Lisbon.

Bok Course: Indian Capital Market Regulation (KP Krishnan)

*2011 Bok Visiting International Professor*
This one credit short-course will lay out the institutional architecture of financial sector regulation in India and how it has changed since 1991 reforms. The course will not focus on financial regulation per se but instead on the ways in which the evolution of this regulation in India is different.

China and International Law (Jacques deLisle and James Li)

*Co-taught with 2011 Bok Visiting International Professor*
This seminar examines contemporary China's approach to international law, focusing on how China has understood and addressed key principles and doctrines of international law, and on legal disputes and actions that have been important for China.

Global Research Seminar: International and Comparative Insolvency Law - United States and Japan (Charles Mooney)

This year's GRS will examine bankruptcy and insolvency laws from comparative and international/cross-border perspectives. The seminar will focus primarily on international law reform projects undertaken in recent years. The class will conduct hands-on research during an eight-day field research visit to Tokyo over Spring Break.

Research in Foreign and International Law (Gabriela Femenia)

This course will familiarize students with the basic sources in international law and the national law of key foreign jurisdictions, and help students develop the necessary skills to efficiently research transnational legal questions.

Refugee Law (Fernando Chang-Muy)

This course will explore the origins of "refuge" or "asylum" including the myriad of human rights violations that force people to flee and seek protection, public policy issues such as U.S. laws and regulations that govern asylum, and international agencies that are involved in the process of granting protection.

International Civil Litigation (Stephen Burbank)

This course is an introduction to litigation in U.S. courts in cases involving foreign parties. The objective of the course is to familiarize students with special procedural and substantive issues that arise in international cases.

Comparative Law (William Ewald)

This course will provide a comprehensive introduction to the legal systems of the civil law, with a focus on continental Europe. The emphasis throughout the course will be on the ideas underlying legal change. This is a 1L elective course and 1Ls will receive priority.

International Business Transactions (Charles Mooney)

This course provides an overview of the legal issues – domestic, foreign, and international – that arise when U.S. companies do business abroad.

Islamic Finance (John Vogel)

This course will explore contemporary Islamic finance from a transactional vantage and with particular emphasis on structuring financial transactions and products.

Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (Stuart Diamond)

The course will include work on the special challenges of attorneys, including agency and ethics issues, use of negotiation in a litigation environment, and the problems and opportunities of multi-cultural and international representations.

Transnational Legal Clinic (Sarah Paoletti)

The Transnational Legal Clinic provides students an opportunity to explore legal advocacy in settings that cross cultures, borders, languages and legal systems through direct representation of individual clients.

Law and the Holocaust (Harry Reicher)

This course examines how the Nazi philosophy was used to pervert Germany's legal system, and studies the role of international law in seeking to rectify the damage by bringing perpetrators to justice and constructing a system designed to prevent a repetition.

International Commercial Arbitration (Markham Ball)

The course will examine the law and practice of international commercial arbitration under the laws of the United States and other countries that are major arbitration venues.

International Tax (Chris Sanchirico)

This is an introduction to U.S. taxation of U.S. and foreign persons engaged in international activities.

International Finance (Anna Gelpern)

This course examines the evolving legal regime that governs cross-border capital movements in the wake of the financial crisis. Current international finance issues will be considered from transactional, regulatory, and policy perspectives.

Enforcement of International Law (Jean Galbraith)

This seminar will focus on the enforcement of public international law: states' obligations to obey, common enforcement mechanisms, and case studies of current enforcement problems.

Guantanamo Litigation Seminar (Thomas Wilner)

The course examines the history of the litigation filed by the detainees at Guantanamo Bay and, in doing so, explores the principal legal issues involved.

Law and Society in Japan (Eric Feldman)

Through an examination of law and legal institutions in a non-Western setting, this course emphasizes the complex relationship between law, culture, politics and economics in advanced industrialized democracies. Students with no background in Japanese or Asian studies are welcome. This is a 1L elective course.

Public Health Law & Policy: Domestic and Global Perspectives (Eric Feldman)

This course will examine a number of urgent issues at the intersection of law and public health. A case study approach will be used to analyze U.S. and international conflicts.

Foundations of International Law (Matthew Lister)

This course aims to investigate international law's foundations and underlying normative structure. Students will consider both classic and contemporary sources dealing with these issues.

UN Security Council in the 21st Century (Jared Genser)

This seminar is an introduction to the functions and operations of the UN Security Council, the only body of the United Nations capable of compelling action by a Member State.

Financial Crises (Anna Gelpern)

This course puts the ongoing financial crisis in comparative perspective. Case studies from Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States help identify different kinds of crises, common policy and legal challenges presented by large-scale financial distress, and the factors affecting each government's response.

Human Rights Lawyering in the 21st Century (Sarah Paoletti)

This seminar will introduce students to human rights lawyering in the present day, grounded in the historical development of human rights law and contemporary case studies.

Update on International Moot Court Teams

International Environmental Moot Court Competition

On January 21-22, Penn Law's team (Valerie Baron, Natasha Dandavati, and Brendan Stuart) traveled to Stetson University College of Law in Florida for the North America regional qualifier for the International Environmental Moot Court Competition. The 2010-2011 theme is "Oil Pollution and the Marine Environment."

Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition

Now in its 52nd year, the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is the world's largest moot court competition, with participants from over 500 law schools in more than 80 countries. The Competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations. Jessup's Mid-Atlantic Super-Regional will take place at George Washington University Law School from February 17-20. Penn Law's team is composed of Hannah Bill, Haley Bolin-Shellito, Elan DiMaio, Lindsey Freeman, and Shannon Hedvat.

Price International Media Law Moot Court Competition

The oral finals will take place for the 2011 multinational competition at Oxford University from March 30- April 2. This year, students are asked to approach a complex case study wherein the government of a fictional republic attempts to lock down webcasts, broadcasts, and mobile phone communications during a violent rebellion/ hostage crisis in the interest of national security. Best of Luck to the Penn Law team: Kristin Bochicchio, Yoon-jee Kim, Brian Simons, and Nathan Vogel.

Penn Law Events

International Justice In Central Africa: January 26

Silverman 245A, 5:30pm
In May 2010, Peter Erlinder was imprisoned in Rwanda while defending Rwandan presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire and charged with "genocide denial" for having won the acquittal of his ICTR client on "genocide conspiracy" charges. This presentation will draw on Erlinder's experience as a UN-ICTR defense lawyer and Rwandan prisoner to critically analyze the role of U.S. influence over international judicial bodies and the effects on the people of Central Africa, in particular. Co-sponsored by the Penn Law International Human Rights Advocates (IHRA) and the National Lawyers Guild.

Outsourcing National Security: The Legal Implications: January 27

Silverman 245A, 12:00pm
Talk given by Laura Dickinson, Foundation Professor of Law at Arizona State University and author of Outsourcing War and Peace and Paul Verkuil, Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United Sates and author of Outsourcing Sovereignty. Event co-sponsored by the Penn Law National Security Society, the International Law Organization and the Penn Program on Regulation.

Naxalites in India: Social Norms & Contract Compliance: February 9

Location TBD, 4:30pm
Pavan Mamidi, Former Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and Visiting Professor at Michigan Law.
Sponsored by the South Asia Law Students Association.

The Legality of Extraordinary Rendition: February 15

Silverman 245A, 4:30pm
Talk by Daniel Pines, Assistant General Counsel for the CIA. Sponsored by the Penn Law National Security Society. Event co-sponsored by the Penn Law National Security Society, Federalist Society, and American Constitution Society for Law & Policy.

Deadlines and Opportunities

Advanced Research Fellowships for Study of U.S.-Japan Relations: Deadline January 15

During the 2011-12 academic year, Harvard University's Program on U.S.-Japan Relations will offer Advanced Research (postdoctoral) Fellowships for social scientists, including those trained in law. Projects that focus on Japan or Japan's international role from a comparative, historical, or global perspective are welcome. Knowledge of the Japanese language is not required. Awards ($44,000) are for the academic year (September-May). Fellows are required to teach one undergraduate course, either in the fall or spring semester. Application info.

Penn-Botswana Program: Deadline February 1

There are four potential law-related internships available for summer 2011, including those at Ditshwanelo (The Botswana Centre for Human Rights), Lobatse High Court in Botswana, Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS), and BONELA (Botswana Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS. More information can be found on the OIP . application website.

Leboy-Davies Graduate Fellowship in Women's Studies: Deadline February 1

Fellowship will provide up to $3,000 in summer research or travel funding to a graduate student (including law students) whose research will foster women's health, well-being, and educational equality anywhere in the world, or enhance our understanding of gender inequality. Application info.

Post-Graduate Penn Law Public Interest Fellowship: Deadline February 24

The Public Interest Fellowship offers recent Penn Law graduates the opportunity to gain entry into a national or international public interest organization, helping to launch the Fellow's public interest career. The fellowship is awarded for a one-year term beginning in August or September 2011. Penn Law graduates may apply for this Fellowship in the spring of their last year of law school or at the conclusion of a judicial clerkship. Application info.

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships
Academic Year 2011-2012 Deadline: February 4
Summer Fellowship Deadline: March 4

FLAS Fellowship funding is available for law students engaged in language study whose research or career plans will require the use of the relevant language. Students receiving Academic Year Fellowships must be enrolled in full-time study for the duration of the FLAS award and must take one language course and one related area or international studies course each semester. Summer Fellowships are for intensive language programs either domestically or abroad and require specific minimum contact hours and durations for summer courses. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Application Information.

Call for Papers on International and European Environmental Law: Deadline March 6

Merkourios (an open access, peer-reviewed, student-led law journal) is issuing a call for papers to place in its forthcoming edition on International and European Environmental Law. All submissions must conform to the Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCLA).
For additional information, contact Merkourios@urios.org.

Outside the Law School

Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets, and Moral Crisis in Late Tokugawa Japan: January 25

Cohen Hall 402, 4:30pm
Talk by Amy Stanley, Professor of History at Northwestern.

How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance: February 1

World Affairs Council, One South Broad St., Suite 2M, 5:45pm
Parag Khanna, Director, Global Governance Initiative at the New America Foundation. As the world confronts economic imbalance, geopolitical tension, and environmental stress, Parag Khanna, named one of the 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century by Esquire in 2008, envisions a "mega-diplomacy" and offers his road map for global resilience and stability. $10 for full-time students.