Upcoming Events and Deadlines

African Studies FLAS Fellowship Deadline: September 15

Penn's African Studies Center has funding available for the AY 2010-11 to graduate students planning to pursue African language study at the intermediate or higher level. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, be admitted to or enrolled full time in a graduate program at Penn, and have research or career plans that require the use of an African language. Additional information available online here.

Penn Law Student Activities Fair: September 16

Levy Conference Center (11:00am-1:00pm)
Representatives from ninety student groups will be on-hand to talk about their groups, meet new students, and sign people up for the email lists. Learn more about opportunities such as the Journal of International Law, the East Asian Law Review, International Human Rights Advocates, International Law Organization, Jessup International Moot Court, and many more.

SAGE Project General Interest Meeting: September 17

Silverman Ground 53 (12:00pm)
Students Against Gender-Based Exploitation (SAGE). The SAGE Project serves international and domestic survivors of domestic violence, rape, sexual assault and other forms of gender-based exploitation. Learn more about the project at their Fall General Interest Meeting.

Penn Law Immigrant Rights Project Application Due: Sept 20

PLIRP is a student-run group that conducts pro bono immigration assistance in the greater Philadelphia area. Interested applicants must email materials to knorland@law.upenn.edu by 5pm on September 20. The first training session will be held on September 30 at 6pm.

Conference on Legal Reform in Iraq and Afghanistan: Sept. 23-24

"Rule of Law Reform in Iraq and Afghanistan: Challenges for the Coming Decade." This conference hosted by Penn Law and the National Constitution Center explores the challenges facing rule of law reform in Iraq and Afghanistan. Conference panels will shed light upon critical legal developments and offer a forum to discuss strategies for addressing obstacles. Conference is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Online registration is required by September 16. More information

"Everything International" at Penn Law: September 30

Silverman 254A (4:30pm)
Info session geared toward first year students on all international law opportunities, including coursework, joint degrees, study abroad, student organizations, human rights fellowships, internships, Global Research Seminar, etc.

Spring 2011 Global Research Seminar Application Due: October 1

"Globalization of Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law: The U.S., Japan, and International Law Reforms." This year's GRS, led by Professor Charles Mooney, 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. Applications for this Spring course (resume, cover letter, and writing sample) are due to Claire Wallace by October 1. 

Study Abroad Meeting for 2Ls: October 4

Silverman 240B (12:00pm - 1:15pm)
General info session on Penn Law's seven study abroad sites in China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, and Spain, as well as ad hoc study abroad. Applications for study abroad are due on November 29, 2010. More information can be found on the International Programs Goat site.

Gruss Lecture on Talmudic Law: October 7

"The House of Israel Divided: Schisms of Language, Law, and Legitimacy."  This year's Caroline Zelaznik Gruss and Joseph S. Gruss Lectures in Talmudic Civil Law will be given by Arye Edrei, Professor of Law, University of Tel Aviv. The first of two lectures will be held at 5:30pm in Silverman 245A and the Levy Conference Center.

Lauder Institute Joint Degree Info Session: October 8

Tanenbaum 142 (2:00pm – 3:15pm)
Information session for 1Ls on the unique joint-degree JD/MA Lauder Program that prepares future leaders by integrating the Penn Law JD with an MA in International Studies from Penn's School of Arts & Sciences. Presentation by Professor Mauro Guillen, Director, Lauder Institute and Professor of International Management, the Wharton School. Current Lauder students will be on-hand to answer questions about their experiences.

German Chancellor Fellowship Application Deadline: Oct. 15

Germany's Alexander von Humboldt Foundation awards 10 German Chancellor Fellowships annually to young professionals in the private, public, not-for-profit, cultural and academic sectors who are citizens of the United States. Application is open to all professions and fields of study, with preference for individuals in economics, law, social sciences and the humanities. Prior knowledge of German is not a prerequisite. The German Chancellor Fellowship provides for a stay of one year in Germany for professional development and research. Additional information available online here.

Application Deadline for New Joint Degree Program: November 29

The University of Pennsylvania Law School and Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have established a new JD/LLM double degree student exchange program. The program will allow up to three students from each of the universities to spend their third year of law school at the partner institution and complete a Master of Laws program. Application deadline for the 2011-2012 academic year is November 29. More information about Study Abroad can be found on the International Programs Goat site.

Penn Law Travel

Howard Lesnick will travel in October to University College Cork, Ireland to deliver a public lecture based on his newly published book, Religion in Legal Thought and Practice (Cambridge 2010).

Jonathan Klick is teaching advanced econometrics as the Erskine Visitor at the University of Canterbury Department of Economics and Finance in Christchurch New Zealand from July-October. While in New Zealand, Klick will be giving a series of talks including one at the University of Otago in September.

In October, Paul Robinson will be giving a talk at the University of Durham, England.

Welcome Fall 2010 Bok Visiting International Professors

Armin von Bogdandy offers short-seminar on "Universalism & Particularism as Paradigms of International Law" (Sept 17-Oct 1)

Seminar meets Monday/Wednesday/Friday from 10:30-11:50am
Professor Armin von Bogdandy is Director at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg and Professor of Public Law at the Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main. He is President of the OECD Nuclear Energy Tribunal and a member of the German Science Council. In June 2008, Professor Bogdandy received the Berlin-Brandenburgian Academy of the Sciences Prize for outstanding scientific achievements in the field of foundations of law and economics, sponsored by the Commerz-bank foundation. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (2008-2013).

Okko Behrends offers short-seminar on "Civil Law: Cultural Importance, Jurisdential Value & Practical Utility" (Sept 21-Oct 7)

Seminar meets Tuesday/Thursday from 10:30am-11:50am
Okko Behrends is Professor Emeritus of Roman Law, German Private Law and the History of Civil Law at the Institute of Legal History, Legal Philosopy and Comparative Law at Göttingen University. He also actively participates as a Fellow of the Academy of Science of Göttingen (since 1982) and was Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large, Cornell University from 2003-2009 and Dr. honoris causa of Stockholm University in 2009. His scholarly interests embrace both legal theory and constitutional law and focus on how legal realia - laws and procedure - are supported and challenged, in ancient and modern times, by religion and philosophy.  He focuses on the fundamental differences between the two competing schools of law in the Augustan constitution. 

Outside the Law School

Veterans and Ethnic Cleansing in the Partition of India: Sept 16

Silverstein Forum  Stiteler Hall (12:00pm)
Professor Steven Wilkinson of Yale University will be giving a lecture on the consequences of partitioning nations and reducing ethnic and religious diversity. He will use new data to illustrate the effects of reduced diversity in India between 1931 and 1951.

Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism: Sept 23

Houston Hall Class of '49 Auditorium (4:30pm)
The 2010-2011 DCC Program Opening Event on "The Everyday Workings of Ethnicity." Talk given by Rogers Brubaker, Department of Sociology, University of California Los Angeles. Discussant: Adolph Reed, Department of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania. Reception to follow. DCC's 2010-2011 annual theme is "Race, Ethnicity, National Minorities, and Citizenship."

Are Catastrophes Virtual?: October 13

Rainey Auditorium - Penn Museum (5:00pm)
Threats of catastrophe have become a part of our daily life and include ecological disasters, social unrest, financial collapse, biogenetic freaks, and terrorist attacks. Cultural critic Slavoj Žižek, dubbed "the most dangerous philosopher in the West," argues that the virtual aspects of these catastrophes make up a crucial and often unanticipated part of their effects. Join him as he explores the virtual and ideological dimensions of life-altering events in a perilous world.

Son Preference in Asia: Causes & Consequences: October 14

Irvine Auditorium (3:30pm)
Lecture by Monica Das Gupta of the World Bank. Co-Sponsored by the Center for East Asian Studies, Center for the Advanced Study of India, Population Studies Center and the Evelyn Jacobs Ortner Center.

Recent International News

Sarah Paoletti on US Human Rights

Professor Sarah Paoletti has coordinated dozens of human rights NGOs and activists in preparing the civil society report on American compliance with international human rights norms in conjunction with the U.S government's appearance before the U.N. Human Rights Council. In a recent op-ed, she called on the Obama Administration to engage fully with the international community to review and improve US human rights practices. Paoletti will travel to Geneva in September and again in November, accompanied by Penn Law students, to do advocacy work in conjunction with the Council's hearing on the U.S. report. Click here to view Paoletti's report.

Iraqi Civil Society Leaders Visit Penn Law

Six Iraqi NGO leaders met with Penn Law faculty and staff in July to discuss human rights, freedom of speech and the development of civil society in Iraq. The Iraqi NGO leaders, four women and two men, represented diverse issues and interest groups, including women and children, journalists, and the disabled. The delegation was sponsored by the U.S Department of State.

Women's Civic Leadership Group Visits Penn Law

Twenty undergraduate women from Egypt and Morocco visited the University of Pennsylvania on August 6. The delegation was sponsored by the State Department's Study of the U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders, a program designed to promote a better understanding of the United States abroad and develop future world leaders. The delegation met with representatives of Penn Law, the School of Nursing, the Museum of Anthropology, and Penn Volunteers in Public Service.

Hayley Curry's Blog Appears on Asia Catalyst

Hayley Curry (JD '12), one of Penn Law's 2010 International Summer Human Rights Fellows (ISHRF) and an intern at Asia Catalyst was selected to write about her views on "The limits of legal rights in Nepal." Read Hayley's article online here.

Penn Law LLM'10 Students Donate Food Sale Proceeds to Apoyo Tarahumara

The amount donated was substantial and will provide approximately three tons of corn and beans to the Tarahumara, which will be distributed to them in December 2010. Professor Yolanda Vázquez spent two weeks, May 31-June 14, 2010, in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Chihuahua, Mexico, working with the Tarahumara indigenous population. During that time, she witnessed various issues affecting the community as well as discussed different projects that Kari Igomari Niwara, a women's cooperative, is implementing in order to combat them. For more information on Professor Vazquez's trip or the Tarahumara, please go here.