Through the Bok program, the Law School has hosted approximately 50 prominent legal intellectuals from 25 countries. Nominated by our faculty members, these Bok Visiting International Professors (Bok VIPs) are distinguished senior academics, jurists, or professionals across a wide range of disciplines and specialties.

In addition to many preeminent thought leaders from globally elite institutions, Bok Visiting International Professors have included a former:

• Chief prosecutor of the ICTR and ICTY;
• Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights and Head of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in New York;
• UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association;
• UN Under-Secretary-General, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict;
• President, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights;
• Judge of the International Criminal Court;
• President of the OECD Nuclear Energy Tribunal.

Visit our Bok VIPs page for more details

Bok courses are focused on wide range of timely and important issues. A few recent examples of Bok course topics include:

• International Law and Pandemics
• Queer Questions, Moral Contentions
• The Right to Protest in Africa
• EU Competition Law and the Digital Economy
• The UK Constitution and Brexit
• Women, Peace, and Security

Visit the Course Finder for information on upcoming Bok courses.

Bok courses are intensive one-credit seminars open to upper-level students (2Ls, 3Ls, LLMs, and SJDs). These courses usually meet for either nine sessions over three weeks or eight sessions over four weeks. Students are expected to actively participate; the method of evaluation is typically either a paper or a take-home exam. Since these are one-credit courses, papers are usually shorter and more narrowly focused than typical seminar papers. (Please note that students cannot use Bok courses to meet their Senior Writing Requirement.)

Bok seminars give students exposure at an advanced level to issues in international, comparative, and non-U.S. law. These small interactive seminars provide the opportunity to focus on a particular theme or a set of case studies that Bok Visiting International Professors have identified as especially interesting, instructive, or cutting-edge.

Bok classes are typically capped at 10–15 participants. The small class size supports active engagement with a topic outside of the Law School’s standing curriculum. The intensive format facilitates relationship-building with both fellow students and these exceptional leaders in their fields.

For more information on Bok courses, please contact the Office of International Affairs.