Go On! ASIL/AALS panel on hiring intlaw professors

(Go On! is an occasional item on symposia and other events of interest)

As this year's Chair of the Section on International Law of the Association of American Law Schools, yours truly, Christiana Ochoa, is pleased to extend an invitation to "Developing your Faculty Credentials: An International Law Perspective," a panel discussion and reception to be held 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 11, 2012, at Tillar House, the headquarters of the American Society of International Law, located at 2223 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.

The event is particularly aimed at internationally focused registrants of the AALS Faculty Recruitment Conference. The AALS Section on International Law is cosponsor, along with the ASIL Teaching International Law Interest Group (of which IntLawGrrl Karen E. Bravo is a Co-Chair).
On the panel will be:
► Professor Haider Ala Hamoudi, Chair of the Appointments Committee at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law; and
► Professor Sonia E. Rolland of Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, a Vice Chair of the ASIL Teaching International Law Interest Group.
AALS registrants will have the chance to hear recommendations from international law faculty members and the chair of a faculty appointments committee regarding methods for improving one’s hiring prospects in the academic field. Recent faculty hires will also be on hand to have informal conversations with attendees about their personal experiences in obtaining a faculty position during a reception following the panel discussion.

There is no charge for this event, but registration is required. Space is limited, and registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Details and online registration here; hope to see you there!

'Nuff said

(Taking context-optional note of thought-provoking quotes)

'[T]he issue of the relationship between rights under general public international law, such as permanent sovereignty over natural resources, and [World Trade Organization] obligations continues to be a source of tension.'

-- Northeastern University Law Professor Sonia E. Rolland (right), in an ASIL Insight examining China - Measures Related to the Exportation of Various Raw Materials, a dispute brought against China by the United States, in which the WTO this past February adopted both the January 30, 2012, Appellate Body report and the July 5, 2011, panel report. As Rolland explains, the dispute result indicates that any country that accedes to the WTO (as did China in 2001, and as Russia intends soon to do) and that wishes successfully to invoke exceptions to international limits on trade barriers, needs to make that clear in its accession instruments.

ASIL Cable: Teaching International Law: Balancing Past and Present

The topic of last Friday’s session sponsored by the American Society of International Law Teaching International Law Interest Group (TILIG) was “Teaching International Law while Confronting Current Events.” That focus should be no surprise to ASIL members who teach. Most of us have thought about how or whether to“Confront Current Events.” “Hot topics” like Syria, statehood, decisions on state accountability for violence against women, and cyber security create buzz in the annual meeting hallways; they are also on the minds of Public International Law (PIL) students. IntLawGrrl Karen E. Bravo (below right), Professor of Law at Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis and TILIG Co-chair, posed questions that sparked a lively discussion:
1) How do PIL teachers react to current events that illustrate, refute, or elaborate on previously planned course coverage?
2) How is the nature and scope of PIL to be defined for classroom purposes when news coverage emphasizes gaps,ambiguities, ineffectiveness, or irrelevancies in international law?
3) How do professors address student concerns about apparent failures in the domestic application of international law?
Roundtable panelists represented a wide range of approaches to teaching, years of teaching experience, and types of academic institutions:
►Dennis Mandsager, U.S. Naval War College
►Deborah Pearlstein, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law,Yeshiva University
►Mathias Reimann, University of Michigan Law School
►Sonia E. Rolland, Northeastern University School of Law(and Vice Co-chair of the interest group)
►Thomas Schoenbaum, George Washington University Law School
The audience was invited to participate, and did so actively and enthusiastically.Several key approaches, strategies, and controversies are highlighted here.

Using Current Events
Participants discussed the benefits and drawbacks of including current events in course materials or discussing them immediately in class. Among the concerns expressed were the potentially short shelf-life of any particular current event as useful for illustrating doctrinal or theoretical framework issues. Others noted the practical issues associated with constantly updating and staying well-informed about detailed aspects of current events. One panelist suggested using the ASIL publication 100 Ways International Law Improves Our Lives in course materials to illustrate relevance.Another suggested using hypotheticals with immediate relevance to students such as loss or damage to an expensive laptop under the Montreal Convention.
Most speakers and audience members,however, noted that they do try to use one or more contemporary events in their courses. Strategies ranged from using a select few such events (in a subfield familiar to the teacher) for case studies or problems. A political science teacher noted that she also found it helpful to post on-line articles from UN Wire and other sources by category on a classroom website.

Addressing Ambiguities, Gaps, and Controversies
Several participants remarked that the complexities of PIL can be overemphasized, given significant areas of progressive development and compliance. Others noted that analogous difficulties occur in rapidly developing domestic law fields such as Constitutional Law. Yet few challenge the “existence” of domestic constitutional law.
Classroom strategies suggested included using one or more case studies from doctrinally well-developed subfields early in the course to introduce foundational doctrines and frameworks. Others suggested assigning group projects later in the course that would allow students to apply rules and concepts learned early in the course.

Role of the PIL Teacher
There was quite an interesting discussion on how speakers see the role of PIL professors.