Stanley Katz: “Thinking Internationally: Internationalizing the Undergraduate Curriculum”; Keynote Address: Global Penn State Conference 2013

On September 27-28, 2013, Penn State University hosts a provocative conference as part of its Global Penn State challenge, "Internationalizing the Campus, College, and Classroom," which aims to explore innovative practices for internationalizing the classroom. (more information here:Conference: "Internationalizing the Campus, College and Classroom" at Penn State University).

 (Stanley N. Katz)

A highlight of that event for me was the excellent key note address delivered by Stanley N. Katz, currently Lecturer with rank of Professor in Public and International Affairs; Director, Princeton University Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies-- “Thinking Internationally: Internationalizing the Undergraduate Curriculum.” The address ought to be required reading for anyone interested in internationalizing American education, and a reminder that gestures of internationalization, however tempting and useful for glossy brochures and administrative ambitions, is never a substitute for the hard work of internalizing the emerging cultures of education which, at their very best, are deeply international and perhaps global in scope, even as they remain local in function. Our very best intentions to avoid this inevitability can only do harm to the very best education we can deliver to our students, and to the sophistication and rigor of our own academic work.

Professor Katz's address follows:

Elements of Law 3.0 Notes and Readings III-A (Institutional Architecture of Law and Governance: The United States and Law Making--The General Government; Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances)

(Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2013)

I have been posting about the development of a new course I have been developing for our first year law school students, "Elements of Law."  (Elements of Law 3.0: On the Relevance of a First Year Law Course Designed to Frame the Law School Curriculum).  The SYLLABUS can be accessed HERE.

With this post I continue to share with the class and interested "others" summary study notes for the course readings.  For this post we consider the first part of section III of the materials:  III.A. Institutional Architecture of Law and Governance:  The United States and Law Making--The General Government).   Comments and discussion most welcome.

The Table of Contents for all of the Lecture Notes may be accessed HERE: Elements of Law 3.0: Table of Contents for Lecture and Reading Notes for An Introduction to U.S. Legal Theory and Practice.

Conference: "Internationalizing the Campus, College and Classroom" at Penn State University

On September 27-28, 2013, Penn State University hosts a provocative conference as part of its Global Penn State challenge, "Internationalizing the Campus, College, and Classroom," which aims to explore innovative practices for internationalizing the classroom.

(DUS.PSU.EDU)

 Internationalizing the student experience involves a number of initiatives, such as student exchange, study abroad and embedded programs, initiatives that deepen their knowledge  and engagement in other cultures.  It also includes infusing global and intercultural topics into the classroom to equip domestic and international students with a range of skills to function competently in a multicultural environment. These goals can only be achieved with a sustained commitment of time and energy by faculty and staff.This conference aims to provide a forum to initiate a university-wide conversation on how to infuse global and intercultural dimensions into courses, and to share classroom successes and challenges, as we seek to transform our students into global citizens and enhance their ability to negotiate global challenges.  (Conference Introduction).

This post includes links to conference materials and to the PowerPoint of my own presentation: "Methodological Issues in Implementing an Internationalized Curriculum--Five Approaches to Internationalization." This presentation considers the difficulties of implementing thick internationalization (curriculum and educational cultures) beyond the traditional thin internationalization that focuses on the migration of students (and to some extent faculty) between home and host institutions worldwide.

Elements of Law 3.0 Notes of Readings: II-D (Hierarchies of Law and Governance: The Relationship of Law and the Government of the State--Role of Law/Rule of Law)

(Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2013)

I have been posting about the development of a new course I have been developing for our first year law school students, "Elements of Law."  (Elements of Law 3.0: On the Relevance of a First Year Law Course Designed to Frame the Law School Curriculum).  The SYLLABUS can be accessed HERE.

With this post I continue to share with the class and interested "others" summary study notes for the course readings.  For this post we continue to consider tsection II of the materials:  II.D. Hierarchies of Law and Governance: The Relationship of Law and the Government of the State--Role of Law/Rule of Law).   Comments and discussion most welcome.

 The Table of Contents for all of the Lecture Notes may be accessed HERE: Elements of Law 3.0: Table of Contents for Lecture and Reading Notes for An Introduction to U.S. Legal Theory and Practice.

Conference: "Business and Human Rights: Moving Forward, Looking Back"

On September 23-24, 2013, the University of West Virgina College of Law hosts a marvelous conference, "Business and Human Rights: Moving Forward, Looking Back."

The conference will examine the United Nations’ recent work on business and human rights issues, an area that has grown substantially in the last ten years. Highlights of the subject’s growth include the United Nations’ establishment of a Working Group on Business and Human Rights and its adoption of the Guiding Principles for business and human rights. Participants will use these two major events as a focal point for discussing the roles that corporations, civil society, and states can all play in advancing the cause of human rights. (Conference website)

The conference is supported by the U.N. Working Group on Business and Human Rights (letter of support HERE).  This post includes the conference agenda, participants, and panelists and topics, and a Business and Human Rights Survey.  

Changing Corporate Behavior Through Codes of Conduct--Vanisha Sukdeo on "Transnational Governance Models: Codes of Conduct, and Monitoring Agencies as Tools to Increase Workers' Rights"

Vanisha Sukdeo, Legal Process Instructor and Co-organizer, Fifth CLPE Conference at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, working on a dissertation entitled “Shareholder Proposals: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Intersection of Workers’ Rights”

 (Vanisha Sukdeo PIX, Critical Research Laboratory in Law and Society)

She has recently published an excellent article, Vanisha Sukdeo, "Transnational Governance Models: Codes of Conduct, and Monitoring Agencies as Tools to Increase Workers' Rights," German Law Journal 13:1559-1570 (2012).  The article critically explores how to implement changes to corporate law that would increase the rights of workers through codes of conduct and monitoring systems. This paper draws on my experience in the Queen’s University Students Against Sweatshops (‘QSAS’) and how it fits into private transnational regulation. The monitoring agencies, the Fair Labor Association (‘FLA’) and the Worker Rights Consortium (‘WRC’), will be compared.

This post considers some of the insights I drew from the article.

Elements of Law 3.0 Notes of Readings: II-C (Hierarchies of Law Within the Domestic Legal Order and Between Naitonal and International Law Reflecting Governmental Order)

(Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2013)

I have been posting about the development of a new course I have been developing for our first year law school students, "Elements of Law."  (Elements of Law 3.0: On the Relevance of a First Year Law Course Designed to Frame the Law School Curriculum).  The SYLLABUS can be accessed HERE.

With this post I continue to share with the class and interested "others" summary study notes for the course readings.  For this post we continue to consider section II of the materials:  II.C. Hierarchies of Law and Governance: Hierarchies of Law Within the Domestic Legal Order and Between National and International Law Reflecting Governmental Order).   Comments and discussion most welcome.

The Table of Contents for all of the Lecture Notes may be accessed HERE: Elements of Law 3.0: Table of Contents for Lecture and Reading Notes for An Introduction to U.S. Legal Theory and Practice.

Call for Papers Special Issue of the International Review of Law: "Emerging Governance Issues of Sovereign Wealth Funds"

The editors of the International Review of Law of Qatar University College of Law have just put out a call for papers for a special issue which will focus on the issue theme: "Emerging Governance Issues of Sovereign Wealth Funds."  The Call for Papers follows below.

The International Review of Law is headed by its Editor in Chief, Jon Truby, Assistant Professor of Law & Policy on the faculty of the Qatar University College of Law. The special issue will be edited by Joel Slawotsky, of the Radzyner School of Law, Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel, and the Law and Business Schools of the College of Management, Rishon LeZion, Israel.

Submissions are due by  January 15, 2014 and may be sent via email HERE.

Elements of Law 3.0 Notes of Readings: II-B (Ordering Government Through Law: Constitutions, Statutes, Treaties, Regulations, Judicial Decisions, and Other Sources)

(Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2013)

I have been posting about the development of a new course I have been developing for our first year law school students, "Elements of Law."  (Elements of Law 3.0: On the Relevance of a First Year Law Course Designed to Frame the Law School Curriculum).  The SYLLABUS can be accessed HERE.

With this post I continue to share with the class and interested "others" summary study notes for the course readings.  For this post we continue to consider section II of the materials:  II.B. Hierarchies of Law and Governance: Ordering Government Through Law: Constitutions, Statutes, Treaties, Regulations, Judicial Decisions, and Other Sources.   Comments and discussion most welcome.

The Table of Contents for all of the Lecture Notes may be accessed HERE: Elements of Law 3.0: Table of Contents for Lecture and Reading Notes for An Introduction to U.S. Legal Theory and Practice.

New Paper Posted: "Democratizing International Business and Human Rights by Catalyzing Strategic Litigation: The Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the U.N. Guiding Principles of Business and Human Rights From the Bottom Up"

The University of West Virginia College of Law will be hosting its inaugural business and human rights conference, Business and Human Rights: Moving Forward, Looking Back, to be held September 23 – 24, 2013 at the West Virginia University College of Law, Morgantown, WV. The conference chair, Jena Martin has put together a marvelous program on a very current and important project.

(Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2013)

I will be presenting a paper at that conference, co-authored with Keren Wang, a PhD candidate at Penn State, Tono Teraoka, a Ph.D. student at the University of Tokyo ansd Nabih Hadadd, a Ph.D. student ay Michigan State University, which we have titled "Democratizing International Business and Human Rights by Catalyzing Strategic Litigation: The Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the U.N. Guiding Principles of Business and Human Rights From the Bottom Up." In it we consider a project of democratizing the project of business and human rights and developing strategies through which stakeholders at the lower ends of the human rights value and supply chains and usually the objects of human rights largesse, may more actively participate in the protection of their human rights and engage more actively in the development of those norms meant to protect them.


The conference draft is now available through the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) HERE and the abstract follows below. We would be grateful for comments and suggestions.

Yuta Kawashima: “What we think we know about Syria does not always reflect a complicated reality”

Yuta Kawashima, a former student at the Pennsylvania University School of International Affairs, is now interning at the Arms Control Association (ACA), where he provides research support.  The ACA is describes itself as a

national nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to promoting public understanding of and support for effective arms control policies. Through its public education and media programs and its magazine, Arms Control Today (ACT), ACA provides policy-makers, the press and the interested public with authoritative information, analysis and commentary on arms control proposals, negotiations and agreements, and related national security issues. In addition to the regular press briefings ACA holds on major arms control developments, the Association's staff provides commentary and analysis on a broad spectrum of issues for journalists and scholars both in the United States and abroad. (ACA, About the Arms Control Association)

He has recently been researching  aspects of the current Syrian crisis, and most recently Syria's chemical weapons activities.  For this post Mr. Kawashima has produced the essay below, '“What we think we know about Syria does not always reflect a complicated reality.”

Views of the Current Phase of the Syrian Crisis From Cuba

While opinion in the West is well understood, as are those originating in other parts of the world. it might be useful to consider its perspective from a state long accustomed to supporting the regime of Mr. Bashar.  This post contains two items, the first a discussion of the official Cuban position on the current Syrian Crisis.  The second an opinion piece recently published by a Cuban independent journalist

 (Pix AP from Suleka.comhttp://newshopper.sulekha.com/raul-castro-bashar-al-assad_photo_1401892.htm "Cuba's President Raul Castro, left, and Syria's President Bashar al-Assad review the honor guard at Revolution palace in Havana")

 René Gómez Manzano is a lawyer and independent journalist in Cuba.  He has recently published an opinion piece, "Siria: ¿Quién puso las armas químicas?", Cubanet, Sept. 10, 2013 (in Spanish). Set out below is his opinion piece as it appeared in Cubanet, which describes itself as an organization of independent journalists in Cuba established in 1994. "La función principal de CubaNet es proveer a los periodistas y otros grupos independientes de Cuba de un vehículo para que sus voces se puedan escuchar, teniendo en cuenta que ellos no tienen posibilidades de publicar sus trabajos ni en Cuba ni en el extranjero. Tampoco, al igual que los ciudadanos comunes, tienen acceso a Internet."

Elements of Law 3.0 Notes of Readings: II-A (Hierarchies of Law and Governance: Sources and Uses--The State and Its Apparatus)

(Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2013)

I have been posting about the development of a new course I have been developing for our first year law school students, "Elements of Law."  (Elements of Law 3.0: On the Relevance of a First Year Law Course Designed to Frame the Law School Curriculum).  The SYLLABUS can be accessed HERE.

With this post I continue to share with the class and interested "others" summary study notes for the course readings.  For this post we consider the first part of section II of the materials:  II. Hierarchies of Law and Governance: Sources and Uses--The State and Its Apparatus.   Comments and discussion most welcome.

 The Table of Contents for all of the Lecture Notes may be accessed HERE: Elements of Law 3.0: Table of Contents for Lecture and Reading Notes for An Introduction to U.S. Legal Theory and Practice.

Considering the Central Committee Politburo Meeting Pointing to the November 2013 Central Committee 3rd Plenum

On August 27, 2013, CCTV reported on its evening news program that Xi Jinping held Central Committee Politburo meeting and decided to hold a Third plenary meeting of 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) in the coming November. The Aug 27th meeting was also meant to set the basic tone of these meetings: “Deepening Reform and establishing and perfecting Anti-Corruption and Punishment system.” As the picture below indicates, there are six areas of topics that have been planned for the discussions of the upcoming meeting:

The official news release from Xinhua gave readers a basic outline of the upcoming meeting, which also pointed out the center issues that Politburo is about to openly handle. The Official news release noted fours points: Reforms on the governments’ administration system, Reforms on the Anti-Corruption system and Reforms on establishing Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

Elements of Law 3.0 Notes of Readings: I-E (What is Law? Law Beyond Law--Social Norms, Contract Communities, and Disclosure Regimes)

(Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2013)

I have been posting about the development of a new course I have been developing for our first year law school students, "Elements of Law."  (Elements of Law 3.0: On the Relevance of a First Year Law Course Designed to Frame the Law School Curriculum).  The SYLLABUS can be accessed HERE.

With this post I continue to share with the class and interested "others" summary study notes for the course readings.  For this post we consider the last part of Section I of the materials:  I. What is Law? E. Law Beyond Law: Social Norms, Surveillance, Monitoring, Disclosure.   Comments and discussion most welcome.

The Table of Contents for all of the Lecture Notes may be accessed HERE: Elements of Law 3.0: Table of Contents for Lecture and Reading Notes for An Introduction to U.S. Legal Theory and Practice.

Ruminations 54: On Labor Day--Reconsidering the Premise in Both Capitalist and Marxist States that Labor is Hired and Capital Invested

"The profits of stock, it may perhaps be thought are only a different name for the wages of a particular sort of labour, the labour of inspection and direction. They are, however, altogether different, are regulated by quite different principles, and bear no proportion to the quantity, the hardship, or the ingenuity of this supposed labour of inspection and direction. They are regulated altogether by the value of the stock employed, and are greater or smaller in proportion to the extent of this stock." (Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Book 1, Chapter 6, "Of the Component Parts of the Price of Commodities" ¶ 06).

"Thus the advance made by human labour in converting the product of nature into the manufactured product of nature increases, not the wages of labour, but in part the number of profitable capital investments, and in part the size of every subsequent capital in comparison with the foregoing." (Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, Profit of Capital ¶2 "The Profit of Capital")

 

(Damon Silvers, "How a Low Wage Economy with Weak Labor Laws Brought Us the Mortgage Credit Crisis", The Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law presents the Second Annual David E. Feller Memorial Labor Law Lecture, April 2, 2008)

On this Labor Day holiday in the United States, it might be useful to consider, if only briefly, why it is that, without giving the premise much thought (other than to confirm its power by observing economic activity), both Capitalists and Marxists insist that labor must be hired and capital invested.

Elements of Law 3.0 Notes of Readings: I-D (What is Law? Law Articulated by Regulatory Agencies--The Administrative Function)

(Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2013)

I have been posting about the development of a new course I have been developing for our first year law school students, "Elements of Law."  (Elements of Law 3.0: On the Relevance of a First Year Law Course Designed to Frame the Law School Curriculum).  The SYLLABUS can be accessed HERE.

With this post I continue to share with the class and interested "others" summary study notes for the course readings.  For this post we consider:  I. What is Law? D. Law Articulated by Regulatory Agencies: The Administrative Function.   Comments and discussion most welcome.

 The Table of Contents for all of the Lecture Notes may be accessed HERE: Elements of Law 3.0: Table of Contents for Lecture and Reading Notes for An Introduction to U.S. Legal Theory and Practice.