Center for International & Comparative Law

Global Law Workshop

A workshop on international and comparative law sponsored by the Center for International & Comparative Law, the Global Law Workshop offers an exciting opportunity for the Duke Law School community to engage in current issues in international and comparative law. Law and the legal process can no longer be contained within national borders. As much as today's challenges cross national boundaries — be they environmental, security-related, or economic issues — so do law and the study of law, by becoming increasingly global.

The workshop meets seven or eight times during the semester. Prominent legal scholars present their latest work in the field of international or comparative law. Although there is always a variety of topics, each semester is held together by a loose theme.

The workshop is unique in that it is run, and regularly attended, by Duke and UNC faculty active in the field. This offers students a great opportunity to meet and hear a number of faculty, and fascinating guest speakers, in one single class.

In the Fall 2009, Professors Bradley, Helfer, and DeMott, co-taught "Transnational Regulation of Stolen Art and Cultural Property." The workshop focused on disputes relating to the ownership and recovery of art and cultural property, ranging from Nazi era expropriations to long-standing debates about the presence of the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum. Students examined in detail a set of international treaties and aspects of their implementation by statute in the United States, as well as cases in which a foreign state or its agency is the defendant in U.S. litigation. There are no prerequisites. Grades are based on a final exam and on class participation. 1 credit.

Classes were held on the following Wednesdays: Oct. 7, Oct. 21, Oct. 28, Nov. 4, Nov. 11, and Nov. 18.

The theme of the Spring 2010 Global Law Workshop, co-taught by Professors Bradley and Helfer, was "The Law and Politics of International Cooperation." The workshop centered around works in progress, presented by leading scholars of international law and international relations theory. Interested students and faculty are welcome to attend. Please contact Erin Daniel at daniel@law.duke.edu if you would like to receive a copy of the papers. The schedule for the workshop is as follows:

» Information about past Global Law Workshops