The American Association of Law Schools (AALS) Section on International Law is pleased to sponsor two programs at the AALS 2015 Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. from January 3-4, 2015.

The first program is called “Adding Foreign and Comparative Law to Your Course: Guidelines, Materials, and Practical Advice for Law Professors”. Using comparative and international materials can enrich teaching of almost any course and can better prepare law students for the transnational contexts of their future legal work. This panel will provide practical examples, materials, and advice on how to integrate foreign and international law materials in basic first-year courses, as well as some upper-level courses. It will be held on Saturday, January 3, 2015 from 5:15-6:30 pm. Audience participation in sharing ideas is strongly encouraged, but the program will be led by section officers:

Professor Cindy G. Buys, Southern Illinois University School of Law (constitutional law)
Professor Matthew Charity, Western New England School of Law (contracts)
Professor Milena Sterio, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law (criminal law/civil procedure)
Professor Mark Wojcik, John Marshall Law School – Chicago (torts)

The second program is titled “The Influence of International Law on U.S. Government Decision-Making” and will be held on Sunday, January 4 from 10:30 am -12:15 pm. This panel will explore the role that international law plays in informing the policy outcomes arrived at by U.S. government decision-makers. It will examine questions such as: To what extent is international law determinative or even influential, and to what extent does the policy area, the branch of government, or the ideological orientation of the decision-maker matter? As a more practical matter, at what stage in the decision-making process is international law taken into account and who are the most influential actors? How can academics be most influential in that process?

Speakers include:

Mary McLeod, Principal Deputy Legal Advisor, Office of the Legal Advisor, U.S. Department of State

Sandra Hodgkinson, Vice President of Planning and Chief of Staff at Finmeccanica, North America and DRS Technologies. Ms. Hodgkinson formerly served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs and as Deputy to the Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues. She also worked for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq as Director of the Office of Human Rights and Transitional Justice from 2003-04.

Ralph Steinhardt, Professor of Law & Arthur Selwyn Miller Research Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School. Professor Steinhardt is the winner of the Section’s Call for Papers and will present his paper, “International Law and the Administrative State.”

The panel will be moderated by the Section Chair, Professor Cindy G. Buys, from Southern Illinois University School of Law.

Please spread the word to your colleagues. We hope to see you there!

The Section on International Law of the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for its program at the AALS 2015 Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. on Sunday, January 4 at 10:30 am.

The topic of the program and call for papers is “The Influence of International Law on U.S. Government Decision-Making.” This panel will explore the role that international law plays in informing the policy outcomes arrived at by U.S. government decision-makers. To what extent is international law determinative or even influential, and to what extent does the policy area, the branch of government, or the ideological orientation of the decision-maker matter? As a more practical matter, at what stage in the decision-making process is international law taken into account and who are the most influential actors? How can academics be most influential in that process? The presenter chosen through this call for papers will join several prominent current or former U.S. government officials in a panel discussion.

Eligible faculty members are invited to submit manuscripts or detailed abstracts that address any of numerous issues related to the way in which international law infuses decision-making within the United States government.

Eligibility

Per AALS policy, only full-time faculty members of AALS member law schools are eligible to submit a paper to a call for papers. The following are ineligible: faculty at fee-paid law schools, international, visiting (without a full-time position at an AALS member law school) and adjunct faculty members, graduate students, and non-law school faculty. Untenured faculty members are particularly encouraged to submit papers.

Registration fee and expenses

The selected Call for Paper participant is responsible for paying his or her AALS annual meeting registration fee and travel expenses.

Form and length of submission

Eligible faculty members are invited to submit manuscripts or detailed abstracts dealing with any aspect of the foregoing topic. Detailed abstracts should be comprehensive enough to allow the committee to meaningfully evaluate the aims and likely content of papers proposed. Papers may be accepted for publication but must not be published prior to the Annual Meeting.

Deadline and submission method

Papers must be submitted electronically to: Ms. Carol Manis, Assistant to Professor Cindy Buys at Southern Illinois University School of Law. The subject of the email should read: “Submission for AALS Section on International Law.”

The initial review of the papers and abstracts will be blind, and will be conducted by members of the section’s executive committee. In order to facilitate blind review, please identify yourself and your institutional affiliation only in the cover letter accompanying your manuscript, and not in the manuscript itself. The submitting author is responsible for taking any steps necessary to redact self-identifying text or footnotes.

The deadline for submission is September 2, 2014.

The author of the selected paper/abstract will be notified by September 28, 2014.

(cgb)