For nearly 40 years, the Dean Rusk International Law Center at the University of Georgia School of Law has spearheaded an array of events designed to promote discussion and analysis of issues related to international, comparative, transnational, and foreign affairs law and policy.

Descriptions of past events online include the 2019-2020, 2018-2019, 2017-2018, 2016-2017 and 2015-2016 academic years.

Events scheduled during the 2020-2021 academic year are described below.

Events of the 2020-2021 School Year

Wednesday, August 19, 1:00 PM (EST)

International Law and the 2020 Presidential Election: What is at Stake | Session One: Cyber Threats and Election Interference

 

The American Society of International Law is pleased to announce a free online series examining what the 2020 Presidential Election will mean for the future of international law. The six hour-long sessions will feature discussions with current and former public officials, campaign representatives, and leading experts from academia, private practice, and non-governmental organizations.

This session will consider the legal and security implications of foreign interference in the U.S. elections, and will examine the 2020 U.S. presidential candidates' policies and perspectives.

Click HERE for more information and to register. Non-ASIL members will need to create a free account in order to register.

 

Wednesday, September 2, 1:00 PM (EST)

International Law and the 2020 Presidential Election: What is at Stake | Session Two: Engaging the Global Economy: International Law, Trade, & Investment

This session in the American Society of International Law's series on "International Law and the 2020 Presidential Election: What is at Stake" will address the difficult questions regarding trade and investment policy waiting for the next administration. At a minimum, a Trump or Biden Administration will need to decide what role trade and investment will play within its broader foreign and domestic policy. The next administration will also need to decide how to balance trade relations with protections for innovation, labor, the environment, and human rights. In a shifting geopolitical environment, the next administration will also need to conceptualize the national security implications of its trade policy, as well as the future of the WTO as an international forum for global trade questions and the ongoing impasse over its Appellate Body. Fundamental questions exist about the U.S. engagement with foreign investment, including the role that the USMCA might play as a template for future trade and investment agreements as well as the ongoing efforts to reform the investor-state dispute settlement system.
 
Speakers:
  • Alvaro Santos (moderator), Georgetown University Law Center
  • Kelly Ann Shaw, Hogan Lovells US LLP
  • Katherine Tai, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives (invited)

Click HERE for more information and to register. Non-ASIL members will need to create a free account in order to register. Previous recorded sessions are available at this link.

Friday, September 11 and 18, 1:00-5:00 PM (EST), hosted virtually

The Law and Logics of Attribution: Constructing the Identity and Responsibility of States and Firms

When private companies perform governmental functions and governments own companies, which acts should be attributed to the state? Which should be attributed to the corporation? And whose religious beliefs, speech rights, and moral standing can those entities claim?

This virtual conference is sponsored by The American Society of International Law International Legal Theory Interest Group and the Dean Rusk International Law Center at the University of Georgia School of Law.

Tuesday, September 15

2020 Study Away Fair

Sarah Quinn is the Associate Director for Global Practice Preparation at the Dean Rusk International Law Center. She will discuss the Center's Global Governance Summer School as part of the 2020 Study Away Fair. The schedule for this event includes:

1:30 - 2:00pm: General Information Session about the Global Governance Summer School (up to 50 attendees allowed)
2:00 - 4:30pm: 10 minute, 1-on-1 appointments available
4:30 - 5:00pm: General Information Session about the Global Governance Summer School (up to 50 attendees allowed)

Tuesday, September 15, 12:00 noon (EST), hosted virtually

A Dean Rusk International Law Center Consular Series Discussion on Indian-US Bilateral Relations with Dr. Swati Vijay Kulkarni
 
Dr. Swati Vijay Kulkarni is India's Consul General in Atlanta. A career diplomat, her prior postings have included South Africa, Oman, the United Kingdom, Mauritius, Spain, Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia, Switzerland, Liechtenstein & Holy See, Malta, Portugal, Ireland, and Spain.
This event is part of the 2020-21 Dean Rusk International Law Center Consular Series, which presents perspectives on international trade, development, policy, and cooperation. Co-sponsored by the International Law Society, the Asian Law Student Association, and the Indian Student Association. This event is part of the Rusk Center's Consular Series.

Thursday, September 24, 1:00 PM (EST)

International Law and the 2020 Presidential Election: What is at Stake | Session Three: Taking the US' Temperature on Climate Change

This session examines how a Trump or Biden administration will deal with the global phenomenon of climate change. Climate change is a defining issue of our time, representing a fundamental threat to the earth's citizens and even the existence of certain states. The international community has mobilized in different ways in response to this challenge, and states vary in their ambitions for future initiatives. Speakers will address what specific laws, regulations, strategies and plans the two U.S. presidential candidates aim to put in place. Do they aim to adhere closely to the multilateral system of mitigation and adaptation initiated by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change? Will they reassess the United States' relationship with the Paris Agreement, including the general commitment to take continuing efforts to adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects? How will a Biden or Trump administration take into account different national and international interests when formulating and implementing U.S. climate change policy? What partners from different sectors could be most usefully engaged to limit or reduce global emissions? Finally, the panel will assess how a Trump or Biden administration plans to engage with the national and international scientific community over the next four years.

Speakers:

  • David Banks, Chief Strategist for the Minority, Policy & Communications, Climate Select Committee, U.S. House of Representatives
  • Daniel Bodansky, Professor, Arizona State University College of Law
  • K. Russell LaMotte (moderator), Principal, Beveridge & Diamond, LLP
  • Allison Starmann, General Counsel, American Chemistry Council
CLICK HERE for more information.

Thursday, October 8th, all day event

 

The 14th Annual Global Educational Forum is an instrument of diversity in research, teaching, and service across the University of Georgia campus and Athens community, with featured scholars coming within and outside the University sharing the state-of-the art scholarship to inform current human developments in local and global context. While past forums focused on women in science and medicine, Olympics and development, and human health, the 2020 forum centers on sport, development, and community in worldwide communities.

The keynote address will be given by Dr. J. Jarpa Duwani, Associate Professor of Political Science at Howard University, Washington D.C. She is a qualified Barrister-at-Law before the Ghana Superior Courts of Judicature. She holds a Doctorate in Political Science from Georgia State University. Her primary areas of research include judicial politics, women in the legal professions, gender and the law, international human rights, women's civil society organizing and democratization. The keynote address will be delivered from 12:45 pm to 2:00 pm.

Click HERE for more information, on the College of Education website. This event is cosponsored by the Dean Rusk International Law Center.

Thursday, October 8th, 1:00 PM (EST) pre-recorded session

International Law and the 2020 Presidential Election: What is at Stake | Session Four: Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor: US Approaches to Immigration and Asylum under International Law

This panel will discuss the U.S. immigration system and laws, as well as recent executive actions, in light of international laws and norms. Panelists will focus particular attention on the positions and policies of the two U.S. presidential candidates and their respective parties, as they seek to "fix" U.S. immigration law, policy, and practice. Topics for discussion will include immigration enforcement matters, including especially extraterritorial detention centers, refugee camps, border walls, biometric screening and surveillance, family separation practices, and deportation practices. The panel will also discuss the implications of international law and norms for U.S. refugee and asylum law, policy, and practice.
 
Speakers:

Click HERE for more information and to register. Non-ASIL members will need to create a free account in order to register. Previous recorded sessions are available at this link.

Wednesday, October 14th, 12:00-1:00 PM (EST)

Navigating the Post-Graduation Landscape: A Discussion with Dr. Jarpa Dawuni

J. Jarpa Dawuni is Associate Professor of Political Science at Howard University, Washington D.C. She is a qualified Barrister-at-Law before the Ghana Superior Courts of Judicature. She holds a Doctorate in Political Science from Georgia State University. Her primary areas of research include judicial politics, women in the legal professions, gender and the law, international human rights, women's civil society organizing and democratization. Her two recent books are International Courts and the African Woman Judge: Unveiled Narratives (Routledge, 2018) co-edited with Judge Akua Kuenyehia and Gender and the Judiciary in Africa: From Obscurity to Parity? (Routledge, 2016), co-edited with Gretchen Bauer. In 2018 she was a Fulbright Specialist Scholar to Ghana where she designed a Center for Research in African Union Law. In 2016, she was awarded the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship to undertake a project on graduate student mentoring and research at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana.

This event is co-sponsored by the International Law Society, the Institute for African American Studies, and the School of Public and International Affairs.

Dr. Dawuni will also be giving the keynote address at the Global Education Forum, on Thursday, October 8th. Please see above listed event for details.

Wednesday, October 14th, 1:00 PM (EST) prerecorded session
 
International Law and the 2020 Presidential Election: What is at Stake | Session FIve: Pushing the Limits: Use of Force and Counterterrorism Policies under International Law
 
The challenges to contemporary U.S. national security do not easily fit within the established international norms governing the use of force, which were largely developed to address conventional, inter-State conflicts. New types of actors and new forms of technology have led the United States and other countries to use military force in innovative, and some would say legally questionable or even unlawful, ways. Critics contend that the United States and its allies have tested the limits of the international legal order in their long-running effort to combat terrorists, militias and other non-state and state-sponsored actors in the Middle East and beyond. At the same time, the proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons, and the resurgence of geopolitical rivalries with Russia and China continue to, and perhaps increasingly, stress existing frameworks. Should the existing rules change and if so in what ways and how? The panel will focus on the use of drones, targeted killings (such as that of Qasem Soleimani), cyber weapons, forms of surveillance, and remote warfare (including the "unwilling or unable" doctrine). How do the presidential candidates approach the limits placed by international law on the use of force? How do the candidates differ from each other and from previous administrations?
 
Speakers:

Click HERE for more information and to register. Non-ASIL members will need to create a free account in order to register. Previous recorded sessions are available at this link.

Thursday, October 15th, 10:00-11:00 AM (EST)

Leadership in Global Companies in Times of Pandemic

The Coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing global recession have created a most formidable disruption for business. Do they also imply a different type of leadership? Hear what two senior leaders with extensive experience at The Coca-Cola Company -- one of the most global companies in the world -- have to say about the impact of the pandemic on leadership.

Panelists:

  • Galya Molinas | President, Mexico Business Unit, The Coca Cola Company
  • Ahmet Bozer | President, Coca-Cola International & Executive Vice President (retired)
  • Richard D. Phillips | Dean, J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University

Please REGISTER HERE; attendance is free.

This event is part of the International Business Webinar Series, hosted by the Center for International Business Education and Research at Georgia State University. This event is cosponsored by Global Atlanta.

Wednesday, October 21, 12:00 PM (EST)

International Trade and the European Parliament

Mr. Jan Zahradil is the Vice Chair of the Committee on International Trade for the European Parliament.

Mr. Zahradil graduated from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague specialising in the field of water source management. After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, he became the foreign and political affairs advisor to the Czech Prime Minister; he also worked as the European integration secretary to the cabinet. In 1998, Zahradil was elected a Member of the Czech Parliament. Upon his election into the European Parliament in 2004, Zahradil became the President of the Czech delegation to the EPP-ED group. As one of the founding members of the European Conservatives Group, he became the Vice-President of this new euro-realist group, which eventually went on to become the third largest group in the EP following the 2014 elections. In March of 2011 he was elected the ECR President, thus becoming the first Czech Member ever to have become leader of a European Parliament's group. From 2009 until 2019, he served as the President of European Conservatives and Reformists Party, the youngest and fastest growing alliance of political parties going from the original seven parties in six countries to 24 full member parties. In his current fourth term (2019 - 2024), Zahradil is serving as the First Vice Chairman of the International Trade Committee in the European Parliament. A firm believer in free trade, Zahradil was a standing rapporteur of the EUVietnam Free Trade Agreement which entered into force in 2020 after more than eight years of negotiations.

This event is co-sponsored by the International Law Society, the Center for International Trade and Strategic Studies (CITS), and the Terry College of Business International Business Programs.

Wednesday, October 28, 12:00-1:00 PM (EST)

International Opportunities Information Session

Sarah Quinn is the Associate Director for Global Practice Preparation at the Dean Rusk International Law Center. She will discuss the Center's Global Externship Overseas and Global Governance Summer School.

Thursday and Friday, October 29-30

ASIL Midyear Meeting

The meeting encompasses several events, including leadership meetings of the Society's Executive Council and the Board of Editors of the American Journal of International Law; the Research Forum, which features cutting-edge international law scholarship by more than 70 authors; and the Practitioners' Forum. The Midyear Meeting has been held since 2010 in Miami, Los Angeles, Athens & Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Washington, DC, Seattle, St. Louis, Los Angeles, and New York.
 
The Society's 2020 Midyear Meeting will be held in a fully virtual format. Participants will be able to engage with presenters and discussants throughout the conference, as well as each other.
 
Click HERE for more information. Student attendance is free, but will require an ASIL registration.

Monday, November 2nd, 12:00 PM (EST)

International Law Curriculum Panel

Join International Law professors Diane Marie Amann, Christopher Bruner, Jason Cade, Harlan Cohen, and MJ Durkee to learn about Spring 2021 course offerings in international law. This panel discussion is designed both for students interested in the international law concentration and for all students seeking to better understand how an international law course could fit into their overall program of study. A moderated question and answer session will follow the professors' presentation on their course offerings.

Friday, November 6th, 11:00 AM -12:30 PM (EST)

COVID Consular Conversations: France and Germany

The coronavirus pandemic has added a new dimension to international competition even as it has underscored global connectivity in a new and challenging way.

Diplomats working around the world to knit together a coordinated response are doing without their customary personal touch and with the added responsibility of shepherding their compatriots through an unprecedented health and economic crisis.

This event is part of Global Atlanta's Consular COnversations, an ongoing series of interviews with consuls general working in the Southeast United States, sponsored by Miller & Martin PLLC.

Speakers:

  • French Consul General Vincent Hommeril
  • German Consul General Heike Fuller

Click HERE for more information and to register. Registration is free, but limited.

Wednesday, November 11th from 12-1:00pm

International Experiences & The Legal Profession: A Panel Discussion with Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers Heather Huntley, J. Dean Craig, Richard Mo, and Tom Soderberg discuss the impact of international experiences on their professional pursuits in the legal field.

This event is co-sponsored by the International Law Society and the Office of Global Engagement.

Speakers

  • J. Dean Craig
    • Assistant County Attorney: Kleberg County Attorney's Office, Texas
    • RPCV Thailand 2006 - 2008
  • Heather Huntley
    • Senior Attorney, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
    • RPCV Latvia 1992 - 1994
  • Richard Mo
    • Attorney at U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
    • RPCV Paraguay 2003 - 2005
  • Tom Soderberg
    • Retired; previously Of Counsel to Hawkins Parnell & Young LLP
    • RPCV West Indies 2010 - 2012

With an Introduction from Flora Tano, Senior Regional Recruiter, Peace Corps. RPCV China 2013 - 2015

Wednesday, November 11, 7:00 PM (EST)

International Education Month - Keynote Address

The IEM Keynote Speaker for 2020 will be Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The event will be hosted virtually.

Registration information will be located on the IEM website soon. More information about the events of International Education Month can also be found at the website.

Monday, January 25th, 10:00 AM - 4:15 PM

The Future of Global Healthcare Governance

 

This day-long conference will bring together academics and practioners for a dialgoue on healthcare law. This is the annual conference hosted by the Dean Rusk International Law Center and the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law. This conference will be held virtually.

Monday, February 8th, 12:00-1:00 PM

International Opportunities Information Session

Sarah Quinn is the Associate Director for Global Practice Preparation at the Dean Rusk International Law Center. She will discuss the Center's Global Externship Overseas.

 

Friday, February 19th, 12:00-1:00 PM (EST)

Mr. Michel Gerebtzoff, Consul General of Belgium in Atlanta presents "Decision making process within the EU: how to reconcile legitimacy and supra-nationality"

This event is part of the Rusk Center's ongoing Consular Series, and is co-sponsored by the International Law Society and the Center for International Trade and Security.

 

Monday, February 22nd, 10:00 AM (EST)

Peaceful Assembly as a Human Right at a Critical Time: A Discussion of General Comment No. 37 on Article 21 of the ICCPR

Dr. Jonathan Peters, Associate Professor of Journalism at UGA's Grady College, will be leading the discussion.

 

Panelists will include:

Ilze Brands Kehris, the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights
Christof Heyns, the Human Rights Committee Rapporteur who drafted General Comment No. 37
Yuval Shany, former Chair of the Human Rights Committee
H?l?ne Tigroudja, member of the Human Rights Committee

Tuesday, March 2nd, 7:00 PM (EST)

A Conversation with the US Embassy in South Korea: "Career paths in International Law and Applications of International Law in U.S. Diplomacy"

This event is part of the Dean Rusk Center's ongoing Consular Series, which presents students, staff, and faculty with global perspectives on international trade, cooperation, development, and policy.

Speakers from Embassy Seoul:

Aaron Tarver, Cultural Attach? (far left)

Anna Dupont, Director of Exchanges and Alumni Programs (center)

Bill Furnish, Chief Program Officer (near left)

 

 

This event is co-sponsored by the International Law Society and the Asian Law Students Association.

Monday, March 15th, 12:00 - 1:00 PM (EST)

A Conversation with LTC Yevgeny Vindman (J.D. '09)

LTC Yevgeny Vindman is an Army Judge Advocate and the Staff Judge Advocate for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Command in Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. He previously served as the deputy legal adviser on the White House National Security Council where his portfolio included NATO, the ICC, African Affairs, International Organizations, Emerging Technologies, IHL, Human rights, and Ethics. Prior to the NSC he served in a variety of roles in the US Army Judge Advocate General Corps, including senior policy attorney-advisor for labor and employment branch in the Office of the Judge Advocate General of the Army at the pentagon, the senior prosecutor of Fort Hood, chief of international law for 7th Army Training Command in Europe, and as an operational law attorney in Iraq. He served for 12 years as an infantry officer including assignments as an airborne infantry platoon leader in the 82D Airborne Division and a commander in the U.S. Army Reserve. He has a Master's in administration, and an L.L.M from The U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School. He is a graduate of The University of Georgia School of Law and Binghamton University

All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy, position or endorsement by the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.

Please click HERE to register for Zoom information.

Wednesday, March 24th - Friday, March 26th

2021 ASIL Virtual Annual Meeting: "Reconceiving International Law: Creativity in Times of Crisis"

The 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law will provide a forum to think critically and creatively about all fields of international law. Sessions will present a broad range of perspectives on innovative ways to address emerging issues, to improve global governance, and to tackle international problems. More than ever, it is a time to come together as international law scholars and practitioners, and to challenge ourselves to imagine a new way forward.

This multi-day event has 6 tracks featuring events that will appeal to all interests within international law. Non-member Student Registration is FREE, but a login account is required. The link above leads to the meeting website, where registration can be processed.

Of special interest given the topic of this year's Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law conference, Track 4 offers "COVID-19's Lessons for Inter-governmental Pandemic Response Coordination." Additionally, Track 6's event, "Space Race for the Battlestar: International law implications of the militarization of space" will be of interest to those who enjoyed the 2019 Journal conference, The Future of Space Governance, and would like to learn more.

Wednesday, April 7th

International Law Weekend -- South 2021: Democracy and Governance in the Internet Era

The American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA) and the Dean Rusk International Law Center are hosting this year's International Law Weekend, South.


President of the American Branch of the International Law Association, Leila Sadat, will give an introductory address. Panels will be moderated by UGA faculty members.

Please click the link above for more information and to register.