Slug (unit)
The slug is a derived unit of mass in the weight-based system of measures, most notably within the British Imperial measurement system and in the United States customary measures system. Systems of measure either define mass and derive force or define a base force and derive a mass unit.[1] A slug is defined as the mass that is accelerated by 1 ft/s2 when a force of one pound (lbf) is exerted on it.
British Gravitational system
Unit of
1 slug in ... ... is equal to ...
14.59390 kg
US customary units
32.1740 lb
1 slug = 1 lbf ⋅ s 2 ft ⟺ 1 lbf = 1 slug ⋅ ft s 2 {\displaystyle 1\,{\text{slug}}=1\,{\frac {{\text{lbf}}{\cdot }{\text{s}}^{2}}{\text{ft}}}\quad \Longleftrightarrow \quad 1\,{\text{lbf}}=1\,{\frac {{\text{slug}}{\cdot }{\text{ft}}}{{\text{s}}^{2}}}}
One slug has a mass of 32.1740 lb (14.59390 kg) based on standard gravity, the international foot, and the avoirdupois pound.[2] At the Earth's surface, an object with a mass of 1 slug exerts a force downward of approximately 32.2 lbf or 143 N.[3][4]
The slug is part of a subset of units known as the gravitational FPS system, one of several such specialized systems of mechanical units developed in the late 19th and the 20th century. Geepound was another name for this unit in early literature.[5]
The name "slug" was coined before 1900 by British physicist Arthur Mason Worthington,[6] but it did not see any significant use until decades later. A 1928 textbook says:
No name has yet been given to the unit of mass and, in fact, as we have developed the theory of dynamics no name is necessary. Whenever the mass, m, appears in our formulae, we substitute the ratio of the convenient force-acceleration pair (w/g), and measure the mass in lbs. per ft./sec.2 or in grams per cm./sec.2.
—  Noel Charlton Little, College Physics, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1928, p. 165.
Three approaches to units of mass and force or weight[7][8]
2nd law of motion
m = F/a
F = W ⋅ a/g
F = m ⋅ a
Acceleration (a)
ft/s2 m/s2 ft/s2 m/s2 ft/s2 Gal m/s2 m/s2
Mass (m)
slug hyl pound-mass kilogram pound gram tonne kilogram
Force (F),
weight (W)
pound kilopond pound-force kilopond poundal dyne sthène newton
Pressure (p)
pound per square inch technical atmosphere pound-force per square inch atmosphere poundal per square foot barye pieze pascal
The slug is listed in the Regulations under the Weights and Measures (National Standards) Act, 1960. This regulation defines the units of weights and measures, both regular and metric, in Australia.
Similar unitsEdit
The blob is the inch version of the slug (1 blob is equal to 1 lbf⋅s2/in, or 12 slugs)[2][9] or equivalent to 386.0886 pounds (175.1268 kg). This unit is also called slinch (a portmanteau of the words slug and inch).[10][11] Similar terms include slugette[12] and snail.[13]
Similar metric units include the glug in the centimetre–gram–second system, and the mug, par, or MTE in the metre–kilogram–second system.[14]
^ See Elementary High School physics and chemistry text books/fundamentals.
^ a b Shigley, Joseph E. and Mischke, Charles R. Mechanical Engineering Design, Sixth ed, pp. 31–33. McGraw Hill, 2001. ISBN 0-07-365939-8.
^ Beckwith, Thomas G., Roy D. Marangoni, et al. Mechanical Measurements, Fifth ed, pp. 34-36. Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1993. ISBN 0-201-56947-7.
^ Shevell, R.S. Fundamentals of Flight, Second ed, p. xix. Prentice-Hall, 1989.
^ gee. unit2unit.eu
^ Worthington, Arthur Mason (1900). Dynamics of Rotation: An Elementary Introduction to Rigid Dynamics (3rd ed.). Longmans, Green, and Co. p. 9.
^ Comings, E. W. (1940). "English Engineering Units and Their Dimensions". Industrial & Engineering Chemistry. 32 (7): 984–987. doi:10.1021/ie50367a028.
^ Klinkenberg, Adrian (1969). "The American Engineering System of Units and Its Dimensional Constant gc". Industrial & Engineering Chemistry. 61 (4): 53–59. doi:10.1021/ie50712a010.
^ Norton, Robert L. Cam Design and Manufacturing Handbook, p. 13. Industrial Press Inc., 2009. ISBN 0831133678.
^ Slug. DiracDelta Science & Engineering Encyclopedia
^ "1 blob". Wolfram Alpha Computational Knowledge Engine. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
^ Celmer, Robert. Notes to Accompany Vibrations II. Version 2.2. 2009.
^ Rowlett, Russ. "How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement". unc.edu, September 1, 2004. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
^ Cardarelli, François (1999). Scientific Units, Weights and Measures. Springer. pp. 358, 377. ISBN 1-85233-682-X.
"What is a Slug?" on phy-astr.gsu.edu
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slug_(unit)&oldid=867135594"


Home | King's & London | King's London Stories | Data diving
Data diving
Which London Underground lines have the cleanest air? What do we know about the night-time economy of Westminster? How can joggers choose which London park to run in to avoid current air pollution?
These are the city-centred challenges that have been tackled over the past three years at annual student hackathons hosted by the Centre for Urban Science and Progress London (CUSP London).
Hackathons bring together computer programmers, software developers and designers, and subject matter experts in an intensive collaboration, usually lasting just a few days or a week, with the goal of creating usable, innovative software.
Each of the CUSP London hackathons have involved some 40 to 50 people – experts from King’s College London and the Greater London Authority, students from New York University and the University of Warwick, and a wide range of London-based governmental and commercial organisations. The aim has been to explore the data available on the given topic, and come up with analyses that will develop our understanding of – and help deliver practical solutions to – challenges that affect Londoners’ everyday lives.
Outputs have included an app to guide joggers on the best parks to exercise in to avoid the worst levels of air pollution, an analysis of where those coming to Westminster in the evenings were coming from, and an examination of air pollution on different London Underground lines.
While these outputs were simple prototypes, they give helpful indications to governmental bodies and researchers as to what further analyses could be done, for what questions data exists to support robust analysis, and in what form the output of such analyses could be presented and accessed by the public.
The hackathons are an engaging and challenging way of connecting King’s with the capital. By bringing together the brightest and best students and researchers from CUSP partner institutions with London-based subject matter experts, the hackathons also help develop our students’ skills in thinking about how data science can solve realworld problems.
CUSP London enables researchers, businesses, local authorities and government agencies to apply urban science to improving public health and wellbeing. A partnership between King’s, the University of Warwick and New York University, the Centre is based at Bush House, part of King’s Strand Campus.
London is the first city to build on the success of CUSP in New York City – now established as a leader in the field of urban science and informatics. In establishing CUSP London, King’s is at the forefront of an approach that draws on the real experience and big data available in cities, using London as a living laboratory to tackle the needs of our capital and some of the complex challenges it faces.
Find out more about the Centre for Urban Science and Progress London (CUSP) here.
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Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium is pleasing in a thousand ways
Dick Yarbrough
Updated: May 7, 2019, 3:35 p.m.
What a nice way to celebrate my 1,000th syndicated newspaper column. University of Georgia President Dr. Jere Morehead and Athletic Director Greg McGarity have proposed that the field at Sanford Stadium be named for Hall of Fame football coach Vince Dooley. It’s about time. In fact, it is long overdue. I have known Vince Dooley for more than 50 years. I can say without equivocation he is finally getting what he deserves.The proposal must be approved by the Board of Regents, but since Gov. Brian Kemp — a UGA grad and local Athens boy — says he is looking forward to seeing the Dawgs playing on Dooley Field this season, I think we can pretty much put this one in the bag. Applause for Gov. Kemp. If it were not for him, we still might be waiting for the Board of Regents to do the right thing.
How does this all apply to my grinding out columns for the past two decades? Among a bucketful of crusades I have undertaken over the years, none have meant more than seeing Vince Dooley honored for his contributions to the University of Georgia. I have long advocated that either Sanford Stadium be hyphenated to include Dooley’s name as has been done at Alabama with Bear Bryant and at Auburn with Shug Jordan or that the field be named for him. I have said so repeatedly — starting back in 2003 and as recently as this past week. And now it has happened.
For me, this one has been up-close and personal. As a member of the UGA Foundation, I got caught in the middle of a controversy between then-president Michael Adams and Vince Dooley over Adams’ refusal to extend Dooley’s contract to continue to serve as athletic director. Adams was aided and abetted by a powerful member of the Board of Regents, Donald Leebern, who was no friend of Vince Dooley for a lot of reasons, all of them wrong.
Leebern, whose net worth approaches that of Croesus, has held a seat on the prestigious Board of Regents since first being appointed by Gov. Zell Miller in 1991. He was reappointed by Govs. Roy Barnes and then George E. Perdue and then Nathan Deal.
One of Gov. Deal’s last actions before leaving office was to recommend Don Leebern for yet another seven-year term. Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan promptly turned that idea down along with Deal’s other lame-duck board appointments because of “technical errors.” (Meaning: Nice try, Nathan.) As a result, it looks like the Reign of Leebern has come to a merciful end. As for Mike Adams, I can only assume he is doing wonderful things at Malibu U, aka, Pepperdine University. He and I don’t howdy much these days.
Anyway, that is all in the rearview mirror. The Georgia Bulldogs will be playing on Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium from now on for all the world to see. As I write this, I am getting mail from readers across the state thanking me for my advocacy in the naming of Dooley Field. As humbling as that is, I can’t take much credit except for having, with malice aforethought, ripped those who either stood in the way or those who should have been the coach’s advocates but were too timid or intimidated to get in the fray. But that is OK. The deed is done. Let the high-fives begin. Victory has a lot of fathers.
As pleased as I am for this good man, my love for the University of Georgia extends far beyond athletics. The proceeds from this column go to fund a professorship in Crisis Communications Leadership at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at UGA as well as for student fellowships. I am told that becoming a Yarbrough Fellow is considered a prestigious appointment. I am glad to hear that. I only know there is no way on God’s Green Earth I would ever qualify for one. I wouldn’t even be able to get into the university these days, let alone into the Grady College. Timing is everything.
Speaking of timing, someone asked me the other day if I still enjoy what I do after 1,000 columns and 21 years. You betcha. Every single word. Particularly when Column Number 1,000 includes the words “Dooley Field.” Now, it is on to the next thousand and other crusades, God and the editors willing. May they be as rewarding as the past thousand have been. Thank you for being a part of it.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@dickyarbrough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139 or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dickyarb.


LILLIAN SHIZUKO OKAZAKI
88, passed away peacefully on May 22, 2018. She was born in Honolulu, HI on September 9, 1929 to Suekichi and Tsuya Kuwamoto and grew up in Kalihi. Lillian helped out at her parents' Kalihi Bakery until graduating from Farrington High School in 1947. She attended sewing school for several years and became a skilled seamstress. She was also an accomplished singer and performed with the all-female Shojo Orchestra. Lillian met her future husband, Walter Okazaki, on a blind date. They married in 1956 and soon moved to Los Angeles, CA while Walter attended Northrup Institute of Technology. Upon their return to Oahu, Lillian became a full time mom, raising four children. Later, she began working part time for the Department of Education and then full time at Sears Roebuck at Pearlridge, retiring in 1999 with over 25 years of service. Lillian loved life and always had a smile for everyone. She also loved her garden, where she grew a variety of flowers orchids, ginger, roses, gardenia, pikake, pakalana and bougainvillea. She was a devout Buddhist and belonged to the Waipahu Hongwanji Mission, where she participated in a myriad of activities hosted by the church, among which was her beloved Karaoke Club. Surprisingly, Lillian also loved sports especially football and golf, which she watched on TV whenever she could. She also mastered her iPad in order to pursue her favorite word search and mahjong games. But her biggest passion in life was running. She participated in countless 5K and 10K events, but her proudest moments came from crossing the finish line at the Honolulu Marathon not just once, but four times all after she turned 40! She is preceded in death by her husband, Walter and is survived by her children, Melanie (Eugene Villaluz), Lianne Whang, Wynn and Keane, one grandson, Nicholas Whang, and her dog & best friend, Busta. The family would like to extend a special Mahalo to Dr. Dipak Ghelani of Kaiser Moanalua and Howard Araki, RN, of St. Francis Hospice for their kind and compassionate care as well as to the team of caregivers from Safe Harbor Homecare who treated Lillian with gentle hands and great respect. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 28 at the Mililani Mortuary, Mauka Chapel, with visitation at 5:00 pm and services at 6:00 pm. Aloha attire.


Laufer’s Work:
Peter Laufer, winner of major awards for excellence in reporting, is an independent journalist, broadcaster and documentary filmmaker working in traditional and new media. He is the James Wallace Chair in Journalism at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.
While a globe-trotting correspondent for NBC News, he also reported, wrote, and produced several documentaries and special event broadcasts for the network that dealt in detail with crucial social issues, including the first nationwide live radio discussion of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. “Healing the Wounds” was an analysis of ongoing problems afflicting Vietnam War veterans. “Hunger in America” documented malnutrition in our contemporary society. “A Loss for Words” exposed the magnitude and impact of illiteracy in America. “Cocaine Hunger” was the first network broadcast to literally trace the drug from the jungles of Bolivia to the streets of America, and alerted the nation to the avalanching crises caused by the consumption of crack cocaine. “Nightmare Abroad” was a pioneering study of Americans incarcerated overseas.
Laufer’s first major exposure to immigration issues dates to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1980 when he reported from Afghan refugee camps for NBC Radio. Almost 10 years later, as the Iron Curtain began to rise at the Berlin Wall, which he reported for CBS Radio, Laufer went on to cover immigration from Western Europe, reporting on the hordes of desperate people trying to better their lives by talking, sneaking, bribing, cajoling themselves and their families into Western Europe with the same ferocity he would find more than a decade later among Mexicans and other impoverished Latin Americans hungry for work and heading north to the U.S., even at risk of their lives. In 2002, Laufer’s documentary film, “Exodus to Berlin,” and the ensuing book of the same title, told the relatively unknown story of Germany’s attempt to rebuild its Jewish population by providing sanctuary and financial support to Soviet-era Russian Jews who came over the border from Russia and Ukraine to build a new, safer life, in – of all places – Germany.
Laufer’s books include The Question of Consent: Innocence and Complicity in the Glen Ridge Rape Case. It is the study of the rape of a mentally retarded schoolgirl by a gang of her classmates, and the effect of the case of the health of the local community. He’s written works on the fall of Communism in Europe (titled Iron Curtain Rising), a severe criticism of contemporary talk radio, Inside Talk Radio: America’s Voice Or Just Hot Air, and a book version of the documentary about Americans in prisons overseas, also titled Nightmare Abroad.
Another of his books, Made in Mexico, published by the National Geographic Society, deals, in a juvenile environment, with cross border issues between California and Mexico. Laufer has written Exodus to Berlin, a book version of his study of the resurgence of the Jewish population in Germany and the concurrent rise of right-wing violence, and Wetback Nation: The Case for Opening the Mexican-American Border. With Markos Kounalakis he’s written Hope Is a Tattered Flag, based on conversations from “Washington Monthly on the Radio”, the nationally-syndicated radio show they co-anchor. Another of their Washington Monthly projects is “Calexico,” a series of radio documentaries celebrating the California-Mexico Borderlands, and supported by a grant from the California Council for the Humanities. The research for that project developed into Laufer’s book Borderlines.
His experiences with Mission Rejected resulted in a natural history trilogy: The Dangerous World of Butterflies, Forbidden Creatures, and No Animals Were Harmed During the Writing of this Book.
Peter Laufer was the charter anchor of the radio program “National Geographic World Talk,” a nationally-syndicated show he created. He hosts “The Peter Laufer Show” Sundays which originated on the Pacifica radio station KPFA, moved to the San Francisco Clear Channel station Green 960, and on to Sonoma County’s KOWS. It now airs on Eugene’s KPNW.
Peter Laufer’s detailed c.v.:
No Animals Were Harmed (to be published by Lyons Press, fall 2011)
Forbidden Creatures: Inside the World of Animal Smuggling and Exotic Pets, Lyons Press, 2010
The Dangerous World of Butterflies: The Startling Subculture of Criminals, Collectors, and Conservationists, Lyons Press, 2009
Calexico: True Lives of the Borderlands to be published by the University of Arizona Press, fall 2011)
Hope Is a Tattered Flag: Voices of Reason and Change for the Post-Bush Era, PoliPoint Press, 2008 (co-author with Markos Kounalakis)
Mission Rejected: U.S. Soldiers Who Say No to Iraq, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2006
Wetback Nation: The Case for Opening the Mexican Border, Ivan R. Dee, 2004
Highlights of a Lowlife: The Autobiography of Milan Melvin, (compiled
and edited by Peter Laufer), Swan Isle, 2004
Shock and Awe: Responses to War (edited and with an introduction by
Peter Laufer), Creative Arts Book Company, 2003
Exodus to Berlin: The Return of the Jews to Germany, Ivan R. Dee, 2003
Made in Mexico (illustrated by Susan L. Roth), National Geographic
Society, 2000; Spanish-language edition: Hecho en México
Wireless Etiquette: A Guide to the Changing World of Instant
Communication, Omnipoint Communications, 1999
Safety and Security for Women Who Travel, Travelers’ Tales, 1999 (co-author with Sheila Swan Laufer); Spanish-language edition: Guía Para Mujeres Que Viajan Solas, published by Ediciones
Paidós Ibérica in Barcelona, 2002
Inside Talk Radio: America’s Voice or Just Hot Air? Birch Lane Press, 1995, Chinese-language edition published by Cheng Chung Book
Company in Taipei, 1996; excerpted for use by Harvard University and the
University of Missouri, 1995; and excerpted in Penthouse magazine, April
A Question of Consent: Innocence and Complicity in the Glen Ridge Rape
Case, Mercury House, 1994; German-language edition Sie
hat es doch gewolt, Bastei-Lübbe in Cologne, 1995; excerpted for use by
the University of Massachusetts, 2003
Nevada Neon, University of Nevada Press, 1994
(co-author with Sheila Swan Laufer)
revised and updated edition to be published by Globe Pequot Press, fall 2011
When Hollywood Was Fun, Birch Lane Press, 1994 (collaborator
with Gene Lester)
Nightmare Abroad: Stories of Americans Imprisoned in Foreign lands,
Mercury House, 1993
Iron Curtain Rising: A Personal Journey through the Changing Landscape
of Eastern Europe, Mercury House, 1991
Peter Laufer took on his first radio job while in high school at what is arguably the first all-talk radio station in America, Metromedia’s KNEW in Oakland (known at the time as Radio Free Oakland). From there he crossed the Bay to San Francisco and joined KSFO as a news writer at its zenith, self-proclaimed “The World’s Greatest Radio Station.”
In 1970 he took a cable car down Powell Street from KSFO to the studios of the famous and infamous KSAN (Jive 95), America’s premier so-called underground radio station. As a news reporter and talk show host at KSAN he and other members of the KSAN Gnus team won the DuPont/Armstrong Award for their unique coverage.
From KSAN Laufer moved his talk radio act to market leader KGO and its sister ABC-owned radio station in Los Angeles, KABC. Returning to the newsroom, he became part of NBC’s News and Information experiment, an early test of a nationwide 24-hour radio news service. Based at the NBC-owned KNAI in San Francisco, he covered northern California for NBC News in the mid seventies.
His wanderings next took him to stints at KPTL in Carson City, KOLO in Reno, and WFAA in Dallas before he returned to San Francisco and NBC to work as the “News Flash” at KNBR and a general assignment reporter at KYUU. Next Laufer took over as news director at KXRX in San Jose where he also hosted a talk show, attracting nationwide attention when he managed to connect via telephone with the hostage takers holding Americans in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
Those KYUU reporting duties included foreign correspondence covering the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S.-Soviet proxy wars in Central America. From KYUU he transferred to NBC News and was assigned to its Washington bureau where he worked for much of the 1980s as general assignment reporter and worldwide documentarian, winning the prestigious broadcast journalism awards detailed below.
Stopping off for a brief tour as news director of public radio station KQED in San Francisco, Laufer took a mid-career study fellowship in Berlin just prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and he covered the fall of the Soviet bloc for KCBS in San Francisco and the CBS radio stations nationwide, before switching to ABC Radio for further coverage of the post-revolutionary elections in Eastern Europe.
He returned to CBS to cover the run-up to the Gulf War and then moved back to Washington to take over as News and Program Director of the capital’s news and talk radio station WRC. That experience led to his assuming the role of founding Programmdirektor of NEWSTALK 93.6 in Berlin, Germany’s first American style, but German language, talk radio station. While in Berlin in the mid 1990s he served as Germany bureau chief for the public radio business program “Marketplace.”
In Europe he worked as consultant to Talk Radio 1395 in Amsterdam, training the staff for the launch of this first American style and Dutch language talk radio station. He consulted management and coached air staff at TalkRadio/talkSPORT in London, working with manager/owner Kelvin MacKenzie, the former editor of Rupert Murdoch’s flagship British tabloid, the Sun. He consulted Bill Sinrich at TWI for their launch of the London television talk show “Under the Moon,” created for Channel Four, and he fielded a comparative study of German and American commercial television broadcasting for DuMont Funk und Fernsehen in Cologne.
Back in America, Laufer created the “Omnipoint Business Minute,” a daily business show sponsored by Omnipoint Communications as a branding vehicle for the launch of the mobile phone network that became T-Mobile. He reported on America with a weekly broadcast post card for Radio New Zealand. He established the Business Shrink daily business talk show with Peter Morris, which broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio, the content of which became the Business Shrink book series published by Adams Media. With Mother Jones publisher Jay Harris he founded “Mother Jones Radio,” which broadcast nationwide on Air America affiliates. Along with Washington Monthly publisher Markos Kounalakis he created and anchors “Washington Monthly on the Radio,” syndicated nationally and heard on its flagship outlet, XM Satellite Radio. He created “National Geographic World Talk” and the “National Geographic Minute.”
He hosts “The Peter Laufer Show” Sundays, which originated on the Pacifica radio station KPFA, moved to the San Francisco Clear Channel station Green 960, and on to Sonoma County’s KOWS.
Since founding the Sausalito Sun while in grammar school, Peter Laufer has been immersed in print journalism. His other newspaper duties included working as the media critic in the early 1990s for SF Weekly and acting as editor-in-chief in the early 1970s of the resurgent Gold Hill News, bringing the classic Nevada newspaper back to the Comstock after a 92-year hiatus, a lapse he apologized for in a sardonic “note to readers” on the paper’s front page that was flashed across the country on the wires of Associated Press.
He’s written on the post-Communist scene in Prague and about the fate of Soviet-bloc spies for the San Francisco Examiner’s Sunday magazine Image, and his feature articles fill the pages of a diverse stack of periodicals including Europe magazine, Mother Jones, Hungry Mind Review, Washington Journalism Review, Kansas City Star, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, San Francisco Chronicle, and Prague-based Pozor magazine.
Opinionated, Laufer’s op-ed pieces run the gamut from calling for the opening of the Mexican-American border to sounding post-9/11 wake-up calls regarding the domestic attacks on Americans’ civil rights. These tirades have been published in papers including the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, and his hometown Marin Independent Journal.
With its publisher Markos Kounalakis, Laufer writes a regular feature for Washington Monthly magazine, based on their conversations with political and cultural leaders on their radio program, “Washington Monthly on the Radio.” Counter-intuitive as it may seem, some of the most productive magazine journalism assignments for Laufer have come from what he calls “my favorite pornographer,” Penthouse magazine. For Penthouse, Laufer’s work included travel to Peru to interview Lori Berenson, training for survival in conflict zones with former British Marines, and investigating the predatory scam of selling bogus university degrees.
Peter Laufer worked as reporter, writer, and producer of the documentary film “Exodus to Berlin” which won the David Wolper best documentary prize at the Wine Country film festival in California. The project was supported by grants from the RIAS Berlin Commission and the Robert Bosch Foundation. He is reporter and cinematographer of the under-production independent documentary “Sea to Shining,” a portrait of immediate post-9/11 Middle America. His documentary “Garbage,” a biography of household trash, was broadcast on the San Francisco public television station KQED.
Peter Laufer did his undergraduate work in English at the University of California in Berkeley, he earned his Masters in Communications: Journalism and Public Affairs from the American University School of Communication in Washington, DC, and his Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from Leeds Metropolitan University Faculty of Arts and Society in England. His post-graduate work includes media studies while a Robert Bosch Fellow stationed at the Freie Universität in Berlin, German language study at the Carl Duisberg Centren in Cologne, French culture and politics study at the Ecole Nationale d’Administration in Paris, and Spanish language study at the Academia Sonora lengua y cultura española in Macharaviaya, Spain.
He served on the faculty of Sonoma State University in California in the early 1990s, and he’s taught journalists from Egypt, Cambodia, and Indonesia in the International Journalism and Media Management Training Program at Western Kentucky University. Under the auspices of San Francisco-based Media Alliance, he was instructor and coordinator of the “Dateline: Prague” seminar and workshop in foreign correspondence held in cooperation with the newspaper Prognosis in Prague and its twin program “Dateline: Berlin” held in cooperation with the Freie Universität in Berlin.
For Internews Networks and as a charter fellow of the Knight International Press Fellowship, he was dispatched to make an assessment of the Minsk Mass Media Center in Belarus. He conducted a field analysis of post-Fox media in Mexico for Internews, a project funded by the Packard Foundation.
His guest lecturing datelines include San Francisco State University, the University of Nevada at Reno, the University of Oregon at Eugene, California State University at San Luis Obispo, American University in Washington, the Freie Universität in Berlin, and Misr University in Cairo on subjects from “The Myth of Objectivity” to “The Big Story Syndrome” to “Facts versus Truth” to “The Dangers of Post-Wall Germany.” As a guest expert he presented on the myth of objectivity and the importance of storytelling to a UNESCO freedom of expression conference at its Paris headquarters.
A frequent speaker, Laufer’s topics and venues include the Democracy Radio Forum in Washington, DC where he tackled “Why Right-wing Rhetoric and Ranting Dominate American Talk Radio”, SENAC in São Paulo to discuss “Media and the Third Sector”, the RIAS Berlin Kommmission/Radio Television News Directors Association meeting in Berlin to detail “Founding a Talk Radio Station in Berlin”, and the World Affairs Councils in Portland and San Francisco to address the question: “Are the Germans Still Dangerous?”
Laufer has written the talk radio chapter “Talk Nation: Turn Down Your Radio” in the radio text Radio Cultures (edited by Boston College Communication Department professor Michael Keith) and the talk radio chapter “Hier spricht Berlin: Newstalk 93.6” in the radio text Vox Populi: Hörerinnen und Hörer Haben das Wort, published by the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung in Bonn.
Peter Laufer participates in symposia such as the Sonoma State University Internet conference where he addressed “Talk Radio as a False Community,” the Radio-Television News Directors 48th Annual International Conference in Miami where his theme was “On the Beach, by Force or Choice.” He spoke to the National Association of International Educators about “The Media as International Affairs Educator” and considered “Talk Radio Democracy” for the Peace and Justice Center of Marin County in California. At a University of California Graduate School of Journalism conference his criticized “The Media’s Coverage of the 1989 Earthquake”.
Knight International Press Fellowship charter fellow, assigned to Minsk, Belarus, 1994
Konrad Adenauer Foundation, journalists exchange program to Germany,
Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, affiliate artist (writer),
The Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship, research and study in Germany,
International Press Institute, journalist exchange program for study
in Japan, 1983
John J. McCloy Fellowship, American Council on Germany, research in
Germany, 1982
The California Council for the Humanities awarded The Calexico Project a radio production grant as part of its California Voices program 2008.
Mission Rejected was awarded a Koerber Foundation (Hamburg) Transatlantic Idea prize in the foundations “Transitions in Life” competition 2006.
Wetback Nation was acknowledged with Gustavas Myers Book Awards honorable mention from the Gustavas Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights at Simmons College, Boston 2005
RIAS Berlin Commission/ Radio Television News Directors Foundation
German/American Production Grant for TV documentary: “Exodus to Berlin,” 2000, which won the David Wolper Best Documentary Prize from the Wine Country Film Festival in California, 2001
National Parenting Publications Awards
Gold Award for the book “Made in Mexico” (National Geographic, 2000), also cited on the Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2001 list, compiled by a joint committee of the Children’s Book Council and the National Council for the Social Studies
German/American Production Grant for radio documentary: “Border Wars” 1994
The Joan Shorenstein Barone Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government Goldsmith Research Grant: talk radio book 1993
The Society of American Travel Writers Foundation
Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition First Runner-up travel book category 1992
The Society for Professional Journalists Northern California Chapter
Excellence in Journalism Award 1991
Co-anchor and reporter for KCBS, San Francisco earthquake coverage that won the Peabody Award, the Radio-Television News Directors Association, Edward R. Murrow Award and the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton Award 1990
Edward R. Murrow Award from the B’nai B’rith for national radio talk show (NBC network) on AIDS 1987
National Headliner Award for documentary on the war in Nicaragua
Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award, public service in radio journalism and National Headliner Award for the documentary “Cocaine Hunger” 1986
B’nai B’rith Edward R. Murrow Award for the documentary on immigration reform, “Promise of Liberty,” also cited by the Ohio State Awards 1986
George Polk Award from Long Island University for reporting a documentary on Americans imprisoned overseas, “Nightmare Abroad,” which was also cited by the New York State and American Bar Associations 1985
American Academy of Family Physicians Award for documentary, “AIDS: The Killer Epidemic Continues”
International Reading Association Award for documentary on illiteracy “A Loss for Words,” which was also cited by the Robert F. Kennedy Awards
The Society for Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi, Northern California Chapter Outstanding Young Journalist Award
American Academy of Family Physicians Award for documentary, “AIDS: The Facts and the Fears” 1984
World Hunger Media Award for the 1984 documentary “Hunger in America,” which was also cited by the American Women in Radio and Television, the Armstrong Memorial Research Foundation and received the Distinguished Urban Journalism Award from the National Urban Coalition 1984
“Healing the Wounds,” a documentary on post- war problems suffered by Vietnam veterans, won an Edward R. Murrow Award from the B’nai B’rth and a Gabriel Award from the Catholic Association for Broadcasters 1984


Raven's Makeover Transformed the Beloved Superhero Into a Fashionable Young Teen
Meet the "Spider-Man: Far From Home" Actor Pushing for Positive Muslim Representation
Vanessa and Laura Marano Open Up About Working on "Saving Zoe" Together
Claire Dodson
Actor Nico Tortorella Says Dressing Up Helped Them Learn to Express Their Gender Identity
Marvel's Runaways’ Lyrica Okano Talks Hulu’s New Series and Diversity for Superheroes
"This is how all Asian characters and all actors of any race, color, gender should be portrayed."
Magdalena Niziol
At one point in time, most teenagers believe that their parents are keeping secrets from them. But for the kids on Marvel’s Runaways, it turns out that their moms and dads have something a bit more sinister up their sleeve than just old embarrassing college pics or a surprise birthday gift.
The teens at the center of the new Hulu show, an adaption of the wildly popular comic book series with the same name, accidentally discover what really happens during their parents’ charity organization meeting: some good ol’ human sacrifice. While the kids are unsure about all the pieces to their guardians’ mysterious (and deadly) shenanigans, they know it’s not good.
Lyrica Okano plays Nico Minoru on the superhero television show, the de facto goth kid in the group. The death of her older sister Amy a few years prior is also what seemingly caused a rift within the group, who had been distant from one another up until meeting up for the first time in a while during the show’s pilot. And while she may come off as the most stand-offish of the six teens, she arguably functions as the heart of the gaggle. Nico struggles with both feeling like she’s living in the shadow of her beloved sibling and missing her at a level that the others simply cannot comprehend. Dabbling in Wicca, Nico practices a ritual at the beach (yes, very The Craft) during the first episode in which she hopes to be able to make some sort of contact with Amy, eventually breaking down into a puddle of tears and frustration as the grief of losing her sisters washes over her.
Lyrica didn’t know the exact details about the role when she found out about the audition, being that Marvel is extremely secretive about things like casting and filming locations. She was told that the role was originally labeled as “Nancy,” but she did know that it was for a Japanese-American superhero. A quick Google search later led her to deduce that it was likely for the character Nico since there’s still (unfortunately) so few heroes that fit this description. And while she wasn’t familiar with the Runaways comics per se, she’s been a longtime fan of the Marvel movies including Iron Man and decided to pick up a copy pre-audition.
“I felt like this weird electric charge of positivity or whatever when I went into the room for Marvel. And this usually doesn't happen because I always get really nervous when I audition,” Lyrica told Teen Vogue. “But for some reason, with this part, I felt like I knew who Nico was and I knew what I wanted to do with her. And I had choices that I wanted to make for her already.”
And Nico is such a breath of fresh air when it comes to the typical portrayal of Asian-American characters on the screen. She’s the goth kid with killer, dark eye makeup. When we typically think of witches in pop culture, there’s an overwhelming number of white ones: Sabrina, the Charmed sisters, Hermione. Nico expands what our idea of the archetype, something that’s sure to cast a spell over Asian-American audiences. On top of that, Nico defies her parents, subverting the stereotype of the obedient, studious Asian-American high schooler.
“For Nico, I just feel like I'm on cloud nine because I get to play her. She's so complicated and this is how all Asian characters and all actors of any race, color, gender should be portrayed as,” Lyrica said. “This has been such a wonderful opportunity to play such a multi-dimensional character. Underneath the façade of being goth and being isolated away from her parents and her friends, she's really, really vulnerable inside, too. And I don't know, I think this is huge for TV to see a character like Nico who can be both things at once.”
In fact, the character reminded Lyrica of her best friend in middle school who was a Japanese-American Wiccan who would carry around her Book of Shadows everywhere she went. The friend was a big inspiration for Lyrica, who talked to her constantly. She even sent the actress packages of Wicca books and her very own Book of Shadows when she was out in Los Angeles filming.
Lyrica was also particularly excited to work with showrunners Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage as they translated the Marvel comic onto the small screen. Josh is no stranger to crafting interpersonal drama between teens and their parents, having helmed classics in the genre including The O.C. and Gossip Girl. And while this technically is a show about teens that have superpowers, it’s also very much so one about budding adolescence and growing up, realizing that your parents aren’t as perfect as you might have thought as a kid. While it’s easy to write the parents off in the show as evil from just hearing the premise, Josh and Stephanie have helped make it more about evaluating their decisions and the sort of gray area that they navigate.
So what happens when Nico and the rest of her friends finally confront the very people that raised them? You’ll have to watch to the end of the season to find out. However, the experience enough has really bonded the squad of young actors. Clearly, banding together to take a fight to your parents is quite the team building exercise. And Lyrica and her castmates are just as close in real life too.
“I didn't know any of them beforehand at all,” Lyrica said. “[But] I just felt like this was the right group of people to be working on this with. And we all somehow just got along from the very start. Then we've always just stayed in contact ever since. I'm best friends with all of them right now.”
Seems like the best case scenario when your parents turn out to be a little evil.
Related: Why It’s So Important That Comics Are Finally Including More Girls
KeywordsMarvelmarvel's runawayslyrica okano
AOC's Bronx Pride Speech Featured Copious Air Horns


Bride shamed for $165G wedding paid for by parents: 'I lost my job a month after getting engaged'
Fox News Flash top headlines for July 10
Fox News Flash top headlines for July 10 are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com
A bride is getting dragged for having an elaborate wedding that set her back a whopping $165,000. Though the outrage didn’t stem from the bride’s expensive tastes — it was from who was footing the bill.
Emily, 29, from Phoenix, Ariz., shared details of her wedding on Refinery29’s article “10 Women Share Who Paid For What at Their Wedding.”
Emily, who did not give a last name, shared that her wedding cost $165k — including marriage prep, church-related costs, ceremony and reception with fireworks.
Though the expense was massive, those who commented on Emily’s story were outraged by the fact that Emily did not pay for any of it.
BRIDE SLAMS COUSIN FOR REFUSING REQUEST TO BE BRIDESMAID: 'YOU’RE TOO FAT TO BE A BRIDESMAID ANYWAY'
“My parents paid for basically everything. I paid for a few little 'extras,' like my bridesmaids' gifts, but I lost my job a month after getting engaged, so I didn’t have an income for about half of the time I was wedding planning. I would have liked to contribute more, but it just wasn’t in the cards, and my parents were very generous,” she wrote in Refinery29’s questionnaire.
Emily added that her husband paid for the engagement ring and engagement trip to Canada, as well as his groom expenses, and his parents paid for the rehearsal dinner and gave the couple $5,000 toward the honeymoon.
My husband and I are aggressively paying back his six-figure student debt, so a lavish 200+ person wedding would not have been in the cards.
— Emily
The 29-year-old goes on to explain that her parents' generosity was just “understood.”
"It was just always understood that my parents would be paying, but I still often felt guilty about how much everything cost. But my parents, my husband, and I all agreed very early on that we wanted a big, fun wedding, and that’s just expensive,” she wrote.
“Since I wasn’t working, I would have had to forgo a lot of that stuff in the moment, and they made it possible for me to just enjoy it and not worry about the cost,” she continued, adding that she is “incredibly grateful” to her parents.
Emily went on to explain the couple would have had a wedding that looked “a lot different” if her parents didn’t pitch in.
“My husband and I are aggressively paying back his six-figure student debt, so a lavish 200+ person wedding would not have been in the cards,” she wrote.
Though the expense was massive, those who commented on Emily’s story were outraged by the fact that Emily did not pay for any of her wedding. (iStock)
Though Emily claimed she doesn’t think anyone “should go into debt” for a wedding, she is happy she was able to have the wedding of her dreams.
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“It’s the marriage that is important, not the wedding. (I know, I know, easy for me to say, I got both.)" Emily wrote.
Those on Refinery29’s Facebook page were quick to respond, shaming the bride’s budget.
“That’s just immature and irresponsible. Wow,” one person wrote.
“You can have an amazing wedding day for less than $165k and it is definitely not a parent’s job to pay for a wedding,” another person commented.
“My parents paid for my wedding. About $30k 20 years ago. They saved my whole life to do this for me. It was such a blessing! I will do the same for my daughter. $165k however is over the top. And I would never ask for that, and I’m raising my daughter to now be outlandish too!” one person shared.
Those on Refinery29’s Facebook page were quick to respond, shaming the bride’s budget. (iStock)
“’My husband and I are aggressively paying back his six-figure student debt, so a lavish 200+ person wedding would not have been in the cards... ...If you can’t afford a big party, don’t have one.’ Girl. YOU couldn't afford it, your parents could,” another person wrote, referencing the bride’s husband’s debt.
“Geez, you could buy a house (or at least an awesome down payment) for that!” one shared.
“That's a waste of money, your parents could use that money for retirement. Spoiled much,” another wrote.
Not everyone was against the bride, though.
“Why shame someone else on what they spent on their wedding? If her parents were happy to pay for it, that’s their business,” a commenter wrote.
“I’m tryna have coins like this. I’d love to be able to really afford my son’s wedding. Or honeymoon. It’s goals for me,” one commented.
“This a good way to distribute wealth. ~ If the parents of the bride can afford it, more power to them. this wedding kept a number of people employed. It is a whole lot better than handing it out,” another in favor of the bride wrote.


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Distinctive Aspects of U.S. Law 2
IntlLLM NY Bar
IntlLLM required
This course is intended to provide a broad introduction to key elements of American law. Emphasis will be placed on exploring contemporary constitutional issues and other issues involving fundamental principles of American law. Much of the focus will be on recent, and controversial, Supreme Court cases dealing with property law rights, affirmative action, the death penalty, punitive damages, the commerce clause, federalism, and separation of church and state. Special focus will also be given to developing a working understanding of the American litigation system, including reliance on pre-trial discovery, experts, and the jury system.
International Arbitration 2
JD elective
LLM-ICL (JD) elective
IntlLLM/SJD/EXC elective
In today's global economy, parties to cross-border commercial transactions increasingly choose to resolve their disputes through arbitration. This course introduces students to the law and practice of international arbitration. Among other things, the course will consider the formation and enforcement of arbitration agreements; the conduct of arbitral proceedings; the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards; the international conventions, national laws, and institutional arbitration rules that govern the arbitral process and the enforcement of arbitration agreements and awards; the strategic issues that arise in the course of international arbitration proceedings; and the practical benefits (and disadvantages) of arbitration.
Comparative Law 3
LLM-ICL (JD) required
This course has two aims. On a practical level, we will learn about the differences and similarities, both real and perceived, between different legal orders. We will focus on legal orders within the "civil" and "common" law and try to find out in which way it makes sense to conceive of them as "the Western Legal Tradition". On a theoretical level, we will try to understand what it means to "compare", and how it can help us both to understand other legal systems as well as our own.
Conflict of Laws 3
A study of the special problems that arise when a case is connected with more than one state or nation. Topics include the applicable law (choice of law), personal jurisdiction, and the recognition and effect of foreign judgments.
Use of Force: Cyber, Drones, Hostage Rescues, Piracy, and more 2
JD SRWP, option
PIPS elective
Research paper option, 25+ pages
Research and/or analytical paper(s), 20+ pages
Oral presentation
This fall-only seminar is designed to introduce students with limited familiarity with international law to principles involved in the use of force during periods of putative peace. It will explore what circumstances constitute an “act of war” in variety of situations, to include cyberspace.
The course will analyze when and how force may be used in self-defense and will survey topics such as humanitarian intervention, hostage rescue, air defense identification zones, freedom of navigation operations, and the legal aspects of international counter-piracy and counterterrorism operations (including drone strikes). Efforts to limit the use of force in outer space as well as the implications of nuclear weapons and the emergence of autonomous weaponry will be explored.
Case studies and current news events will be examined in conjunction with the covered issues. In addition, students will get an overview of the practical issues associated with the use of force, to include the weaponry, planning, and military techniques involved.
There is no examination, but a 20-page paper (constituting 65% of the grade) is required on a topic chosen by the student and approved by the instructor. With instructor approval, the course paper may fulfill the Substantial Research and Writing Project or other writing requirements. provided it is at least 30 pages in length. The remainder of the grade (35%) is based on the quality and frequency of class participation, and may require the preparation of short, written products.
International Human Rights 2
In-class exercise
This course critically assesses the international and domestic laws, institutions, and legal and political theories that relate to protecting the fundamental liberties of all human beings. The course emphasizes (1) specific "hot button" topics within international human rights law, such as extraordinary renditions, hate speech, and lesbian and gay rights); (2) the judicial, legislative, and executive bodies that interpret and implement human rights; and (3) the public and private actors who commit rights violations and who seek redress for individuals whose rights have been violated. Course requirements include a final exam, a negotiation exercise, and student participation in class discussions.
Foreign Relations Law 3
This course examines the constitutional and statutory doctrines regulating the conduct of American foreign relations. Topics include the distribution of foreign relations powers between the three branches of the federal government, the status of international law in U.S. courts, the scope of the treaty power, the validity of executive agreements, the pre-emption of state foreign relations activities, the power to declare and conduct war, and the political question and other doctrines regulating judicial review in foreign relations cases. Where relevant, we will focus on current events, such as military detention of alleged terrorists, human rights litigation against multinational corporations, the prosecution of piracy, and controversies over immigration enforcement.
International Law 3
This course offers a general introduction to the international legal system and provides a foundation for more specialized courses. Topics covered include the sources, actors and institutions of international law; the application of international law by U.S. courts; adjudication by international tribunals; the extraterritorial application of domestic law; and an introduction to specific topics, such as human rights, international criminal law, international trade and investment, environmental protection, and the use of force.
Comparative Constitutional Law 2
JD SRWP with add-on credit
Research and/or analytical paper(s), 10-15 pages
This course explores constitutional law from different parts of the world. The course will start by examining the goals, methods, and practical relevance of comparative constitutional analysis. We will then turn to a comparative analysis of constitutional structures, including differing approaches to separation of powers, judicial review, and federalism. The remainder of the course will examine comparative approaches to the constitutional protection of human rights.
Comparative Constitutional Law, Writing 1
JD SRWP
Research paper, 25+ pages
Students enrolled in Law318 Comparative Constitutional Law may choose to write a 25-30 page research paper, in lieu of the 10-12 page paper, in order to satisfy the JD Substantial Research and Writing Project degree requirement. Students choosing this option should enroll in Law 318W.
International Debt Finance (and Sovereign Debt Crises) 2
IntlLLM Business Cert
This course uses the lens of international debt finance to provide students with an advanced course in securities law, corporate law, and contract law. In the area of international debt finance, particular attention will be paid to debt issuances by sovereign nations. Given that much of this market is centered in New York and London, the focus of the course will be on U.S. and English law contracts and securities regulatory systems (including stock exchange listing regimes). Particular attention will be paid to how lawyers and their clients (both the sovereigns and the investment bankers) think about how to structure their contracts and what disclosures to make to the public regarding these contracts. Finally, attention will also be paid to the question of how domestic law private law principles can be utilized to solve or at least ameliorate the problem of third world debt (with particular reference to Sub Saharan debt).
Note: Students may enroll in 328P for an opportunity to earn an additional credit.
International Debt Finance II 2
Group project(s)
Practical exercises
This course is offered to students who have previously taken law 328 International Debt Finance and Sovereign Debt Crises.
East Asian Law: Business & Finance Focus 2
This is a reading seminar, which will cover the East Asian law relating to the economic development, business practices, and financial regulation, exclusively focusing on Japan, Korea, and China. The legal system and economic development of these three countries have several features in common, if compared to the Western legal tradition, but the different history, culture, and politics of each country made its legal system distinctive to each other. This course aims to examine both these commonalities and distinctions, and thereby enhance our understanding of these three countries today. We will only cover the laws and practices relating to the corporate business and financial regulation, most of which have been inherited from the West. Such legal system has very little to do with the East Asian legal tradition. In most cases, it was previously based on the European Civil Law system, and recently more and more influenced by the Anglo-American laws and regulations. In this regard, the notions that have been often employed to explain the East Asian distinctions, such as Asian value, Confucianism, and traditional culture, will be rarely used or emphasized in this class. Rather, this course intends to examine how these three countries have struggled to incorporate the Western legal system—with or without its underlying assumptions and background social environments—into their society in a surprisingly limited time. To be sure, such transplant has not always been successful, and we can learn several lessons both from success and failure.
U.S. Immigration and Nationality Law 2
This course will provide an overview of selected law and policy topics in immigration law. It will consider the following questions: what criteria are used in determining who can come to the United States as an immigrant or visitor? When and why may noncitizens be forced to leave? How should choices about admission and removal be implemented? It will focus on current topics in immigration enforcement, including the “sanctuary” movement, border enforcement, immigration detention, family separation, and the merger of criminal and immigration enforcement. Discussion will be based on a variety of sources, including statutes, caselaw, administrative enforcement guidance, social science research, and legal scholarship. Assessment will be based on written papers and class participation.
International Taxation 3
The course explores both the existing tax rules and the widespread policy concerns under discussion in the US and globally about current international tax law.
International Trade Law 3
IntlLLM Environ Cert
International trade and the World Trade Organization attract a lot of attention and debate. Why do almost all economists say that liberalizing trade flows is a good thing? Why do politicians – even ones who purportedly support free markets – often rail against import competition and "unfair trade"? How does trade liberalization interact with other public policy choices such as protecting the environment or promoting the economic development of poor countries? In this course, we will examine why the WTO exists, how it developed from the GATT and how it fits in the international economic order (Part I). The course will offer you an in-depth, practical knowledge of substantive WTO law drawing heavily on case law. It will address the basic principles of trade in goods and trade in services, as well as some of the more specialized WTO agreements on, for example on trade remedies (subsidies, anti-dumping and safeguards). From a more procedural side, the course will pay close attention to the unique WTO mechanism for the solution of global trade disputes, with special reference again to recent and ongoing cases (Part II). It will conclude by examining U.S. trade law – particularly the widely-used trade remedies laws – and assessing not only the practice of international trade law in the United States, but also whether these laws actually achieve their supposed policy objectives (Part III). Although this course will necessarily address key principles and theories undergirding the international trade law system, one of its driving themes will be the actual practice of this discipline in the United States and at the WTO. The course will be graded based on class participation and an open-book final exam.
International Intellectual Property 3
LLM-LE (JD) elective
LLMLE (1 yr) elective
IntllLLM IP Cert
This course surveys international intellectual property law as reconfigured by the new universal standards of protection embodied in the TRIPS Agreement (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights), which is a component of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization of 1994. Although some contextual materials on trade policy will be read, the course will not focus on general principles of international trade law. Rather, it will focus on the legal and economic implications of the new international intellectual property standards in the light of prior Conventions, with particular regard to such topics as patents; copyrights and related rights (including software, databases, sound recordings); trademarks; integrated circuit designs; trade secrets; and industrial designs. The new WIPO treaties (Dec. 1996) governing copyright law in cyberspace will also be covered. Other topics will include the interface with antitrust law; the enforcement provisions (i.e., civil and criminal due process); dispute resolution (including all the new WTO decisions on intellectual property); and the overall implications for global competition between developed and developing countries in an integrated world market.
Combatants, Brigands, Rebels, and States: The Law of Transnational Terrorism 3
Since September 11, 2001, transnational terrorism has been treated as both crime and war. Accordingly, the U.S. and other states have captured and held members of Al Qaeda and associated forces as law-of-war detainees, targeted such individuals in major military operations and surgical strikes on the territories of (certain) third-party states, and have prosecuted suspected members of those groups, for “terrorism” offenses and for “war crimes,” in civilian courts and military tribunals. This course will explore the reasons for this novel development and consider its ramifications for public international law, the law of war, and U.S. constitutional law.
The reasons for the peculiar legal posture of transnational terrorism are best understood in the context of broader trends in the history of international law. In 1880, a leading international law treatise stated as axiomatic that “[p]rima facie, a state is responsible for all acts . . . within its territory by which another state is injuriously affected.” By 2007, the International Court of Justice, ruling on states’ duties under the Genocide Convention, stressed that the Court did not “purport to find whether . . . there is a general obligation on states to prevent the commission . . . of acts contrary to . . . norms of general international law.” The intervening century had witnessed a diminution in the recognition and enforcement of interstate duties and an increase in states’ acting directly on alien individuals in foreign territories. Those trends were reflected in claims to a “protective principle” of extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction over aliens in the nineteenth century, the addition of “targeted sanctions” against aliens abroad at the close of the twentieth century, and the emergence, most recently, of “targeted killing” of—or, more broadly, “armed conflict” against—private actors abroad in the twenty-first century.
The course will examine the implications of these developments for the interstate system itself, the law of war (in particular, the distinction between combatants and civilians that forms the core of the jus in bello), and the structures of the U.S. Constitution governing war, crime, and military jurisdiction.
Research Methods in International, Foreign and Comparative Law 1
This one-credit seminar in advanced legal research introduces students to specific sources and strategies for international, foreign, and comparative legal research. It covers key primary and secondary sources in both print and electronic formats, including freely available and subscription-based resources. The subjects examined include treaty law, the law of international organizations, European Union law, civil law and other foreign legal systems, as well as selected topics in international private law. The course emphasizes the research process, strategies, and evaluation of print and online sources in a changing information environment. This course is required for students enrolled in the J.D./LL.M. in Comparative and International Law and open to other students (2L and 3L) with the instructor's permission. The class will meet for eight 90-minute sessions. Grades will be based on in-class and take-home exercises, class participation, and a final research project.
International Human Rights Clinic 5
JD experiential
PIPS experiential
The International Human Rights Clinic provides students with an opportunity to critically engage with human rights issues, strategies, tactics, institutions, and law in both domestic and international settings. Through the weekly seminar and fieldwork, students will develop practical tools for human rights advocacy—such as fact-finding, litigation, indicators, reporting, and messaging—that integrate inter-disciplinary methods and maximize the use of new technologies. Students will also develop core competencies related to managing trauma in human rights work, as well as the ethical and accountability challenges in human rights lawyering. Types of clinic projects include those that: apply a human rights framework to domestic issues; involve human rights advocacy abroad; engage with international institutions to advance human rights; and/or address human rights in U.S. foreign policy. Students work closely with local organizations, international NGOs, and U.N. human rights experts and bodies. Some travel will likely be involved. Student project teams will also meet at least once a week with the clinic instructors. Students work on clinic projects approximately 10-12 hours a week, for a minimum of 125 hours of clinical work during the semester. This course may not be dropped after the first class meeting.
Civil Litigation in U.S. Federal Courts: Transnational Issues 2
This course analyzes civil suits in U.S. federal courts that raise cross-border, international and foreign legal issues. Specific topics covered include transnational jurisdiction, international forum selection, transborder choice of law, extraterritorial application of U.S. law, federal rules for service of process and discovery of evidence abroad, the special treatment of foreign governments as parties, and recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.
International Criminal Law 3
"An international crime," wrote eminent legal scholar George Schwarzenberger in 1950, "presupposes the existence of an international criminal law. Such a branch of international law does not exist." This course will begin by probing the concept of international criminal law. What does it mean to say that certain conduct constitutes an "international crime"? What are the objectives of such a legal regime? We will then examine the law of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, aggression, torture, "terrorism" offenses, and drug trafficking. Particular attention will be focused on the issue of jurisdiction over those offenses (and immunities to such jurisdiction), including the jurisdiction of domestic criminal courts, military tribunals (such as the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg after World War II, and the current military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba) and international criminal courts (such as the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and the International Criminal Court).
Climate Change and the Law 2
This 2-credit seminar will examine global climate change and the range of actual and potential responses by legal institutions – primarily at the international treaty level and in the United States, with attention as well to the law in Europe, Australia, China, Brazil, and elsewhere.
We will compare alternative approaches that could be taken by the legal regime to address climate change: the choice of policy instrument (e.g., emissions taxes, allowance trading, technology R&D, prescriptive regulation, reducing deforestation, geoengineering, adaptation); the spatial scale (global, regional, national, local); the time scale (precautionary or adaptive, over decades or centuries); and key normative criteria for policy choice. We will also examine the actual legal measures that have been adopted so far to manage climate change: the international agreements such as the Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992), its Kyoto Protocol (1997), and the results of follow-on meetings such as Copenhagen (2009), Cancun (2010), Durban (2011), Doha (2012), Warsaw (2013), and the Paris Agreement (2015); and the policies undertaken by the US, Europe, Australia, China, Brazil, and other key countries. In the US, we will study national (federal) and sub-national (state and local) policies, including: legislative proposals in the US Congress; the US Supreme Court's decisions in Massachusetts v. EPA (2007), and Connecticut v. AEP (2011), addressing issues including standing to sue, statutory interpretation, delegation, administrative discretion, comparative institutional competence, and statutory preemption of common law; administrative regulation by US EPA under the current Clean Air Act; other federal laws such as the ESA and NEPA; state-level action by California, RGGI, and others; and common-law tort liability applied to climate change.
Questions we will discuss include: How effective and efficient are the policies being proposed and adopted? How do actions at the national and international levels affect each other (e.g. reinforcing or conflicting)? Can current institutions deal with a problem as enormous, complex, long-term, uncertain, and multi-faceted as climate change? What roles do changing scientific and economic understanding play in evolving legal responses? How do institutions and the public respond to potential but inchoate catastrophes? Will dealing with mega-problems necessitate or lead to basic changes in legal institutions? Should the US states be acting? Should you buy personal carbon offsets? Should the US have joined Kyoto, or have organized a parallel regime of major emitters, or have done something else? How should we appraise FCCC/Kyoto process so far? What will follow from the 2015 Paris Agreement, and how should it be implemented? What are the best ways to engage countries in international cooperation? What principles of international and intergenerational justice should guide efforts to control climate change? How should aggregate social well-being, and distributional equity for the world's poor, shape climate change policy? Should greenhouse gas emitters (countries, businesses, consumers) be legally liable or responsible to compensate victims for their losses? What is the best mix of mitigation (prevention) and adaptation (resilience)? How will climate policy be influenced by geopolitical changes such as the rise of China and India, and a shift from the US as lone superpower to a more multipolar world of several great powers? How will technological change affect law and policy, and how should the law seek to promote technological change? How should the legal system learn and remain adaptable to new information over time? What threats, challenges, and opportunities might climate change pose to legal and political systems?
Students must read the assigned materials in advance of class, and participate in class discussion. Each student will submit a short (5-6 page) paper, addressing the week's readings (and adding outside research), for three (3) of the 12 class sessions (not counting the first class session). A sign-up sheet will be circulated at the beginning of the course for students to select the 3 topics/class sessions for which they will submit these 3 short papers (so that these papers are spread across the semester). In addition, each student will write a longer research paper (15 pages), due at the end of the semester. Grades will be based on: 33% class participation, 33% the 3 short papers, and 33% the longer paper.
The Syllabus with weekly assignments, and the Resources (readings), will be posted on the Sakai site. (There is no textbook for this course; all readings will be posted on the Sakai site.)
Access to Medicines: Intellectual Property and Global Public Health 2
Final Exam, option
This 2 credit seminar examines the law and policy governing the availability, price and development of medicines worldwide, providing an overview of the international legal frameworks, national regulations, and innovation policies affecting access to existing medicines and the development of future treatments for global health. It encourages students to critically examine current international law governing pharmaceutical innovation and to engage in efforts to improve incentives for the pharmaceutical sector to better meet global health needs. This seminar is open to non-law graduate students depending on space and prior experience. Students may take a final take-home exam or write a 30 page paper.
Note: An additional credit is available for students writing a 45 page paper. Students wishing to take this option should enroll in Law 527W Access to Medicines Writing Credit and must be enrolled no later than the 7th week of class.
Access to Medicines Writing Credit 1
Add on credit
While enrolled in Law 527 Access to Medicines: Intellectual Property and Global Public Health, students have the option to take an additional 1 credit if they wish to write a 45 page paper. *LAW 527W MUST be added no later than 7th week of class.*
Comparative Corporate Law 2
This is a reading seminar, which will be conducted by interactive class discussions, which will utilize heavily comparative approaches. We will start with the U.S. style corporate law theories and practices, and then discuss on how they are actually applied or rejected throughout the world, particularly in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, and East Asia. The goal of this course is not merely to compare legal institutions of different legal origins. Rather, this course intends to consider several core problems with modern business association, and ask why and how different rules have been developed across the countries. There would be no clear answers, but such discussions will enhance our understanding of corporate law as well as capitalism in general. For these purpose, readings are carefully edited from three articles: roughly, one is associated with the United States, another with the Continental Europe (including the United Kingdom, if any), and the other with the East Asia (mostly Japan and Korea). Due to the time constraint, however, only a handful of core issues and selected papers will be assigned and discussed in class. More advanced theoretical issues on corporate governance will be covered by another corporate governance course. Instead, we will focus on controlling families and corporate group, different schemes of corporate monitoring (directors and institutional shareholders) across the countries, flexibility of corporate finance rules in terms of creditor protection, and finally, dramatic differences of takeover markets. Although the readings sometimes employed economic reasoning, the course requires only a basic understanding of microeconomics.
International Human Rights Advocacy Seminar 2
This course critically assesses the field of international human rights advocacy, its institutions, strategies, and key actors. It explores how domestic, regional, and global human rights agendas are set; the ethical and accountability dilemmas that arise in human rights advocacy; and human rights advocacy concerning a range of actors, including governments, international institutions, and private actors. Drawing on case studies within the United States and abroad, the course will also examine core human rights advocacy tactics, such as fact-finding, litigation, standard-setting, indicators, and reporting, and consider the opportunities and challenges of new technologies in human rights advocacy. Evaluation will be based on class participation and a final paper.
This class is a pre-requisite or corequisite for Law 437 International Human Rights Clinic.
International Law of Armed Conflict 3
This seminar will examine the international law of armed conflict, and it focuses on the jus in bello context. Students will consider the rationale for the key concepts of the law of armed conflict, and examine their practical application in various contexts. Case studies (contemporary and historical) will be examined in conjunction with the topics covered. This historical context for the law of armed conflict agreements, the status of conflicts, combatants, and civilians, targeting, rules of engagement, war crimes, are all included among the topics the class will address. Students will be encouraged to relate legal and interdisciplinary sources in order to better understand the multi-faceted interaction between law and war. There is no examination for this course but a 30-page paper (constituting 65% of the grade) is required on a topic chosen by the student and approved by the instructor. Students desiring to use the course paper to fulfill Upper-Level and possibly other writing requirements must obtain instructor. The remainder of the grade (35%) is based on the quality and frequency of class participation. Students should be aware that this course may include discussion and visual depictions (still and video) of armed conflict and other acts of extreme violence. The textbook for this course is Gary D. Solis's "The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War" (2nd ed., 2016). This course will only be offered in the spring.
Law and Economics of Chinese Capitalism 2
China’s transformation from a planned economy to the most capitalist country in the world, despite the absence of a well-functioning legal system, at least from the western perspective, raises numerous questions. This seminar endeavors to understand Chinese capitalism from the law and economics perspective. What is the constitutional and private legal foundation of Chinese capitalism? What is the role of law in Chinese society and business? What roles has law played in the different stages of China’s market transition and different sectors of Chinese economy?
This course takes an integrative, evolutionary, and comparative approach. Firstly, it integrates studies of black-letter law with observations of Chinese society. In particular, it explores whether and how black-letter law is implemented in reality through a series of case studies in property, corporate governance, constitutional review, etc. Secondly, it investigates the evolution of Chinese law to deepen our understanding on Chinese law and also shed light on its future direction in a rapidly shifting environment. Thirdly, it takes China as a comparative case study to enhance our understanding of law and market institutions.
Foreign Anti-Bribery Law 2
Corruption is one of the major factors inhibiting economic development and undermining governmental legitimacy. Developed governments generally enforce rules prohibiting domestic corruption, but have historically been less concerned with (and even encouraging of) foreign government corruption. The United States passage of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in 1977, which prohibits covered entities from bribing foreign officials, represents a major shift in this policy. In the last fifteen years, most other major economies and economic institutions (the IMF, the World Bank) have followed suit, although enforcement has been inconsistent. This seminar will examine the origins and evolution of this effort to regulate firms' relationships with foreign government officials. The seminar explores the history, economics, and policy behind anti-corruption efforts and the major challenges ahead. The seminar will engage academic articles that address the economic effects of corruption, the politics of anti-corruption enforcement, the variation in current anti-bribery agreements (the UN Convention Against Corruption and the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention), and influence of these rules on foreign investment and trade. The seminar is designed to be very participatory, with students leading discussion.
Students will be evaluated on a series of critique papers, leading a class discussion, and class participation. If students wish to write a paper on a topic related to the course materials, they may request the opportunity to complete an additional two credit independent study. A final paper cannot replace the critique papers.
NOTE: An additional 2 credits are available for students who wish to write a longer paper in order to satisfy the JD or JD/LLM Upper-Level Writing Requirement. Students wishing to take this option should enroll in Law 558W Foreign Anti-Bribery Writing Credit. These credits will count towards the Independent Study Research Credit Limit (Rule 3-12) *LAW 558W MUST be added no later than 7thweek of class.*
Foreign Anti-Bribery Law, Independent Study 2
While enrolled in Law 558 Foreign Anti-Bribery Law, students have the option to take 2 additional credits in order to satisfy the JD or JD/LLM Writing Requirement. These credits will count towards the Independent Study Research Credit Limit (Rule 3-12) *LAW 558W MUST be added no later than 7thweek of class.*
Corporation and International Law: Past, Present, and Future 3
From politics to popular culture, the corporation has become one of the most critical economic, political, and cultural institutions of the modern era. It has also been one of the most controversial. Are corporations people, societies, or even governments? Do they have rights? If so, what are their civic, social, ethical, and political responsibilities? If such questions are vexing within municipal and national contexts, they have been downright confounding for international legal regimes. Corporations have a global footprint and influence on our conceptions of sovereignty and governance, the functioning of international markets, the nature of interstate relations, wealth distribution, international development, and, at a basic level, the lives of people around the world. Yet modern international law has generally been understood to apply almost exclusively to states and to touch only lightly on corporate institutions, with profound consequences for everything from human rights to the global environment. This course will address these questions and many others, both through our own readings and discussions, as well as frequent guest speakers, panels, and workshops, in conjunction with a year-long Mellon Foundation funded Sawyer Seminar.
A limited number of JD students may be permitted to use their paper to satisfy the JD upper-level writing requirement with prior approval of Professor Brewster.
Corporation and International Law 3
National Security Law 3
This fall-only course is designed to provide students, particularly those with no background in the topic, with an overview of the American legal architecture for its security enterprise. The class will also examine related issues that arise "in the news." It is aimed not only at students considering a career in government or the military, but also for those headed to private practice who appreciate that the U.S.’s $719 billion defense budget, along with $1.7 trillion in defense outlays worldwide impacts virtually all potential clients.
The course analyzes the Constitutional structure governing national security matters, and the role played by the three branches of government (with special emphasis on Presidential power). It will also examine governmental surveillance, the investigation and prosecution of national security cases, as well as First Amendment issues related to national security. In addition, domestic security issues (to include the domestic use of the armed forces), security-based travel restrictions, the role of the Centers for Disease Control, the military justice system, civil-military relations, and the impact of national security issues on business transactions will be reviewed.
There is no examination for this course, but a 30-page research paper (constituting 65% of the grade) is required on a topic chosen by the student and approved by the instructor. With instructor approval, the course paper may fulfill the Substantial Research and Writing Project or other writing requirements. The remainder of the grade (35%) is based on the quality and frequency of class participation, and may require short, written products.
Risk Regulation in the US, Europe and Beyond 2
This seminar pursues an advanced, integrated analysis of the law, science and economics of societies' efforts to assess and manage risks of harm to human health, safety, environment and security. The course will examine the regulation of a wide array of risks, such as those from food, drugs, medical care, automobiles, air travel, drinking water, air pollution, energy, climate change, finance, terrorism, emerging technologies, and extreme catastrophic risks (students may propose to research other risks as well). Across these diverse contexts, the course will explore the components of regulatory analysis: risk assessment, risk management (including the debate over "precaution" versus benefit-cost analysis), risk evaluations by experts vs. the public, and risk-risk tradeoffs. And it will explore options for institutional design and structure, including the interrelated roles of legislative, executive, and judicial functions; delegation and oversight; fragmentation and integration; and international cooperation.
The course examines these issues through a comparative approach to risk regulation in the United States, Europe, and other countries. These comparisons address topics including the choice of policy instruments, the selection of which risks to regulate, "precautionary" regulation, "better regulation" initiatives, regulatory impact assessment and regulatory oversight bodies, and others. It examines the divergence, convergence, and exchange of ideas across regulatory systems; the causes of these patterns; the consequences of regulatory choices; and what regulatory systems can learn from each other.
Students' research papers in this seminar may analyze specific risk regulations; compare regulations, institutions or tools across countries; formulate and advocate original proposals to improve the regulatory state; or other related topics.
Development Finance 1
The Course will provide a general overview of persisting development challenges in Low and Middle-Income Countries, and the shared global responsibility under the Agenda 2030 to address them. It will focus on the roles of and partnerships between various actors of development finance, such as government agencies, multilateral development banks, foundations, non-governmental organizations, and impact investors; and familiarize students with development finance instruments, such as budget aid, grants, loans, and blended finance mechanisms. The Course will also deal with critical views on Aid Effectiveness, and issues of Policy Coherence for Development in developed countries.
Two 3-page essays: the first to be handed in on or before September 29, 2019, 11:59 p.m.; the second to be handed in on or before October 4, 2019, 11:59 p.m. (combined 30% of final grade)
One 10-page final paper to be handed in before December 13, 2019, 11:59 p.m. (40% of final grade);
Participation in class discussions (30% of final grade).
Family Creation: A Non-Judicial Perspective 2
This course will focus on the role of the legislative and administrative process in intercountry adoption, wherein a child born in one country becomes part of a family in another. Intercountry adoption raises complex issues of law and policy, including those relating to the definition of family, state sovereignty, immigration and citizenship, human rights, and ethics and transparency. Not all countries participating in intercountry adoption are subject to international treaties regarding adoption and related issues. In nations where the treaties are in effect, implementation through the legislative and administrative process has been characterized by conflict and delay. At the local level, regulation of intercountry adoption through oversight of adoption agencies and adoptive families, has been uneven.
This seminar aims to give students the opportunity to understand the policymaking process by closely examining what has transpired in the field of intercountry adoption in the last 15-20 years, and considering what the future may hold, both within the U.S. and abroad. Students will be expected to explore and understand the intersection between policy, treaty, and national law, as well as the interrelationship between the legislative and administrative processes. Because the seminar will examine not only the law within the U.S. but that in other countries, students will be able to explore the differences in culture and policy that exist nation to nation and consider how those differences affect an inherently international issue such as intercountry adoption.
Readings will draw from the United States and international sources and will include existing and proposed legislation, existing and proposed administrative regulations, treaty provisions, court decisions interpreting these sources, academic and journalistic writings, and audiovisual materials.
JD-LLM Readings: Current Issues in International and Comparative Law 1
This one-credit year-long readings class will explore current issues in international and comparative law. Drawing on the expertise of Duke Law School’s international and comparative law faculty, the course will examine topics such as international law and populism, human rights and economic inequalities, and the future of multilateral institutions. This evening class will meet off campus six times throughout the year and will be offered on a credit/no-credit basis. It is open to JD.LLM students only. Response papers will be required. This class will be taught by Profs. Curt Bradley, Brewster, Helfer, Huckerby, Michaels, and Reichman.
Comparative Constitutional Design 2
Recent constitutional reconstructions in various parts of the world have called new attention to the problems of institutional design of political systems. In this course we will examine the design and implementation of national constitutions. In particular, we will address the following questions. What are the basic elements of constitutions? How do these elements differ across time, across region, and across regime type? What is the process by which states draft and implement constitutions? What models, theories, and writings have influenced the framers of constitutions?
In the first half of the course, we will review the historical roots of constitutions and investigate their provisions and formal characteristics. We will also discuss the circumstances surrounding the drafting of several exemplary or noteworthy constitutions, from various regions of the world. We will then examine particular features of institutional design in depth. These will include judicial review, presidentialism vs. parliamentarism, federalism, and the relationship of the national legal system to international law.
International Business Law 3
The goal of this course is to provide students with a broad overview of how international rules shape global commerce. It will serve as a foundation in international law for students who never plan to take another international law course but also serve as a roadmap of the possibilities for international law study (and careers) for students who want to do more with international law. The course begins with private, cross-border contracting, then moves on to public international law agreements as well. We start with conflict of law rules as well as international treaties designed to coordinate contract law (CISG). From there we dive into the world of private international arbitration, including questions of when state should not permit international arbitration. The course will also covers torts claims, particularly under the Alien Torts Claims Act. We will examine the Bhopal litigation before moving on to some of the cases that have been brought against major oil companies by citizens of developing countries. At that point, the course pivots towards more public law issues that govern international transactions. We look at the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as well as the OCED Anti-bribery Convention. Finally, we turn to the major treaty regimes on economic subjects, including multilateral trade agreements and the network of bilateral investment treaties.
GRADING: Grades are based on an exam.
Financial Law and Regulation: Practitioner's Perspective 2
Every aspect of financial law and regulation depends heavily on its daily practice. The environment changes all the time, and the scope of regulatory discretion, at every level of government (state, federal and international) is so large that successful practitioners must understand the current trends in regulatory thinking and practice. This course will allow students to dive deep into a different aspect of modern financial regulation every week by bringing in prominent alumni practitioners who are experts in specific areas of the field.
The course will be structured as follows:
Six 4 hour components, focusing on specific aspects of financial practice according to the expertise of the teacher. Lee Reiners will hold an opening 2 hour class session.
Taught by a series of expert practitioners, who will spend two days at the school. Classes will be held on Thursday and Friday.
The course is a seminar based on a compilation of readings provided during the course.
Students will be graded based upon class participation and six, 1,500-word, writing assignments pertaining to each of the six topics discussed by our guest lecturers.
Likely topics to be covered include:
Derivatives regulation
FDIC resolution and the insurance fund
Volcker Rule and Regulation W
Bank capital requirements
Class will run from Feb 15th to April 5th and will consist of 13 class sessions that are 2 hours long. Seven class sessions will be on a Friday morning from 9-11am and 6 class sessions will be on Thursday afternoon from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.
Religious Laws 2
IntlLLM writing
Not all law is state law. Among the most important, and challenging, non-state law we confront today are religious laws. Among those is first and foremost Islamic law, but also Jewish law, as well as the laws of other religions like Buddhism and Hinduism. The seminar will serve as an introduction to these laws and their role in the global legal world. We will learn about the nature and structure of different religious laws. We will discuss to what extent we can call such laws laws, and whether we can compare them to each other and to state law. We will ask to what extent state law is also religious. And we will discuss the role that religious law plays for state law today.
The Law of Slavery and Freedom: The Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments 2
This course will explore the ways in which the institution of slavery interacted with the law in the United States and how the law defined freedom and the practices of freedom. The first two weeks will focus on slavery and the law. The rest of the course will focus on the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. For added credit, students may satisfy the writing requirement by enrolling in Law 794W.
Law in Slavery & Freedom: From the Historical to the Contemporary/ Writing Credit
Students enrolled in Law 794 Law in Slavery & Freedom: From the Historical to the Contemporary, may earn an additional credit by writing an additional 25+ page paper, due at the end of the semester . *LAW 794W must be added no later than 7th week of class.*
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