Abstract
The complex relationship between these two phenomena- legal educational and socio-professional hierarchy in the "First World" and socioeconomic hierarchy both within industrialized economies and between the "First World" and the "Third World" - is of central concern to the study and teaching of international law. Yet questions surrounding this relationship and comparable connections often seem difficult to foreground as subjects of study within the typical law school curriculum. What with all the time students dedicate to acquainting themselves with relevant international institutions, instruments, and principles, not to mention juggling an array of resume-enhancing activities, such fundamental questions often seem to fall away• All too often they are cast into a category in students' minds dedicated to the "too abstract," the "too vast," or the "unlikely to be assessed." This article recounts an experiment through which two international law teachers, working on opposite sides of a large city in an industrialized nation, brought our students together in an attempt to (re)activate these questions in a stimulating way. We sought to do so both explicitly (in the design of exercises framed around issues of contemporary political, economic, and social concern) and implicitly (in the encounter between student bodies drawn from two very different law schools). This experiment entailed convening a half-day Student Conference at which we asked students to present original insights (in the mode of an academic conference) and to engage in moderated negotiation role-plays, as described below.
Original language | English |
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Number of pages | 22 |
Journal | Journal of Legal Education |
Publication status | Published - 2007 |
Keywords
- Sydney (N.S.W.)
- international law
- law
- legal education
- social structure
- study and teaching