WCL Hosts Third Annual International Week

Full Schedule of Events

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, DC, September 15, 2009 – American University Washington College of Law (WCL) will hold its Third Annual International Week Sept. 21-25 to promote awareness of international law and create a better understanding of what it means to live in an international community. The week’s events, ranging from lectures and panels to luncheons and socials, will highlight all of Washington College of Law’s international programs and celebrate the diversity of the law school community, which includes students from over 50 countries, speaking languages from Afrikaans to Urdu.

Through the week’s numerous activities, including the 10th Annual Embassy Reception and academic programs on topics such as human rights, terrorism, gender, and multinational organizations, participants can enhance their understanding and communication on important issues facing humankind.

The program unofficially kicks off with a luncheon on Sept. 17 titled “Accountability for Gross Human Rights Violations: An Overview of International and Domestic Approaches,” hosted by the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.  The luncheon is followed by an international potluck dinner and photo competition, leading up to a week’s worth of events Sept. 21-25.

Annual Lecture on International Law

The 3rd Annual International Legal Studies Program Lecture on International Law, Thursday, Sept. 24, 5:30 p.m., features Sally Engle Merry, director of the Law and Society Program and professor of anthropology at New York University, who will discuss “Crossing the Culture-Rights Divide: The Making of Human Rights in the Vernacular.” 

Merry’s work explores the role of law in the colonizing process, in contemporary transnationalism and in urban life in the U.S.  Her recent books are: Colonizing Hawaii: The Cultural Power of Law (Princeton Univ. Press, 2000), which received the 2001 J. Willard Hurst Prize from the Law and Society Association, Human Rights and Gender Violence: Translating International Law into Local Justice (University of Chicago Press, 2006) and Gender Violence: A Cultural Perspective (Blackwells, 2008).  She has also recently published articles on women’s human rights, violence against women, and the process of localizing women’s human rights. 

“We are thrilled to have Professor Merry join in our International Week celebration and look forward to hearing her insights on translating international law into local justice,” said Padideh Ala’i, interim director of the International Legal Studies Program. “Her lecture is helping to establish the ILSP Lecture on International Law as an important forum for leading international law scholars to discuss their cutting edge international legal research and practice.” 

Other international week events include the Annual Embassy Reception, a civil rights retrospective, a program on gender and climate change, a soccer competition, and a lecture on the financial crisis and the IMF. For more information and a listing of the week’s events visit the International Week web site. 

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