Upcoming AUWCL Events Explore Animal Rights, Neuroscience and Law, and More

March 8, 2021

Even amid the shift to virtual learning and events, American University Washington College of Law continues to host symposiums, seminars, and panel discussions on important topics impacting the legal realm and the world at large, inviting students, alumni, and the general public to engage with leading experts, practitioners and government officials.

From our Center of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law’s 30th anniversary celebration series, to welcoming Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton for a discussion on DC statehood, AUWCL will host a number of important events throughout the month of March.  Below are some select upcoming events that we invite you to attend.

Neuroscience and Law with Francis X. Shen

Professor Francis X. Shen
Professor Francis X. Shen

On Wednesday, March 10, at noon, Professor Francis X. Shen, who will give the inaugural talk for American University’s Neuroscience and Policy series. The series is part of a new initiative to ensure AU’s Center for Neuroscience and Behavior develops a program that integrates sound science with policy and law. The March 10 event is co-sponsored by AU Washington College of Law and the School of Public Affairs.

Shen teaches at the University of Minnesota Law School, and serves as executive director of education and outreach for the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Law and Neuroscience. Shen’s studies focus on the empirical and interdisciplinary research at the intersection of law and brain sciences. He is co-authoring the first course book on law and neuroscience (forthcoming, Aspen Publishers), and has explored the implications of cognitive neuroscience for criminal law, torts, and legislation in the United States.

Shen’s research has also been published in a variety of outlets in the law, political science, psychology, and education spaces. He is the co-author of two books, The Education Mayor (Georgetown, 2007) and The Casualty Gap (Oxford, 2010).

Learn more about Shen’s experience and expertise, and register for the event here.

Reparation for Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Grave Breaches of International Humanitarian Law

Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus Claudio Grossman.
Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus Claudio Grossman

This one-day conference on Wednesday, March 17 – co-hosted by the Center of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law & Human Rights, and the RFK Center for Human Rights – will convene experts in international law for two separate panel discussions on the right to reparation under international law.

The event, which will run from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., will feature insights from a number of AUWCL faculty experts, including introductory remarks from Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus Claudio Grossman. Grossman is a member of the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC), and serves as president of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights.

Faculty panelists include Professor and Louis C. James Scholar Robert K. Goldman, president of the International Commission of Jurists; Professorial Lecturer-in-Residence Susana SáCouto, director of AUWCL’s War Crimes Research Office; and Professorial Lecturer-in-Residence Diego Rodriguez-Pinzon, co-director of the Academy on Human Rights & Humanitarian Law.

Click here to see a full list of participating panelists and to register.

The Unseen Impacts of Factory Farming: Economic Inequality, Animal Cruelty, and Human Rights

Learn about impacts of factory farming at the two-day event.
Learn about impacts of factory farming at the two-day event.

March 18-19, join AUWCL’s Animal Law Society for its fifth annual symposium, co-presented with the Animal League Defense Fund. The first day of the two-day symposium, which will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., will feature two panel discussions on the topics of corporate consolidation in animal agribusiness on small farmers, as well as the living conditions of animals raised for food and the associated ethics of factory farming.

Day two of the symposium, to be held 12:30-2:30 p.m., will include a panel covering the human rights implications of the animal agriculture industry. Licensed attorneys in Pennsylvania can obtain three Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit hours for attending both days of the symposium.

Click here to learn more and register for day one of the symposium, and click here to register for day two.