The Office of the Dean invites applications from our upperclass Global Law Scholars, from other interested J.D. students, and from LL.M. students who will be enrolled students in academic year 2008-09, to serve as Global Teaching Fellows for the Law Center’s courses in Law in a Global Context (otherwise known as “Week One”) in January 2009.

These innovative courses, being taught now for the fourth year, are designed to “introduce students to a complex legal problem that involves not only U.S. law, but also international and/or foreign law in a transnational setting, so that they can begin to understand that legal problems increasingly transcend national boundaries and involve more than one legal system.”  All first year students are required to take this one-credit pass-fail class.  Depending on which section they are in, students will have a transnational legal problem involving a contract dispute between parties from different countries, a tort (defamation) dispute involving a defamed foreign party, a tort (drug testing without informed consent) dispute involving foreign plaintiffs, or a public law dispute involving extradition of foreign persons to the United States (to face, e.g., the death penalty).  The courses will each be taught through a closed packet of materials and will not include a research component.  If you have completed the Week One exercise in your first year, you are encouraged to consider applying to be a Global Teaching Fellow in connection with the problem you yourself had -- but you are also welcome to indicate your preference for a different problem.  If you are a part-time JD or an LL.M student, please click here for additional information regarding credit/tuition options.

The Global Teaching Fellows play an important role in the success of the classes.  In the Fall, the Faculty member in charge may circulate drafts of the material for their section for comment, or otherwise solicit suggestions from their GTFs. They will meet with the Faculty member in the Fall for training, meetings that will provide further opportunity for mutual discussion of the materials.  In January, the GTFs attend all of the plenary sessions, and they also attend, and help facilitate, the break-out sessions in which students are most intensely involved in legal problem-solving in a transnational legal setting.  Some of the break-out sessions may be facilitated only by Global Teaching Fellows and some will likely include a faculty member.  GTFs also play an important role in helping the 1Ls prepare for some of their break-out session activities, such as oral argument before a court or arbitral body.  The faculty member in charge of each section will meet or consult regularly with the GTFs, to offer and receive feedback from them both on the plenary session and on how the problem is going in the break-out sessions as the week proceeds.

Global Teaching Fellows may receive one academic credit, on a pass-fail basis, for their participation in Week One.  Students may also elect to participate for no credits.  (The course requirements remain the same if you choose this option).  In 2008-09, the pass-fail credit will NOT count toward the maximum pass-fail credits allowed, and students may take another eligible course pass-fail in the spring semester; we may revisit this issue in years to come. In order to receive one academic credit for their participation as Global Teaching Fellows, students must complete the following requirements:

1.  The students must participate in training in the problems in the Fall semester (which could consist of as much as two meetings);

2.  The students must attend all Week One classes for their sections (January 5-9, 2009) and be available to serve as mentors/helpers during non-class hours and to meet with the Professor coordinating the section;

3.  The students must help monitor and/or facilitate break-out sessions (details to follow);

4.  The students are required to write a substantive, 6-8 page reaction paper assessing (1) how the problem worked; (2) how it could be improved (legal issues, factual issues, structure of exercise, timing, etc.); (3) student reaction to the experience; and (4) how the first year students' experience could be improved.  In preparation for writing their papers, the Global Teaching Fellows should observe the reactions of the first year students and actively solicit feedback from them throughout the week.  The paper will be due on February 9, 2009, one month after Week One ends.

Applications to serve as Global Teaching Fellows should be submitted to the Registrar’s office by Friday, October 10. Please include a resume, a transcript, and a brief statement of why you are interested and any special qualifications you believe you may have. We are looking for students who have done well here, who may have knowledge of or interest in foreign countries and/or international or comparative law, and who can work well with other students. If you have experience in oral advocacy, negotiation, mediation or arbitration, please note this for us as well. Students who have already been Global Teaching Fellows, are welcome to apply to serve again; for information on receipt of academic credit, please click here for additional information. It may assist you to know that one section in the day division will have a contract problem involving parties from different countries and concerning a project abroad, which may include a simulated negotiation and a simulated arbitration; one section in the day division will have a tort problem, involving defamation of a foreign national over the Internet and will likely have a simulated argument before an arbitral panel; two sections in the day division will have a tort problem arising from the testing of drugs on foreign plaintiffs living abroad with a probable simulated argument before a U.S. court; and one section in the evening division (Section 7) will have an extradition problem involving a possible punishment (e.g., the death penalty, or life without parole in maximum security) that preclude return of the defendants to the United States for criminal trial and this problem will have a simulated argument before a supranational human rights tribunal. Section 7 classes will be held in the evening. Please remember to mark your preferences – as to the subject matter of the problem and as to day or evening section – in your application.

 

Application (please submit applications to the Office of the Registrar by Friday, October 10, 2008.)

Global Teaching Fellow Application (In PDF)

Global Teaching Fellow Application (In Word)