Curriculum

View the 2012 South Africa Calendar

6 Credits

The South African Legal System: From Apartheid to Transition to Nation-building
Professor Paleker (Credits: 2)

This course will study select constitutional court decisions that demonstrate South Africa decisive break from the past and its development into the new rainbow nation.  We will examine how nation building as a process aims at the unification of the people within the state so that it remains politically viable in the long run.

Comparative Constitutional Law
Professor Rush (Credits: 2)

This course will engage in a comparative analysis of various issues involving individual liberties. In the area of fundamental rights, we will focus on, among other areas, life and death issues, what it means to have a right to “human dignity,” and some privacy issues. In the area of equality and equal protection, we will compare and try to understand what those concepts mean under different legal systems and in different contexts. Finally, if time permits, we will explore various “social welfare rights” issues at the center of economic inequality.

Comparative Alternative Dispute Resolution
Dean Inman (Credits: 1)

This course will analyze and compare a range of dispute resolution processes (such as mediation, arbitration, traditional African processes, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Rwandan Gacaca process) and the applications to deal with specific types of problems in different societies. The course will explore a number of critical issues in the ways that societies structure their dispute resolution systems. The course will include readings, lectures, and exercises that will provide students with an enhanced understanding of differences in dispute resolution processes.

Crime, Human Rights and the International Criminal Court
Professor Nunn (Credit: 1)

This course will provide an overview of international criminal law and its enforcement by the International Criminal Court. The legal, human rights and policy considerations raised by the establishment of the International Criminal Court will be examined. Areas covered will include the Rome Statute of international crimes, court procedures, ICC jurisdiction, human rights concerns, and political objections to the court. Students are required to participate in class discussions, give a class presentation on selected readings and sit for a final examination.