Student Affairs
Curriculum
View the 2012 South Africa Calendar
6 Credits
Introduction to South African Law
Professor Paleker (Credits: 2)
Provides students with basic understanding of South African law, and basis for comparison to the American legal system. Topics include South African law as a “mixed” legal system (combines elements of both English common law and European civil law), the role of law in an oppressive system (law under apartheid, 1948- 1900), influence of American, Canadian and German law on the new South African constitutional order (1993-1998), and aspects of South African law of interest from a comparative perspective.
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: 2)
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.