The concentration in international and comparative law is designed to give students a broad foundation in international and comparative law.
The program recognizes J.D. students who complete a required course of study and co-curricular activities in international and/or comparative law offered through the Center for International and Comparative Law (CICL).
A student earns the concentration in international and comparative law by completing the following requirements:
- Apply for the concentration
- Course requirements
Students must obtain a grade of C or higher in a minimum of 10 credit hours in designated international and/or comparative law courses, including the foundational International Law course. Courses and seminars that may be used to satisfy this requirement are updated during each registration period and designated as international and comparative law courses. If a student earns a failing grade in a concentration course or seminar, their eligibility to earn the concentration is subject to the discretion of the faculty advisor. Credits from an approved study abroad program may satisfy some of the requirements for the concentration. The concentration faculty advisor has discretion to approve individually crafted programs of study. - Practical experience
Students must gain substantial practical experience in an international and/or comparative law practice setting. This requirement may be completed through one semester in the School of Law Legal Clinics or through an externship in international or comparative law; working in a non-credit internship in a practice setting in the U.S. or abroad; or attending an international conference such as those organized by the American Bar Association Section of International Law, the International Law Student Association, or other applicable organizations. Following the event or conference, the student must submit a two-page reflection paper within 30 days and arrange a follow-up meeting with the CICL associate director. - Writing requirement
Students must submit a substantial research paper or a publishable international and/or comparative law paper to be reviewed and approved by the CICL associate director. Papers completed for a seminar course, directed research or the Jessup International Law Moot Court Memorandum may satisfy this requirement. - Colloquia attendance and three critical summaries
Students must show significant participation in Center for International and Comparative Law activities, including co-curricular undertakings with student involvement and written reflection. Students must attend at least three Center for International and Comparative Law or International Law Student Association speaker events and submit three critical summaries over the course of their law school career. Students are encouraged to begin fulfilling this requirement during their first year of law school. Part-time evening students and students with documented class conflicts may view recorded presentations to fulfill the attendance requirement. The critical summaries should consist of a two-page evaluation of the information presented by the speaker and the student鈥檚 evaluation of the presentation. If a student is interested in writing a critical summary on a speaker event that is not organized by the Center for International and Comparative Law or by the International Law Student Association, the student must receive pre-approval from the Associate Director for the Center for International and Comparative Law, Prof. Ira H. Trako. Summaries are due within 30 days of the presentation. Summaries are not accepted after the end of semester in which presentation occurred and should be submitted to the Associate Director, Center for International and Comparative Law.
Please Note: Directed research projects and seminar papers that fulfill the substantial writing requirement must be approved in advance. If the paper is written for a seminar or class offered through CICL, that faculty member will review the paper for the writing requirement. If the paper is written for a class outside of CICL, the topic must be pre-approved and subsequently reviewed by a member of the CICL faculty with that area of expertise.
Each student planning to obtain the concentration must complete the application for a concentration in international and comparative law and return it to Associate Director Ira Herenda Trako in room 937.
The following courses are only a few representative courses that fall under the international and comparative law concentration. Because we add new courses each year, students should look for the "ICL" designation on the course schedule when registering for classes.
- Admiralty
- Anthropology of Law
- Civil and Political Rights of Immigrants
- Comparative Human Rights Law
- Competition Based Advocacy/Moot Court: Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court
- Cross Border Litigation: Selected Topics
- Doing Business in Emerging Markets
- European Human Rights Law
- Global Health Law
- Human Rights at Home Clinic (E)
- Immigration Law
- Information Privacy Law in the European Union
- International and Comparative Employment Law
- International Business Transactions
- International Criminal Law
- International Law
- International Refugee Law and Global Migration
- International Sale of Goods
- International Taxation
- International Trade Law
- Introduction to the Civil Law Systems
- Law of Armed Conflict
- National Security
- Negotiating International Business Transactions
- Protecting Rights in New Democracies
- Removal Defense Project: Sheltering Vulnerable Immigrant Families and Children (E)
- Research Methods in International Legal Research
- Trademark and Unfair Competition
- Seminar: Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies
- Seminar: Citizenship, Human Rights & Social Justice
- Seminar: Corporate Social Responsibility
- Seminar: Death Penalty
- Seminar: International Business Law and Practice
- Seminar: International Humanitarian Law
- Seminar: International Intellectual Property