«ELPIS-SEALS Global Classroom Project. Presentation by Professor Melanie Reid»
Looking for a fun alternative to the traditional classroom experience? A way for your students to interact with law students in foreign countries?
Consider having you and your students participate in the joint ELPIS-SEALS Global Classroom Project, a pilot program that will occur this fall semester (in October and November on Tuesdays from 8:30-10:30am EST).
The objectives (“the core”) behind this initiative are to:
- Learn about various global issues facing the world today. Global learning encourages awareness and critical thinking about issues such as poverty, climate change, cultural differences, world finance and trade, law and politics.
- Educate our students on the importance of becoming global citizens by respecting cultural diversity, human rights, and the rule of law and empower students to see the importance of personally taking social action.
- Understand the importance of being a lawyer in the global community and develop the core competencies which allow them to actively engage with other future lawyers/global leaders.
- Communicate in small groups the differences and similarities between legal systems and discuss alternate approaches to global legal problems.
Students who participate will receive confirmation of their participation if they attend 1 session.
Students who participate will receive a certificate signed by ELPIS and SEALS representatives if they attend 5 sessions.
Faculty are welcome to join the sessions.
The table below lists the different global issues that will be discussed during the sessions (“the petals”). We would ask that faculty who have students that wish to attend to email Professor Melanie Reid at melanie.reid@lmunet.edu before the class session so they can be added to a small 4-6 people Zoom breakout room. Students will be placed in breakout rooms with students from different law schools and nationalities. Faculty can also participate, and they will be placed in a breakout room and can move in and out of the smaller room to the main room as they deem fit. Various faculty will be involved in organizing the introductory sections of the sessions (depending on who designed the module).
The sessions are divided into 3 segments. There will be an introductory 5-10 minute discussion of the topic in the main room at the beginning of the session, then students will be divided into their smaller breakout rooms to discuss for approximately 15-20 minutes. Depending upon the amount of students we have, assigned leaders in the breakout rooms will briefly share with the entire group what was discussed. We will then continue the same format with the second and third segment (all relevant to the main topic listed on the table below). Each faculty member participating should share with their students the class session notes and questions documents (see below) with their students prior to class so that students can familiarize themselves with the topic, read some of the suggested topics, and get comfortable with the questions they will be discussing in their groups. We would like to make this a fun, informal experience for students so they feel comfortable speaking to their peers and sharing their opinions.
We are hoping to create a survey and have students complete it after the final class session to see what they thought of the experience and how best to improve it for the future. We hope this pilot program will lead to new SEALS-ELPIS initiatives in the future or possibly be made into part of your course in the future at your school.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Melanie Reid at melanie.reid@lmunet.edu.
| Class Session | Tuesdays 8:30-10:30 am EST 15.30-17.30 Turkey/Greece EEST 14.30-16.30 Germany/Poland CEST 13.30-15.30 Portugal WEST | The Zoom link for all the classes will be the same: https://lmu.zoom.us/j/83054453369 Meeting ID: 830 5445 3369 Class Topics: |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 4th | An Introduction to Legal Systems/Traditions – an overview of EU and US structures; the European Court of Human Rights and the U.S. Supreme Court; and the rule of law Intro to Legal Structures and Questions |
| 2 | October 18th | Environmental Law/Climate Change – the Keystone Extension and the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Environmental Law Class Sessions |
| 3 | October 25th | Police Activities – Excessive Use of Force, Firearms Control, and an Accused’s Rights While in Custody Political Activities Class Session Notes and Questions |
| 4 | November 1st | Public Banking Law – the U.S. banking system and the European Central Bank (ECB) and Banking Union Public Bank Law Class Session Notes and Questions |
| 5 | November 8th | Gender Equality Issues – domestic violence, sex trafficking, and women’s economic empowerment Gender Equality Session Notes and Questions |
| 6 | November 15th | New Technologies and the Rule of Law – AI, Warrantless Surveillance, Big Data, Internet-of-Things, Algorithms, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law Technology and Rule of Law Class Session Notes and Questions |
| 7 | November 22nd | The power of information and the role of media in contemporary society – gatekeeping in digital media, freedom of expression and the right to privacy in the digital age Power of Information and Role of Media Crisis Session Notes and Questions |