'Incorporating a Comparative Perspective into Undergraduate American Constitutional Law Courses'

Abstract:
This paper notes a rise in the inclusion of comparative law in American law school curricula and suggests that political science instructors can benefit from incorporating a comparative perspective into the constitutional law courses that are offered to undergraduates. Based on the author’s recent experience teaching undergraduate constitutional law, an approach for doing so is outlined along with its objectives and potential benefits. The paper hopes to add to work by previous APSA Teaching and Learning Conference participants who have identified effective and engaging methods for teaching constitutional law.

Narasimhan, Angela G., Incorporating a Comparative Perspective into Undergraduate American Constitutional Law Courses (2012). APSA 2012 Teaching & Learning Conference Paper.

'Transnational Comparisons: Theory and Practice of Comparative Law as a Critique of Global Governance'

Abstract:
A project seeking to assert and contrast the ‘practice’ of comparative law in distinction from the well-known and longstanding theoretical critique of the field is itself in need to define the meaning of practice. The following chapter, written for a volume edited by Jacco Bomhoff and Maurice Adams, takes up this challenge in two steps. In a first one, it revisits comparative law’s seemingly eternal self-doubt regarding its target of inquiry and its method. I will suggest that there is a great promise for comparative legal studies in the context of transnational legal pluralism as a methodological approach to the study of intersecting normative and institutional orders. In a second step, I would like to draw out the context in which current debates about comparative and transnational law are unfolding. This context - ‘global governance’- poses significant challenges for the role of law in what has fast become a multi-disciplinary inquiry regarding the contours and foundations of a continuously evolving global regulatory landscape. A reflection on the regulatory aims of comparative law as transnational law, which I have been pursuing together with Russell Miller in ‘Comparative Law as Transnational Law: A Decade of the German Law Journal’ (Oxford University Press, 2012), can serve as a powerful critique of global governance.

Zumbansen, Peer, Transnational Comparisons: Theory and Practice of Comparative Law as a Critique of Global Governance (February 7, 2012). Osgoode CLPE Research Paper No. 1/2012.

Teaching Comparative Law:

reflections and recommendations

Wood Room, Plassey House

University of Limerick, IRELAND

Friday, 20 April 2012 — 11:00-15:00

The Irish Society of Comparative Law and the School of Lawof the University of Limerick (UL) will host a one-day workshop on ‘Teaching Comparative Law’ in the Wood Room in Plassey House at UL on Friday, 20 April 2012 from 11:00-15:00.

There is no fee for participation and lunch is included.

The workshop will collate information on the current teaching of comparative law and related disciplines—especially European law, International law, and foreign laws of any type—in Ireland. To assist in this, a very brief, simple questionnaire has been prepared. Both attendees and non-attendees are invited to complete the questionnaire.

Please contact ISCL Vice-President Seán Patrick Donlan (sean.donlan@ul.ie) for additional information.

Workshop participants will (i) review the teaching of comparative law across Ireland and (ii) discuss its future role in legal education. Current innovative approaches across the globe—Maastricht, McGill, NYU, and SOAS—will be considered for their relevance to teaching both comparative and national law.

The reports provided for the workshop will be compiled and available to reporters, to Heads of Faculties, and to ISCL members. Minutes of the meeting may also be included. It is our hope that these materials might form the basis of a comprehensive overview of the teaching of comparative law and related disciplines in Ireland.