Italy Summer Program in Bologna
Course Descriptions
Comparative Constitutional Law (Professor Mazzone)
1 credit, two-week session / May 25 - June 7
This course focuses on the comparative study of the structure and content of constitutional law, comparing the United States with western European civil law countries such as Germany and France, with other common law countries, such as Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, India, and South Africa, and with mixed systems such as Israel. Topics will include such things as variations in the institutions and practices of judicial review; negative and positive constitutional rights; freedom of speech, privacy and equality; constitutional restrictions on private actors; federalism; and different approaches to national security. The course will consider issues involved in designing constitutional systems for new democracies, the possibility of exporting constitutional structures, and the usefulness of comparative approaches for American courts. A prior course in constitutional law is helpful but not required.
International Arbitration (Professors Borghesi and Giovannucci Orlandi)
1 credit, two-week session / May 25 - June 7
This course will concentrate on Arbitration, which is the principal alternative form of dispute resolution to civil litigation. The course will cover the major differences between Arbitration and other methods of alternative dispute resolution, and will focus on issues relating to International Commercial Arbitration. Special attention will be given to the European laws on International Arbitration and to the rules of the most influential International Arbitration institutions (e.g., The International Arbitration Chamber of Milan, The International Chamber of Commerce of Paris, The American Arbitration Association, and The London Court of International Arbitration). Special regard will be given to the 1958 New York Convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards and its application in the United States and Europe.
World Legal Systems (Professor Tiersma)
1 credit, two-week session / May 25 - June 7
This course is a broad overview of the world’s major legal traditions. We will examine indigenous or customary law, ancient law (especially Roman law), and some of the more important legal systems in use today. Although time constraints will limit our treatment of these various legal traditions, we will cover the basic principles and the most salient features of each one, hoping in this way to gain a greater appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of our own machinery of justice.
Comparative and International Family Law (Professor Garrison)
2 credits, three-week session / May 25 - June 14
This course explores legal issues related to family formation, dissolution, and relational rights from a comparative and international perspective. It will compare and contrast U.S. family law with that of other advanced, industrialized nations across a range of issues, including cohabitation, marriage, adoption, artificial reproductive technologies, divorce, child custody, child protection, post-relationship support, and population policy. The course will also examine international treaties governing inter-country family disputes and investigate the role of international conventions, such as the European Convention on Human Rights and the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, in shaping the development of domestic family law.