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Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

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Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, improves people’s lives through preeminent research, education and creative endeavor: innovation and discovery in scholarship that capitalizes on the power of collaboration; learning that is active, creative and continuous; and promotion of an inclusive culture of global citizenship.

http://www.case.edu

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    Legal Infrastructure Enhancement and Economic Development in Africa

    Thu, Nov 4, 2010
    Mr. Munyantwali focuses on how enhanced legal infrastructure can be a useful tool in promoting African economic development. Currently, Africa’s legal and judicial institutions, while improving, still need strengthening to cope with the demands of Africa's rapid economic development and effective participation in the global economy. Many legal and judicial institutions on the African continent are hampered by archaic practices, such as non existent or outdated court reports, the hand recording of court decisions, the lack of or limited application of alternate modes of dispute resolution, and rampant court corruption. When coupled with other functional inadequacies, such prevailing factors render many jurisdictions unattractive for investment. Local and foreign investors are drawn to investment destinations characterized by functioning courts and speedy adjudication of disputes rooted in a reasonably predicable jurisprudential normative framework. Many commentators have observed that to reverse this trend requires the political will to establish institutions that adhere to the aforementioned norms and symbolize adherence to basic rule of law principles - such as a functioning judiciary, predicable and well-drafted laws, solid legal and judicial institutions and well trained legal professionals. To the casual western observer this might be taken for granted and presumably easy to establish, but these are serious challenges in many African and emerging global economies. Many of the problems are rooted in undemocratic and former command economies that are rapidly adopting capitalistic norms driven by a dominant private sector. The discussion offers a range of possible solutions towards a regime underscored by a solid legal infrastructure.
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  • Consequences of Kampala: The U.S. and the International Criminal Court

    Thu, Nov 11, 2010
    Donald Ferencz, executive director of the Planethood Foundation, and Case Western Reserve University School of Law Professor Michael Scharf participated as NGO (non-governmental organization) delegates at the International Criminal Court Assembly of States Parties Review Conference in Kampala, Uganda in June 2010. At the Review Conference in Kampala, the 3,000 delegates agreed to a complicated formula to amend the International Court's Statute to add the crime of aggression to its jurisdiction. The formula had its origins in part in a 2008 Experts Meeting that Mr. Ferencz and Prof. Scharf co-sponsored at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, "The ICC and the Crime of Aggression." Mr. Ferencz and Prof. Scharf explain the negotiating history and meaning of the "Crime of Aggression" Amendment to the ICC's Statute, and describe its likely consequences for the United States and its allies.
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  • Conflict Resolution and the Good Friday Peace Agreements (Part 2)

    Fri, Oct 15, 2010
    Panelists focus on the dynamics of moving toward peace over time from various “points of view,” the (mostly Catholic) Irish Republican paramilitary opposition and the broader, Irish Nationalist community as well as the (mostly Protestant) Loyalist paramilitary along with the broader Unionist community, and, finally and hopefully – the Irish government perspective. The speakers discuss the unfolding dynamics of the conflict’s end and movement toward peace in light of their own experiences or analyses, the focus will account for how different groups’ goals, reasoning, and (in)ability to overcome any internal divisions affected the prospects of peace and of drawing violent parties into mainstream political institutions. Such a focus will help to reveal and highlight the dynamics of dissention within groups that have been conventionally treated as monolithic political actors, as well as how these internal divisions affected the broader conflict between groups that played out more openly over time. These divisions are particularly and acutely salient to both Northern Irish and Irish politics today, with the recent decomissioning of Loyalist groups, the first security force member killings in more than a decade (by Republican ‘dissidents’), the growing number of Republicans and Nationalists becoming disillusioned with Sinn Fein’s ability to effectively negotiate its agenda through Stormont, and the scandal that threatens First Minister Robinson’s position – and therefore the Executive itself. Finally, each speaker discusses how the case of the conflict in Northern Ireland can help us to understand conflict and the chances for peace elsewhere, with panel member(s) expanding on this issue. The aim of the event is to understand and learn from the end of a real-life conflict, including how various points of view were accommodated, while achieving peace and reconciliation. The goal of that understanding is to examine how lawyers might apply similar methods to the practice of law, including negotiations among individuals or groups, arbitration, mediation and other circumstances.
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  • Lawfare! Introduction

    Fri, Sep 10, 2010
    This program is the first major academic symposia dedicated to exploring the concept of “Lawfare.” Traditionally “Lawfare” was defined as “a strategy of using—or misusing—law as a substitute for traditional military means to achieve an operational objective.” But lately, commentators and governments have applied the concept to International Criminal Tribunals, the defense counsel’s tactics challenging the detention of al Qaeda suspects in Guantanamo Bay and, as indicated in the quote above, to the controversial Goldstone Commission Report. This Conference and Experts Meeting, features two-dozen leading academics, practitioners, and former government officials from all sides of the political spectrum, that examine the usefulness and appropriate application of the “Lawfare” concept.
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    Hillary Rodham Clinton's "Living History" and the Genres of Authenticity

    Fri, Oct 22, 2010
    In the early 21st century, memoir culture, celebrity culture, and U.S. political culture have converged as Presidential wannabes publish memoir after memoir, thereby converting "a life" into money, message, and conduit for voter attachment. Hillary Clinton's best-selling autobiography *Living History* (2003) implicitly announced her Presidential bid, mobilizing personal storytelling to convince readers that this Senator and feminist First Lady could be President. Dr. Smith explores how the genres of Clinton's *Living History* produce, or not, the authenticity effect of a "real Hillary," the convincing persona that is always at stake in the political field; and how both the narrating and narrated "Hillarys" do and undo the gendered idioms of political power. Photo: Marc Nozell from Merrimack, New Hampshire, USA (Senator Clinton @ Hampton, NH) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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  • Lawfare and War Crimes Tribunals (Part 1)

    Fri, Sep 10, 2010
    This program is the first major academic symposia dedicated to exploring the concept of “Lawfare.” Traditionally “Lawfare” was defined as “a strategy of using—or misusing—law as a substitute for traditional military means to achieve an operational objective.” But lately, commentators and governments have applied the concept to International Criminal Tribunals, the defense counsel’s tactics challenging the detention of al Qaeda suspects in Guantanamo Bay and, as indicated in the quote above, to the controversial Goldstone Commission Report. This Conference and Experts Meeting, features two-dozen leading academics, practitioners, and former government officials from all sides of the political spectrum, that examine the usefulness and appropriate application of the “Lawfare” concept.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    Case Western Reserve University

  • Is “Lawfare” a Useful Term?

    Fri, Sep 10, 2010
    This program is the first major academic symposia dedicated to exploring the concept of “Lawfare.” Traditionally “Lawfare” was defined as “a strategy of using—or misusing—law as a substitute for traditional military means to achieve an operational objective.” But lately, commentators and governments have applied the concept to International Criminal Tribunals, the defense counsel’s tactics challenging the detention of al Qaeda suspects in Guantanamo Bay and, as indicated in the quote above, to the controversial Goldstone Commission Report. This Conference and Experts Meeting, features two-dozen leading academics, practitioners, and former government officials from all sides of the political spectrum, that examine the usefulness and appropriate application of the “Lawfare” concept.
    Forum Network
    Partner:
    Case Western Reserve University

  • Government’s Ability to Compel and Restrict Speech: Keynote

    Fri, Nov 19, 2010
    The 2010-2011 Case Western Reserve University Law Review Symposium addresses limits on government speech and the government's ability to claim speech as its own in both restricting and compelling speech. Panels examine 1) the intersection between government speech and the establishment clause (with a focus on the implications of *Salazar v. Buono*); 2) the extent to which the government can control school curricula and restrict the work of law school clinics; 3) the extent to which the government can compel speech by denominating the speech as its own.
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  • The Origins of Illicit Cocaine, 1945-1973

    Mon, Sep 27, 2010
    Paul Gootenberg, professor of history, State University of New York, Stony Brook, examines the early cocaine smuggling class, which came together across a vast expanse of shifting geographies, and, as they invented and shared new tools of the trade, represented a new form of pan-American "networking,” as well as cocaine's new transnational geographies pertaining to the "cold-war" history of the Americas.
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    Case Western Reserve University

  • So You Want to be an Architect?

    Thu, Nov 4, 2010
    Peter van Dijk discusses design, preservation, tradition, and globalism. Van Dijk considers the city of Cleveland a meeting place of cultures, and its diverse cultural traditions have greatly impacted his work. The negotiation of the local and global is at the heart of his architectural philosophy, which was also inspired by his own life: a son of Dutch immigrants who was born in Indonesia, van Dijk made his way to America as a teenager by way of Venezuela. He became a US citizen in 1953. An award-winning architect and historical preservationist, van Dijk has had a major role in shaping some of Cleveland’s and the region’s most distinctive landmarks since 1961. At the heart of his practices lies a “strong obligation” to help “breathe new life into old buildings and preserve what is still useful and valuable for future generations to enjoy.” With his works, he also aims to increase a sense of community for the betterment and sustainability of Cleveland and surrounding areas. His architectural philosophy places emphasis on “the presence of complexities and contradictions of style,” by mixing old and new, traditional elements and global influences, as well as on community. This principle is exemplified by the Blossom Music Center, 1968, one of 2 the most desirable outdoor performance destinations in America.
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    Case Western Reserve University
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