Spring 2025
January 27, 2025:
"Reforming Russia’s Police: Centralization, Staffing Shortages, and Bureaucratic Burdens"
Dr Ekaterina Khodzhaeva
12:00-1:00pm, Lubar Commons, lunch will be available
Sponsored by the Global Legal Studies Center and hosted by Professor Kathryn Hendley
Summary:This presentation examines the reforms, structural evolution, and contemporary challenges of the Russian police. In the early 2010s, a significant reform rebranded the “militsiia” as “politsiia,” introducing public accountability measures and increasing centralization. Despite improvements in police salaries and a more favourable public image, the reforms failed to dismiss the key performance indicators focused on clearance rates, exacerbating bureaucratic inefficiencies. The 2016 creation of the National Guard redirected resources away from the police, intensifying staffing shortages. By 2024, the Ministry of Interior reported a deficit of 174,000 officers, with low pay and poor working conditions fueling high turnover. Feminization trends emerged as women increasingly filled positions traditionally held by men. The war in Ukraine has further strained policing capacity, with rising incidents of violence involving returning soldiers and combatants. The presentation highlights how excessive centralization, bureaucratization, and inadequate staffing undermine effective policing, leaving the Russian police badly equipped to address evolving challenges.
January 29, 2025:
"Student Protest and Freedom of Expression: UW-Madison and Beyond"
5:00-7:00pm (including reception)
Room 325/26, Pyle Center
Panel Discussion featuring: Professors Gay Seidman (UW-Madison), Steve Sanders (Indiana University), Howard Schweber (UW-
Madison), Keith Woodward (UW-Madison) and Sabiya Ahamed (Palestine Legal)
Sponsored by the Human Rights Program with support from WI Institute for Citizenship & Civil Dialogue
Summary: Last year, campus protests became a political flashpoint in the US. As students around the country staged protests against the Israel/Gaza conflict, Congress held hearings, police were deployed to shut down encampments, and university leaders were forced to step down. Reports of antisemitic incidents on campuses proliferated. Over the summer, universities prepared for the incoming year by holding disciplinary proceedings for students who had been involved in campus protests, increasing security personnel, and, as in the case of UW, enacting greater restrictions on campus speech. There have been significantly fewer protests this academic year, even as the conflict in the Middle East continues to take a brutal toll on the civilian population. This panel explores debates around dissent on US campuses, with a focus on the UW and its new rules on campus speech. The panel forms part of a series exploring dissent on campus, the Israel/Gaza conflict, and antisemitism and islamophobia in US universities.
February 11, 2025
Information Session on Study Abroad
12:00-1:00pm, Lubar Commons
Open to all interested law students. We will explain the options available, application and selection process and the deadlines. Pizza will be served.
March 6, 2025
"Fragmented Peacemaking as an Opportunity to Preserve the Lex Pacificatoria: Examining the Role of the EU in Peace Talks"
Dr Sanja Badanjak, Chancellor's Fellow in Global Challenges, University of Edinburgh's School of Law, and Data Director for the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform (PeaceRep)
4:00-5:30pm (includes reception), Lubar Commons (7200 Law)
Summary: The practice of peacemaking is increasingly fragmented. The conflict-ranging peace processes that rely on UN leadership, a such as those in the form of international peace conferences, are few and far between, and in their place we see more attempts to negotiate peace deals at the local level, as well as a multiplication of peace initiatives and peace processes in each conflict setting. This fragmentation poses many challenges, mostly related to the rise of illiberal actors whose mediation in armed conflict is neglecting normative content of peace agreements, leading to fewer instances of agreements that offer agendas for change that focus on issues such as human rights, rule of law, and international humanitarian law. However, this situation may also offer some space for other global actors, such as the European Union, to use their clout to keep normative concerns on the agenda. Considering the data from the PA-X Peace Agreement Database and Dataset, and its new dataset of agreement signatories, this paper and related talk assess these trends in general, and examine the past participation of the EU in formal peace processes, as well as the potential for EU's future impact.
Sponsored by GLS, HRP, Center for European Studies
March 7, 2025
"The Weaponization of National Security Law"
2:00-3:30pm (includes reception)
Room 209, Pyle Center
Speakers: Professor Wadie Said (University of Colorado School of Law), Professor Shirin Sinnar (Stanford Law School), other speakers tbc
Summary: National security law has shaped the legal landscape of the United States since the nation’s founding. It has also been wielded in ways that have marginalized and harmed minority communities—from the displacement of Native Nations to the internment of Japanese Americans and the surveillance of Arab and Muslim communities. This panel will explore how national security law has been used to suppress pro-Palestinian voices and other dissenting perspectives. It will also examine potential actions by the Trump administration against minority communities, shedding light on the broader implications for civil rights and free expression. This is the second panel in the series "Dissent on Campus" organized by HRP.
March 11, 2025
"International Law in the Trump Presidency"
12:00-1:00pm, Room 3253 Law (Pizza will be served)
Details pending
April 25, 2025
Incorporating Climate Change into Law Curriculum
11:30-1:00pm (lunch served), Lubar Commons
Speakers: Professors Katrina Kuh, Achinthi Vithanage (Pace Law School), other speakers tbc
Climate change will affect many areas of law. This workshop will discuss how we can incorporate climate change into doctrinal/clinical classes, especiall non-environmental law classes. We will also discuss what other law schools are doing and the ABA Taskforce on embedding sustainable development into the legal curriculum and other ABA efforts to promote climate conscious lawyers.
April 25, 2025
Workshop/Civic Dialogue on Climate Justice
1:30pm-4:30pm (reception to follow), Lubar Commons
Details pending
Fall 2024
September 17, 2024:
"Climate Change and Disasters: The Experience in Rural Australia"
Professor Andrew Lawson, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director, Agriculture & Law Research Hub
University of New England, Australia
4pm in Lubar Commons (7200 Law), Reception to follow
Sponsored by WI Initiative on Law & Climate Change (WILCC) and the Global Legal Studies Center (GLS)
October 7, 2024:
"Solar Radiation Modification to Combat Climate Change: Into the Great Wide Open?"
Dr Wil Burns, visiting professor, Northwestern University
Noon-1:00pm, 3260 Law (A light lunch will be served on a first come, first served basis)
Sponsored by WI Initiative on Law & Climate Change (WILCC) and the Global Legal Studies Center (GLS)
October 8, 2024:
Information session on Study Abroad and Internships Opportunities
12:15-1:00pm, 2225 Law
Open to all interested law students, pizza will be served
Sponsored by GLS
October 14, 2024:
"Ending Gender Apartheid: Lessons from Afghanistan," Annual Soffa lecture delivered by Professor Karima Bennoune
4:00-5:30pm, Alumni Lounge, Pyle Center
Reception to follow
Free and open to the public. For details, visit: https://law.wisc.edu/gls/hrp/soffa_lectures.html
October 16, 2024:
"Shared Values, Distinct Roles: The Council of Europe and the European Union" by Dr Reut Paz, JLU Giessen, Germany
International Organizations and You speaker series, sponsored by GLS, School of Business and La Follette School of Public Affairs
4:00-5:00pm Lubar Commons (7200 Law), reception to follow
Free and open to the public
October 30, 2024:
"Democracy and Elections in South Asia," South Asia Legal Studies Roundtable
4:00-5:30pm, Lubar Commons (7200 Law), reception to follow
Participants: Dean Daniel Tokaji (University of Wisconsin Law School)(moderator)
Professor Jayanth Krishnan (Maurer School of Law, Indiana University Bloomington)
Professor Neil DeVotta (Wake Forest University)
Dr Cynthia Farid (Hongkong University)(virtual)
Dr Yasser Kureshi (University of Oxford)(Virtual)
Professor Faisal Chaudhry (University of Massachusetts School of Law)
November 12, 2024:
"Political/Imprisonment: Freedom of Expression and the Carceral State Globally"
5-7:00pm, Van Hise Hall 1418, dinner served
Sponsed by HRP, Article 112 Project and Justice in Southeast Asia Lab
November 14, 2024:
"CO2 emissions and constitutional provisions that protect the environment"
Lunch & Learn with Professor Adrian Treves (UW-Madison) with comments by Professor Steph Tai (UW-Madison)
Noon-1:00pm, 3260 Law (A light lunch will be served on a first come, first served basis)
Sponsored by WI Initiative on Law & Climate Change (WILCC) and the Global Legal Studies Center (GLS)
November 21, 2024:
“International Migration in Comparative Perspective: The Current Status of Immigrants in India”
Professor Jayanth Krishnan, Maurer School of Law, Indiana University Bloomington, hosted by Professor Kathryn Hendley
4:00pm, Lubar Commons (7200 Law), light refreshments will be served.
Sponsored by the Global Legal Studies Center
December 2, 2024:
"How Bureacrats Culturally Entrench Inequalities in Refugee Resettlement"
Professor Jake Watson, Assistant Professor of Sociology, UC-San Diego
11:00-12:15pm, 206 Ingraham Hall
With support from Department of Sociology, African Studies Program, Human Rights Program and Global Legal Studies Center.
December 4, 2024:
"Celebrating Human Rights Day: Flash Talks on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights"
Featuring: Ana Carolina Girard Teixeira Cazetta, Paula Monteiro Danese, Norah-Frida Tebid, Emma Bierley, Aranveer Litt, Kayla Buth &
Alicen Rushevics
4:00pm, Lubar Commons (7200 Law), light refreshments will be served.
Sponsored by HRP and GLS
December 6, 2024
"Immigration and Empowerment: Rights, Community Response, and Care"
featuring Dr Marla Ramirez, Erin Barbato, Matt Sablan and Luis Velasquez
3:00-4:30pm, 19 Ingraham
Multiple sponsors including Chican@ & Latin@ Studies & HRP
Past events
Academic year 2023-2024
