Courses

    This experiential learning course examines how civil society in China is being advanced under the rubric of rule of law promotion through work with and reflection upon the activities of women’s non-governmental organizations (“NGOs”) in China. The seminar component (one approx. 15 page paper and several in-class presentations and exercises factor into the 3 credit seminar letter grade) will introduce students to the structure, history and current issues related to the Chinese legal system, to the development of the global women’s movement, and to current issues for women and girls in China around such issues as employment and trafficking. In the experiential component (2-credits; graded pass/fail), students will spend 2.5 weeks working with women’s NGOs and the ABA Rule of Law Initiative in Beijing, China, doing research and needs-assessment work under the professor’s supervision on women’s employment and trafficking. Working in two teams of six (4 Georgetown law students and two bilingual, Chinese law students) and playing a role often played by American rule of law attorneys, student projects will be “technical assistance”-oriented, seeking to use comparative and international research to present a range of legal options that may be helpful in addressing the employment and trafficking issues present in China. Students’ research will therefore be conducted both in China and in the United States. Students’ in-U.S. research will be focused on comparative and international approaches to employment and trafficking issues and their in-China research will seek to identify and understand, through interviewing and other fact-finding methodologies, how employment and trafficking issues manifest in China. At the conclusion of the time in Beijing, students will present on the initial findings of their comparative, international and in-China research to interested parties and engage in a dialogue with participants about the application of the various legal options they have researched in the Chinese context. Based on the research and this dialogue, they will produce a final report after returning to the United States, to be provided to and used by the partner NGOs as the NGOs deem appropriate. Students do not need to speak Chinese to take this course, as the two Chinese students on each team will provide translation, although learning “survival Chinese” before the trip to China is recommended.