Prerequisites: None

Exam Type: No Exam

This one unit course will examine the role that China has been playing in a world order in flux. Models of development, trade, and rights are among the areas likely to be addressed. We will consider, inter alia, China’s engagement of existing global norms, ways in which China may (or may not) now or in the foreseeable future be shaping such norms, and their impact on China. The intention is to hold all but one of our likely six 2-hour sessions of the class jointly with a comparable class at Renmin University of China, via electronic means — hence, our evening meeting times. Each session will cover a specific topic. In past years topics have included trade, law and development, legal education, the legal profession, corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, rights (through the prism of disability),  climate change and the roles of the US and China in Africa – with the precise configuration to be determined closer to the start of the semester. We conclude the semester with a mock negotiation concerning foreign investment done jointly with students from Renmin University School of Law.  Please address any questions to Professor Alford.

Note: This course will meet from 8-10pm in September and October, and 7-9pm in November to accommodate meeting electronically with fellow students at Renmin University.

This reading group will meet on the following dates: 9/9, 9/23, 10/7, 10/21, 10/28 and 11/18.