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News and Developments in International Legal Education
Published as an information resource for the ASIL membership, the ASIL Academic Bulletin reports on program developments at ASIL 2009 Academic Partner institutions. 
Fall 2009 Issue Theme: Faculty and Curriculum |
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The Florida A&M University College of Law, which is located in Orlando, Florida, is an institution committed to cultivating scholarly interest, discourse, debate and research in international and comparative law among students and scholars. According to US News & World Reports, the College of Law is the most diverse law school in the United States, and since its inception in 2002, has experienced exponential growth and success in developing programs that meet the multifaceted interests of our students. In order to prepare our students for the demands of an interdependent world being affected by and affecting globalization, our distinguished full-time faculty teach a wide array of international and comparative law related courses and are engaged in cutting-edge research in, for example, human rights law, energy law, international comparative law, international business transactions law, and international environmental law. We also have some of the leading experts in the international law of the developing world. In order to ensure that our students receive substantive legal and regional studies training, our Center for International Law and Justice (CILJ), recently established a Certificate of Study in International Human Rights Law and Global Justice Studies. This program is designed to provide J.D. students with the opportunity to specialize in the field of international human rights law and global justice studies, while pursing their law degree and provide them with a substantive background in international human rights law, global and transitional justice studies, and regional training in the law and politics of the developing world. This year FAMU COL will offer the following courses: Comparative Law; International Business Transactions; International Criminal Law; National Security Law Seminar; Theory and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals; Law and Politics of Africa; and Public International Law.
Dr. Jeremy I. Levitt, Associate Dean for International Programs, Distinguished Professor of International Law, and Director for the Center for International Law and Justice at FAMU COL, is a public international lawyer, political scientist, historian, and Africanist with expertise and publications in the law of the use of force, humanitarian law, human rights law, transitional justice, international organizations, democratization, African politics, state dynamics and regional collective security. He is also an expert in African-American history, politics and Diaspora studies. Dr. Levitt is a scholar-practitioner who has demonstrated a talent for teaching, passion for human rights advocacy, zeal for legal and multidisciplinary scholarship and strong commitment to public service.
Ronald C. Griffen, Visiting Professor of Law, is an expert in the specialized field of international trade and sales. Before joining the faculty of FAMU COL, he was a Professor of Law at Washburn University School of Law; and also was a Visiting Professor of Law at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, where he served as a scholar and consultant in the specialized field of international trade and sales. Professor Griffen is a scholar-practitioner and as a result, in 1987 he was invited to observe the hearings of the Meech Lake Accord, Canada's process for reconstructing its Constitution. His international study of law and culture has also included extended visits to Scotland, Ireland, South Africa and Japan. Professor Griffin has published several articles including: A Prairie Perspective on Global Warming and Climate Change: A Comparison of Three Countries, 2 IJPL 426 (2009); and Republicanism: How Can Blacks Revive a Constitution, 30 How.L.J. 675 (1987). Professor Griffen earned his B.S., from the Hampton Institute, his J.D. from Howard University College of Law, and his LL.M. from the University of Virginia.
Omar Saleem, Professor of Law, is a founding faculty member of the College of Law, and formerly served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Professor Saleem is an expert in the specialized field of international environmental law. Prior to joining the Faculty of FAMU COL, Professor Saleem was a Professor of Law at North Carolina Central University School of Law, and St. Thomas University School of Law. In the Summer of 2008, he taught two law courses at the Royal University of Law and Economics in Phnom Peh, Cambodia, one of the country's finest universities. He also clerked for the North Carolina Supreme Court and worked as a legal services attorney and Public Defender in North Carolina. Professor Saleem holds a B.A. from City University, a J.D. from North Carolina Central University, and an LL.M from Columbia University.
John Duncan, Associate Professor of Law, is an expert in the specialized field of International Law, with an emphasis on issues in Asia, and National Security Law. Before joining the Faculty of FAMU COL, he served as the RJ Reynolds Nabisco Distinguished Visiting Chair and Associate Professor at North Carolina Central University, where he taught administrative and international law. He also taught at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, Emory University School of Law and Texas Wesleyan University School of Law. Professor Duncan also served as a Judge Advocate General for the United States Air Force, retiring as a colonel. He earned his Ph.D. in anthropological linguistics from Stanford University, a J.D. from Yale Law School, an M.B.P.A. from Southeastern University, an M.A. in linguistics and an M.S. in audiology and speech pathology from the University of Michigan, and a B.A. in romance languages from DePauw University.
Jeffery M. Brown, Visiting Associate Professor of Law, is an expert in the specialized field of International and Comparative Law. Before joining the faculty of FAMU COL, he was an Associate Professor of Law at Northern Illinois University College of Law, where he taught international law, torts, environmental law, commercial law, and seminars on rules of law issues in emerging democracies. He was also a Visiting Assistant Professor at Syracuse University College of Law and the University of Vermont School of Law. From 1994 to 1996, Professor Brown worked as a law lecturer with the Yale University and Open Society-sponsored Civil Education Project in the Republics of Bulgarian and Macedonia, respectively. He returned to Bulgaria from 1996 to 1997 as a William J. Fulbright Fellowship recipient. Prior to teaching, Professor Brown worked for several years as an associate at the Atlanta-based law firm Alston & Bird. Professor Brown has published several articles including: Professor Brown Applies Game Theory Techniques to the Truth and Reconciliation Question in War-Torn Sub-Saharan Africa, The Professor's Column, N. Ill. U. C. L. (May 2008).; Beyond Nationalism and Toward a Dynamic Theory of Pan-African Unity, 8 Berkeley J. African-Am. L. & Pol'y 60 (2006); and Deconstructing Babel: Toward a Theory of Structural Reparations, 56 Rutgers L. Rev. 463 (2004). Professor Brown earned his B.A. from Davidson College and his J.D. from the University of Michigan.
Randall Abate, Associate Professor of Law, is an expert in the specialized field of International environmental law; environmental law; climate change and U.S. law; and climate change and human rights law. Before joining the FAMU COL, he was a Visiting Associate Professor of Law at Florida State University College of Law and an Assistant Professor of Law at Florida Coastal University School of Law, where he lectured on a wide range of environmental issues. Professor Abate has recently published several articles on environmental law including: A Green Solution to Climate Change: The Hybrid Approach to Crediting Reductions in Tropical Deforestation, 20 Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum (forthcoming Dec. 2009) (co-authored with Todd A. Wright); and Marine Protected Areas as a Mechanism to Promote Marine Mammal Conservation: International and Comparative Law Lessons for the United States, 88 Oregon Law Review (forthcoming Oct. 2009); Professor Abate earned his B.S. degree from the University of Rochester, and his J.D. from the University of Vermont School of Law.