Students at the United Nations Office in Geneva
The Washington Semester in International Law and Organizations focuses upon the expanding role of law in governing relations among nations while an interdependent world turns to multinational organizations in the making of global policy.
You will spend a considerable time in Washington, D.C., meeting with international law practitioners and visiting organizations that shape policy. Beyond this, you will spend a week in New York City for a first-hand examination of the United Nations. You will cap off your experience in this program by flying to Europe for a series of seminars focusing on international organizations and current events taking place in international law. The sessions in Geneva will focus on international organizations and their role in today's world. In Brussels, you will visit and hear from diplomats at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union Institutions. In Strasbourg, you will examine the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe. Subsequently, in The Hague, you will focus on the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and the Special Court of Sierra Leone.
While in Geneva, you will visit the United Nations Palace, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the International Committee of the Red Cross Museum. You will also speak with representatives of the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the United Nations Office for High Commissioner for Refugees. You will also briefly travel to Luxembourg City to visit the Court of Justice of the European Communities. In The Hague, you will tour and attend lectures at the International Court of Justice (located at the Peace Palace), the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and observe an ICTY Trial.
Please note that these program descriptions are proposed plans of activities. Specific travel itineraries and venues are subject to change.
