Please join us on Tuesday, 1/31/2023 from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. in Room L28 (Zhu Faculty Workshop Room, Hughes Hall) for a lunchtime panel moderated and presented by Dr. Radwa Elsaman, Adjunct Professor at Cornell Law School and International Development & Rule of Law Consultant, and featuring distinguished guests Dean and Professor Susan L. Karaminian of Hamad Bin Khalifa University College of Law, Legal Consultant Mahmoud Salah of the World Bank Group, and Management Consultant and Technical Advisor Amber Neumann of the Rule of Law Project.

Lunch will be provided during the event, so don’t forget to RSVP!

RSVP here

Please fill out the following short form: https://cornell.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3waRePbOO9HxFPM

Can’t make it to our event in-person? You can attend virtually!

We are also livestreaming the event, so you can sign up to attend the Zoom Webinar at this link: https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_O-rKaqO0QwWe6hiPnuOg0A

Please feel free to distribute the link to anyone you feel would be interested in the seminar. All are welcome!

The Seminar:

Can the MENA Region Meet the Sustainable Development Goals? Several Open Questions

Though many states in the MENA region have substantial wealth and a bustling investment climate due to their oil and gas reserves, many others struggle to establish a future with financial prosperity for their people. In this panel, four scholars and practitioners will discuss sustainable development in MENA. Dr. Radwa Elsaman, Adjunct Professor at Cornell Law School and International Development & Rule of Law Consultant, will start with an overview of the economic, legal, and political challenges in efforts to adopt sustainability in MENA. Dr. Elsaman will describe an underlying struggle that impedes the rule of law from being recognized. Follows Professor Susan L. Karamanian, the Dean of Hamad Bin Khalifa University College of Law, to examine the role of sports, particularly the FIFA World Cup 2022, in promoting SDGs in the region, with a specific focus on the legal legacy. Mahmoud Salah, a legal consultant with the World Bank Group, will summarize the World Bank's Women, Business and the Law Project's findings on the MENA region's regulatory impediments in entrepreneurship and labor force spheres. Finally, Amber Neumann, Rule of Law Project Management Consultant and Technical Advisor, will discuss regional court modernization initiatives, specifically efforts to leverage technology to promote transparency and efficiency. In doing so, Amber will discuss the associated risks and opportunities emergent technologies present to court systems, relevant ethical questions to be explored, and how technologies would be used to advance access to justice actively. The panel will be moderated by Dr. Elsaman, who will also conclude by making a few comments regarding the potential for future development in the region.

About our Distinguished Guests:

Dr. Radwa Elsaman, Adjunct Professor at Cornell Law School and International Development & Rule of Law Consultant

Dr. Radwa Elsaman is a law professor, legal expert, and institutional development professional. She is currently a visiting scholar at Cornell University School of Law and a law professor at Cairo University. She has taught law and conducted academic research at prominent universities throughout the world, including, for example, Boston University and Central European University. Her publications have appeared in worldwide-law journals, such as the University of California Los Angles Pacific Basin Law Journal, Richmond Journal of Global Law, New England Journal of International and Comparative Law, and George Mason Journal of International Brief. She contributes to the Cambridge Handbook on Comparative Law. She is well-known in the Middle East for assisting governments and private sector entities with legal and institutional reform. She has consulted with the World Bank, USAID, the European Investment Bank, the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), the German development agency (GIZ), and the European Union’s Euromed Justice Project. Her professional engagements also include working for the international law firms of Dentons and DLA Piper. Being intensively engaged in community work, particularly in the rule of law and international development fields, she received several awards, including the recognition of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in Washington, DC. Recently, the Governing Council of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law in Rome (UNIDROIT) appointed her as a Correspondent for Egypt, and LexisNexis nominated her as a judge for the LexisNexis Middle East Women in Law Awards’ Panel. Elsaman received her Masters and Ph.D. in law from the American University’s Washington College of Law in Washington, DC.

Prof., Susan L. Karamanian, the Dean of Hamad Bin Khalifa University College of Law

Susan L. Karamanian is Dean of the College of Law at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University. She was previously Associate Dean for International and Comparative Legal Studies and Burnett Family Professorial Lecturer at the George Washington University Law School and a Partner in Locke Lord LLP in Dallas. She has lectured around the world, including at the Hague Academy of International Law (Director of English Studies). She is a member of the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) (previously ASIL Vice President). She is a Trustee of the Center for American and International Law, a member of the board of directors of Texas Appleseed, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Bar Foundation. Susan is a graduate of the University of Texas (J.D.), Oxford University (B.A. Hons.), where she was a Rhodes Scholar, and Auburn University (B.S.).

Mahmoud Salah, a legal consultant with the World Bank Group

Mahmoud Salaheldin is a legal consultant with the World Bank’s Women, Business, and the Law project. He has broad experience working for the Egyptian judiciary, the International Development Law Organization in Italy, and a leading corporate law firm in Egypt. Mahmoud holds two LL.M degrees from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and Loyola University Chicago School of Law. He is currently an SJD candidate at Central European University in Austria.

Amber Neumann, Rule of Law Project Management Consultant and Technical Advisor

Amber Neumann is the Principal of Neumann Law, a rule of law project consultancy firm with a focus on the Arab region. She is a licensed lawyer, an experienced adjudicator, and a project management professional with over twenty years of experience in the design and delivery of complex, multi-partner projects in Egypt, Libya, Canada, and the United States. Ms. Neumann has practiced public law for the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, and has worked with USAID, IDLO, and the UNDP to support rule of law projects in the region.

Her technical focus is on initiatives that increase access to justice in civil and administrative matters by supporting judicial and quasi-judicial systems to be more transparent, more accessible, and more efficient. Ms. Neumann is particularly interested in exploring ways in which alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms and emergent technologies can be used to promote access to justice in the Arab Region. She holds a BA (Honours) from the University of Windsor, and a Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.

How to Get Here:

The Zhu Faculty Lounge is on the L level of Hughes Hall in Cornell Law School (the side of the building closest to the gorge).

From Jane Foster Entrance: When entering the Law School through the Jane Foster Front entrance, continue straight through the atrium, past the elevators, slight left and down to the end of the hall, descend the stairs to Level L. The Zhu Faculty Lounge will be down the small set of stairs and to the left (L28).

From the Myron Taylor Hall Entrance: Continue down the hallway in front of you, descend the stairs into the Foyer, and turn left to follow the short hallway past the Registrar. Turn right at the end of the hall and continue down that hallway until you reach the staircase. Descend two levels until you reach level L. The Zhu Faculty Lounge will be down the small set of stairs and to the right (L28).

Current calls to decolonize global research renew the institutional and personal scrutiny of our “best practices” in conducting field research. Beyond formal adherence to the Belmont principles of “respect, beneficence, and justice,” researchers must reexamine some of the hidden (and not so hidden) costs borne by the local community in the research effort. Panelists will discuss ethical considerations of international research and ethnography in a variety of methodological practices: randomized control trials, focus group discussions, essay competitions, and selective summer camps.

Moderator

Rachel Beatty Riedl (Government, A&S; Einaudi Center)Panelists

Arnab Basu (Dyson School)Alex Nading (Anthropology, A&S)Sarah Thompson (South Asia Program, Einaudi Center)***

Grad Chats: Conversations on International Research and Practice is a series hosted by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies to support graduate students with interdisciplinary training and planning around conducting international research.

Spring 2023 Schedule

From Plan A to Plan B: Designing Research for a Changing World (Thursday, February 16, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm, Uris Hall G02)Beyond the IRB: Ethics and International Research (Wednesday, March 29, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm, Uris Hall G08)Best Practices and Challenges in International Field Research (Thursday, March 30, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm, Uris Hall G02)Finding a Research Focus through Creative Writing (Tuesday, April 18, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm, Uris Hall G08)Travel Health and Safety Awareness for Conducting Research Abroad (Tuesday, May 9, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm, Uris Hall G08)

What do you do when the site where you planned to do your research has a major disruption making your research infeasible? What do you do when a loved one gets sick and you need to find more time for caregiving in the last semester of your program? What do you do when you get a job—a year earlier than you anticipated—and you need to finish quickly? Have a Plan B! Come hear from current and former PhD students who have had to make changes in plans, how they negotiated the process with their committee, and where they are today.

Moderator

Mildred Warner (City and Regional Planning, AAP)Panelists

Gloria Blaise (Natural Resources and the Environment, CALS)Michael Cary (Global Development, CALS)George Homsy (Binghamton University)Adam (Chuling) Huang (International and Comparative Labor, ILR)***

Grad Chats: Conversations on International Research and Practice is a series hosted by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies to support graduate students with interdisciplinary training and planning around conducting international research.

Spring 2023 Schedule

From Plan A to Plan B: Designing Research for a Changing World (Thursday, February 16, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm, Uris Hall G02)Best Practices and Challenges in International Field Research (Tuesday, March 14, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm, Uris Hall G08)Beyond the IRB: Ethics and International Research (Wednesday, March 29, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm, Uris Hall G08)Finding a Research Focus through Creative Writing (Tuesday, April 18, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm, Uris Hall G08)Travel Health and Safety Awareness for Conducting Research Abroad (Tuesday, May 9, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm, Uris Hall G08)

Black History Month is a time to assess, ask questions, and come together. Join us for this town hall and community event hosted by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies to kick off Black History Month on campus and discuss the encounter between African Americans and Black people outside the United States.

To be Black is to be part of a community that has multiple identities and nationalities. Our encounters and experiences show historical, political, and cultural solidarities but, at the same time, capture tensions among ways of being Black.

At this event, faculty, staff, and students will gather to ask the questions: What does Blackness here at Cornell mean? Who defines it? What do Black people owe each other? What of each other’s histories do we know and should know? And what should be done?

Stay after the town hall to enjoy time with friends, refreshments, and music from DJs Ishion Hutchinson and Esther Kondo Heller.

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Free Ticket Required

Limited seating: Reserve your free ticket today!

Please note that this is an in-person community event. The discussion will not be recorded or livestreamed.

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Schedule

Town Hall: 6:00–7:30 p.m.Food and Music: 7:30–9:00 p.m.Faculty Speakers

Mukoma Wa Ngugi (Literatures in English, Africana Studies and Research Center, A&S)Carole Boyce Davies (Africana Studies and Research Center, Literatures in English, A&S)Russell Rickford (History, A&S)Ishion Hutchinson (Literatures in English, A&S)Michell Chresfield (Africana Studies and Research Center, A&S)Grant Farred (Africana Studies and Research Center, A&S)Derrick Spires (Literatures in English, A&S)Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon (Literatures in English, A&S)Misha Inniss-Thompson (Psychology, A&S)Student Speakers

Harmela Anteneh '23 | Alana Berry '24 | Obioha Chijioke '24 | Esther Kondo Heller, MFA candidate | Setor Kudiabor '25 | Maia Lee ' 24 | Rumbidzai Mangwende '23 | Amira Olingou '25 | Imani Rezaka '24 | Brice Roundtree '24 | Ami Tamakloe, PhD student | Amandla Thomas-Johnson, PhD student | Selam Woldai '23 | Members of Black Students United and the Caribbean Students' Association

Host and Sponsors

Hosted by the Einaudi Center as part of its inequalities, identities, and justice global research priority, this event is cosponsored by the Africana Studies and Research Center in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Borderlands, migrations, and movement are prevalent themes in post-secondary education. They connect students to seemingly disparate experiences in an increasingly inter-connected world. How do we engage with these topics to teach effectively about diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice? In this workshop, we combine the expertise of faculty across disciplines and area studies to share ideas and resources with one another.

This online workshop is sponsored by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, with funding support from the U.S. Department of Education Title VI NRC Program.

Speakers:

Nicole Childrose (History, Columbia-Green Community College)

Debra Castillo (Latina/o Studies, Cornell)

Tristan Ivory (sub-Saharan Africa/Sociology, Cornell)

Natasha Raheja (South Asia/Anthropology, Cornell)

Open up a whole new world by studying abroad!

Cornellians who have studied abroad are sharing their experiences at the Office of Global Learning's study abroad fair. You'll learn about where in the world you can study, what programs work for you and your major, and how study abroad can enhance your college experience.

Join us for international treats! No registration required.

Get involved with the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and the Language Resource Center to enhance your language skills!

Through resources on campus, students of all levels can improve global language skills, apply for funding to practice language abroad, and more.

Opportunities include:

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) FellowshipRare and Distinctive (RAD) Language FellowshipForeign Language Introduction Program (FLIP)Conversation HoursLearn more about student information sessions from the Einaudi Center on minors, funding opportunities, Fulbright, summer language programs, and much more.

Over 500 Cornellians have crossed the globe with the Fulbright U.S. Student Program since the 1940s. You could be the next!

The program, administered by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, supports college graduates conducting research or teaching English in more than 150 countries. The Einaudi Center's Fulbright advisor helps you get started early to submit a successful application.

Learn more about student information sessions from the Einaudi Center on minors, funding opportunities, Fulbright, summer language programs, and much more.

Over 500 Cornellians have crossed the globe with the Fulbright U.S. Student Program since the 1940s. You could be the next!

The program, administered by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, supports college graduates conducting research or teaching English in more than 150 countries. The Einaudi Center's Fulbright advisor helps you get started early to submit a successful application.

Learn more about student information sessions from the Einaudi Center on minors, funding opportunities, Fulbright, summer language programs, and much more.