Sarah Rudolph Cole, Michael E. Moritz Chair in Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Moritz College of Law, was awarded a 2021-2022 Fulbright U.S. Specialist grant to the Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University in France to share her expertise in alternative dispute resolution.
From February 28 – March 16, Cole taught a 12-hour course in Private International Law to fifth year law students at Paris 2, considered France’s first law university, and delivered two lectures, including one on “Mediator Skills” and a second addressing “Improving Diversity Among Arbitrators.”
“I was looking forward to interacting with French students and professors and to learn more about the French and the European Union approach to alternative dispute resolution, my field of specialty. The course I taught focused on alternative dispute resolution, specifically arbitration, mediation and negotiation and was taught from a comparative perspective,” noted Cole.
“The typical French law student learns primarily through lectures. But, in the dispute resolution field, we teach by lecturing, interaction with the students and the use of role-plays, where students play lawyers and dispute resolution neutrals using hypothetical facts,” Cole explained. “The French students really enjoyed this aspect of the course, particularly because they are about to graduate and begin their work as French lawyers.”
The Fulbright Specialist Program is administered by World Learning and is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.
For more information about the Fulbright Specialist Program, contact Joanna Kukielka-Blaser.