Refugee and Asylum Law Seminar:
COURSE OVERVIEW AND POLICIES

Professor Shavers- Tuesday - 4-6 pm - Judges' Chambers

Contact Information:

Name: Professor Anna Williams Shavers

Office: Room 215 Law College

Phone: 472-2194

Fax: 472-5185

E-mail: ashavers@unl.edu

Appointments: THE BEST WAY TO COMMUNICATE WITH ME IS THROUGH E-MAIL, which I check regularly throughout the day. If I am in the office, you do not need an appointment. Feel free to just come by at anytime. In addition to this class, I am also teaching on MTW at 10:00.

Course Overview:

Refugee and Asylum Law is a three-credit, graded seminar that will satisfy the upper level writing requirement. This course will explore the origins of the institution of "refuge" or "asylum", examine public policy issues related to the beneficiaries of asylum, the State that grants asylum, the international agency or agencies that accord protection, and the myriad of human rights violations that force people to flee their home countries and seek asylum.

Our highest priority will be for each of you to produce a high-quality, publishable seminar paper. In order to accomplish this task, you will become familiar with both the international refugee law and human rights law context of present-day law and practice and the statutory and regulatory underpinnings of the United States’ determination of who is and is not a refugee under the 1980 Refugee Act and implementing regulations.

 

Course Materials:

  1. Text: Available from the Dean's Office -- primarily K. Musalo, J. Moore and R.A. Boswell, Refugee Law and Policy: Cases and Materials- 2nd Edition
  2. Optional Text: G. Goodwin-Gill, The Refugee in International Law (2nd Edition), Clarendon Press [1996]
  3. UN Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status - http://www.unhcr.ch/refworld/legal/handbook/handeng/hbtoc.htm and 1951 Convention (download from the www.unhcr.ch)
  4. Readings (to be posted on this website-- Syllabus)
  5. Recommended secondary and resource materials:
    1. Immigration Law and Procedure in a Nutshell, Weissbrodt
    2. 8 USC (Aliens and Nationality), available electronically at: http://www.ins.usdoj.gov
    3. 8 Code of Federal Regulations (Aliens), available electronically at: http://www.ins.usdoj.gov
    4. Interpreter Releases, available in the Library and on the LawDesk CDrom system
  6. To complete your seminar paper, you will need access to the most recent edition of the Bluebook. (available in the Law College library)

Requirements:

Students are expected to familiarize themselves with basic international texts and principles, and to be able to apply them to particular factual circumstances. They are also encouraged to keep up-to-date with the general dimensions of contemporary population movements and with the individual aspects of the search for protection and asylum.

Email accounts and ability to access blackboard.unl.edu
Ability to use the World Wide Web and research on the internet

 

Assignments and Grading- Grades will be based on the following components:

Each component is described below.

Participation Credit

Active participation in the classroom and online discussions is required. You are expected to read and be familiar with the appropriate materials listed for each topic before each class, and may supplement these readings with background material of your own choosing (see the Web site). Classroom discussion will involve contributing to discussions, participating in roleplays, and otherwise contributing to the advancement of topics under consideration during that period. Online discussion will involve contributing ideas for future class discussions (for example, submitting inforamtion on news reports that relate to the class topics, questions you would like the class to discuss during the next period, and discussion of materials presented in class) and responding to messages sent by other members of the group. Your participation in the classroom and online discussions will be graded as a "check", "check+," or "check-". Strong, high quality, sustained participation in the classroom and online discussions will receive a "check+" and raise the final grade. A failure to meaningfully contribute to the classroom or online discussions will receive a "check-" and lower the final grade. Average participation will receive a "check" and neither raise nor lower the final grade.

Seminar Paper

Format/requirements: The seminar paper should be an original work of high quality on a subject related to or expanding upon those being covered in class. It should be 20 to 30 pages in length, including footnotes. The finished product should be of publishable quality. The text should be double spaced with one-inch margins and 12-point font. Footnotes should be single-spaced, presented in 10-point font, and should conform to the Alaw review@ style in the 16th edition of The Bluebook.

Topics: You may write on virtually any topic related to asylum and refugee law. I have prepared a list of possible paper topics, with annotations. You may review that list on the Web site.

Organization: Although there is not one Acorrect@ way to organize a high-quality seminar paper, below are some suggestions:

1. Introduction: Start with an introduction (about 1-2 pages) that briefly explains the importance of your topic and Aroadmaps@ the specific issues to be addressed in your paper.

2. Hypothetical Illustraing you Issue: Develop a factual hypothetical that illustrates the main points to be addressed in your paper. Use this hypothetical as the basis for applying law and making suggestions.

3. Applicable law: Include a section that explains the law ( statutes, international documents, cases, etc.) that apply to your topic.

4. Analysis: Using the hypothetical as a framework, show how the law operates and/or how it should be changed. You should also attempt to: suggest a change in existing law, policies, or procedures, or suggest a new law, policy, or procedure on your topic.

5. Conclusion: Conclude by reiterating your main points and suggestions.

Resources:

Grading: The final papers will be graded in accordance with the usual (0.0 to 9.0) grading scale based upon the strength of the analysis of relevant legal rules, trends, and doctrines; and the clarity, organization, persuasiveness, and originality of the paper.

Timetable/deadlines/extensions: Below are the deadlines associated with the seminar paper. All interim assignments must be typed. All interim assignments are due at the beginning of class on the designated date. Plagiarism rules and other aspects of the Honor Code apply to interim assignments as well as the final paper.

Extensions will be rarely granted. Computer difficulties will not serve as the basis for an extension.

September 18: Topic proposal: Use the class form. Students should answer the each listed question. The completed form will serve as the topic proposal. You should discuss your proposal with me in general terms prior to this date.

October 16: Turn in a detailed outline: The detailed outline should be approximately five to ten pages. It should include all headings and thesis statements, and should identify, in traditional outline format, each topic or idea you plan to explore. The outline need not include citations, but you should attach a comprehensive source list.

In class presentations will begin this week.

November 13: First draft of your paper due.

December 11 (noon): Final paper due [with research materials attached].

 

Class Presentation Credit of your research topic:

Classroom presentations will also be evaluated on a "check," "check+," or "check-" basis, potentially raising or lowering the final grade by an additional one quarter of one point, in a similar fashion to the credit earned for classroom and online participation. Each student will be responsible for two presentations.

Each student will be responsible for giving a presentation at the end of the semester on his or her seminar paper. Depending on final course enrollment, the presentation should last 30-45 minutes. This presentation should include an overview of the issues and problems presented by the student=s topic and should also include a class participation element. There is no required format for the presentation and you may lecture, use role playing, power points, overhead transparencies, or other audio-visual equipment. If you do plan on using any audio-visual equipment, however, please let me know in advance.