USD Welcomes First Law, Peace Studies Visiting Professor
Professor Michael Perry is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on international human rights law and theory. He’s in residence at the University of San Diego this fall semester, and will return to campus in Fall of 2010 and 2011 as the first Distinguished Visiting Professor in the School of Law and the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies. He will teach a course in International Human Rights open to both law students and those enrolled in the peace studies master’s program. He will also teach a second class for law students. Inside USD sat down with Perry to learn more about this unique appointment.
Is this the first time you have been appointed to teach in different disciplines?
Yes, I have visited at other schools, but always in the law school. This is the first time I’ve had the pleasure of visiting two schools at the same time. It’s an ideal situation in the classroom because we have law students and non-law students who are planning to work in community organizations and NGOs, and they’re from all over the world. Four are from countries in Africa, there’s a woman from Bangladesh, and a young man from Afghanistan. It makes for a very interesting discussion with a collection of perspectives in a course on human rights. The most important thing, though, is these students from different backgrounds can enrich the class because they bring so many different perspectives.
Do you feel as though you have to build a bridge or connection for students from different disciplines?
I am teaching a subject that’s of interest to both groups of students, and I’m teaching it in a way that doesn’t favor one disciplinary background over another. So I can imagine students from a variety of disciplines in this class. It’s not a law school class, it’s not a peace studies class, it’s an introductory class to international human rights, and I think really the only prerequisite, so to speak, is just being very interested in the subject matter.
You mentioned that you have been a visiting professor a number of times at various universities. Is it unusual to be appointed for three semesters?
It is relatively unusual to do three full semesters. It seemed like it didn’t make sense to do it just once. If I was going to be involved with the (School of Peace Studies) and the program here, it seemed like it made more sense for me to be involved on a longer term basis. You do it once and you get involved with the subject matter, you get involved with the program, you gain experience and you think ‘Oh, the next time it’ll be even better, it’ll be richer, it’ll be deeper,’ but there is no next time. This way the investment I make and the school makes in doing it this (way) will pay off the next time and even more so two years from now.
You have office hours and space in both the Law School and School of Peace Studies. Does this joint appointment require you to wear two hats?
It’s just one hat. I’m here as somebody who has a very deep interest in international human rights, in the morality and the law of international rights, and it’s not the kind of specialized discipline that’s only accessible to law students or only accessible to these students or those students. It’s really accessible to anyone who is interested in the subject matter. So, I just present the issues and encourage discussion and debate. Just one hat.
What will you take away from this experience? Was there anything that surprised you?
When I return to Emory to teach next semester, I’ll be teaching the course in international human rights, but I’ll be teaching it just to law students. The law students there are terrific, but it’s not going to be as rich a classroom experience, because I’m not going to have the young people from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Indonesia, the Ivory Coast, India and so forth. So, I’m going to miss that. The thing that’s been so delightful and I can’t say it’s surprising, but I could not have had such a concrete sense of it before I experienced it, is the wonderful plurality and perspectives that you get when you have students who are from all over the world.
– Denise T. Ward
Perry is the author of more than 60 articles and essays and 11 books. He is presently writing a book on the morality and law of international rights. He is currently splitting time between USD and Emory University, where he has held a Robert W. Woodruff University Chair since 2003 and teaches in the law school. A Woodruff Chair is the highest honor Emory bestows on a member of its faculty.