USF World Faculty Spotlight

USF World (see http://global.usf.edu/ for more information about USF's international programming and initiatives) recently featured me in the Faculty Spotlight.


See this link for the full story:

http://global.usf.edu/wordpress/?p=2242


Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan
April 10, 2012

Pursuing new avenues to bring the international perspective to her classroom, Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan, Associate Professor of Political Science at St. Petersburg, is successfully helping her students travel to Moldova and the United Arab Emirates without leaving Tampa Bay.

In 2010, McLauchlan was awarded a Fulbright grant to the Republic of Moldova in Eastern Europe to work on her project entitled “U.S. Constitutional Law and Judicial Process.” The project gave her the opportunity to rethink how she teaches students about the American court system. “It was a phenomenal experience for me. You don’t always realize all of the assumptions that you take for granted. I had the opportunity to question and to reflect on those assumptions when teaching American government and politics to a foreign audience. This has positively impacted how I approach teaching law and politics with my U.S. students since my return home.”

Collaborating with a colleague at the Universitatea de Stat din Moldova (USM), McLauchlan conducted a joint, 10-week project between her Women & the Law class at USFSP and graduate students in American Studies at USM. Students worked on group projects related to human trafficking in the U.S. and in Moldova through Skype videoconferences, email and Facebook, learning first-hand from each other the similarities and differences in the legal system in each country. Through the use of technology and real-time communication, students discussed readings, attended guest lectures by NGO representatives and Peace Corps volunteers in Moldova as well as prosecutors, law enforcement officials and non-profits in Tampa Bay. Students at both universities were also required to participate in an online videoconference to present their research findings, hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau. In 2012, McLauchlan and her Moldovan counterpart, Dr. Svetlana Suveica, presented their research on the success of an internationally linked course curriculum at the American Political Science Association Teaching and Learning Conference in Washington, DC.

The success of her first internationally linked class was only the beginning. Shortly after her visit to Amman, Jordan in December 2011 as a Delegate to a Middle East Summit, McLauchlan partnered with an attorney in Abu Dhabi, Raya Abu Gulal and the Women’s Lawyers Group of the Middle East. Through this partnership, she connected students in her Civil Liberties and Civil Rights class at USF St. Pete to experts in women’s rights issues in six different Middle Eastern countries under the mentorship of the Women’s Lawyers Group.

Recently, Dr. McLauchlan received two more grants to support her international research and her work on internationalizing the curriculum. Awarded a grant this Spring by the European Union Center for Excellence, McLauchlan will use the funds to support a project in her public law courses concerning the European Court of Justice. In addition, she will travel to Moldova as a returning Fulbright this summer to work on a research project on the impact that the European Court of Human Rights’ decisions have on legal change in Moldova. While there, she will also finalize logistics for an alternative Spring Break Study Abroad program she is planning for 2013.

For current information on Dr. McLauchlan’s international projects, visit

www.jainmoldova.blogspot.com

http://womensrightsinmiddleeast.blogspot.com/

USFSP International Week: International Research & Cultural Exchange

During USFSP's International Week in March 2012, faculty organized a mini-conference over lunch during which faculty from each of the colleges would share their international research and teaching initiatives. The idea was that this opportunity to meet with colleagues in other colleges might stimulate new research, service, and/or teaching ideas and possibly interdisciplinary co-author relationships.

Of my current projects, I chose to share materials about my project working with Dr. Svetlana Suveica during the Fall 2011 semester (in which my students in Women and the Law worked together in groups with students at Moldova State on research projects related to human trafficking (more detailed information contained in earlier posts on my blog, www.jainmoldova.blogspot.com) as well as a project in my Civil Liberties and Civil Rights class this semester [in which my students working on comparative legal research papers about women’s rights in the Middle East were paired with a woman lawyer from that country (we partnered with the Women’s Lawyer Group in the Middle East) who mentored them on their projects.

This was an engaging event, and one that I hope will become a tradition during USFSP's International Week programming.

IC-TBR Forum with Middle Eastern and Tampa Bay Women Political Leaders

During USFSP's International Week events, I was privileged to moderate a discussion about Women and Politics in the U.S. and the Middle East. 

The delegation of Middle Eastern women community, business, and government leaders (from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia) was hosted by the International Council of the Tampa Bay Region (IC-TBR).

The panel consisted of women from countries throughout the Middle East and a bi-partisan representation of political leaders from Tampa Bay.  Our local leaders were

Councilwoman Leslie Waters (former Speaker Pro Temp of the Florida House of Representatives)

Mayor Kathleen Peters (candidate for Florida House of Representatives)

Former Councilwoman Rene Flowers (candidate for Pinellas County School Board)

USFSP Student Government President Courtney Parish

I was pleased that several of my students who are working on research projects about Women's Rights in the Middle East were able to attend this session and listen in on the exchange about challenges and opportunities for women in the U.S. and throughout the Middle East. Students also met key contacts in the countries they were studying, and the women leaders corresponded with them after returning to their home countries.

You can learn more about the International Council here

http://www.ic-tbr.org/

THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE TAMPA BAY REGION, INC. is the official partner of the United States Department of State for professional programs & cultural activities for global emerging leaders under the Department’s “International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP)” in Florida's seven-county Tampa Bay Region.

Since its founding, The International Council has hosted in excess of 3,500 international visitors from more than 160 countries.

Global Classroom: Videoconference to Review Research Paper Proposals

Students submitted research paper proposals, outlines, and preliminary bibliographies.

These were uploaded to the dropbox folders, so that mentors in the Middle East could review and provide feedback to the students as well.

Today we skyped in class with our key contact from the Women Lawyer's Group who provided feedback and answered student questions one-on-one.

This time we used my iPad for the skype videoconference, which made it much easier to move around the classroom for individual students to have a turn asking questions.

Soon we will be able to share students' research findings.

Global Classroom: Videoconference to Discuss Potential Research Topics

On Thursday, February 3rd we skyped with our colleague Raya Abu Gulal in Abu Dhabi to discuss potential research topics for this project.

Here are some of the topics we discussed:

(1) Egypt - Sexual harassment has been a major problem in the past years. Research laws that protect women from sexual harassment in the schools, workplace, or public.

(2) Israel –Research marriage laws or regulations. Are there civil marriage laws? Or, research domestic violence laws.

(3) Iraq – Human trafficking of women for various purposes. Research the laws and regulations that protect them.

(4) Jordan – Domestic Violence against women and the increase of honor killings. Are there any protection granted to women?

(5) Tunisia - Family law and the protection of women in the event of marriage, divorce, or parental custody disputes.

(6) United Arab Emirates – The lack of laws to protect victims of rape or the difficulties in seeking punishment for those who carry out these crimes.


The students will submit their research topic and country preference on Tuesday, February 6th.

Women Lawyers Group Middle East

My class is partnering with the Women Lawyers Group in the Middle East. We are collaborating with attorney Raya Abu Gulal and her colleagues, who will mentor my students as they work on their comparative legal research projects.

Here is more information about the Women Lawyers Group:

The Women Lawyers Group Middle East is based on the recognition of the direct need for a forum for the exchange of knowledge, experience and initiatives of women in the legal sphere as well as enhancing the professional development of women in the legal field thereby leading to the betterment of the social and economic fabric of society in the Middle East.

About us

The Group will provide social networking opportunities, hosting of functions and events relevant to the legal profession, enhancement of the work life balance of women working in the legal field, professional development opportunities, improving the status of women in the Middle East including their entitlement to equal rights.

The 3 founding members are dynamic ladies who hail from the MENA/GCC region and are professionally qualified international lawyers with long standing experience in various areas of the law as well as an active commitment to social and business issues in the Middle East and North Africa.

Mission statement

• To bring female lawyers across the Middle East and strengthen links between them;
• To undertake studies, research and conferences of Middle Eastern Female lawyers with the view to achieving equality of rights and opportunities;
• To promote the welfare, interests and development of women in the legal profession in the Middle East;
• To promote the highest standards of legal professionalism as dictated by international best practice; and
• To attract females in the Middle East to join the legal profession.

Goals
• Promote women in the legal profession;
• Expansion of the Group;
• Establish world-wide professional and social network for women lawyers;
• Raise awareness of legal matters in society;
• Development initiatives and efforts ; and
• Promote legal education female students.

ACYPL Summit, Amman, Jordan, Day 3

The Opening Plenary Session,

The Next Decade: Arab Spring or Fall?

The presenter was Shadi Hamid, Director of Research, Brookings Doha Center in QATAR, facilitated by Jay Footlick (ACYPL Alum and Trustee).   His research interests are Islamist political parties and reform in the Middle East.  He talked about U.S. response to transformations during the Arab Spring ... and suggestions for moving forward

This was followed by a discussion with

Perceptions of a Writer, New Yorker Middle East Correspondent, Peter Hessler

in conversation with Linda Rotunno, the CEO of ACYPL.  He shared his observations and lessons learned from the 2 weeks he spent in the mosque in Tahrir Square.  You can read more here

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/12/19/111219fa_fact_hessler

I also include a few photos from around Amman.