Classes, by request

So, now that we're into week two of classes, I figure I'll give some folk an update on those. If you're not interested in the academic side of things, go ahead and skip on down to the Oslo post. But first, I'd just like to get a plug in for Avenue Q -- a really funny and good play that I saw last Wednesday.

I have four of my five classes selected, and I'm still trying to decide between an Information Law class Tuesday morning, and a Secure Transactions class on Thursday with a prof I really like. Anyway, the classes I am enrolled in thus far:

1) Law of Finance and Foreign Investment in Emerging Economies -- This is almost more of a policy class on emerging markets and how to deal with them. It is reminiscent of a globalization class I took my junior year at ND. While the prof is no Susan Pratt, he is pretty awesome, and I plan on taking at least two classes from him.

2) Comparative Banking and Finance Law -- Finally, the class I've been waiting for, where basic banking policies are explained to me, and in a comparative environment so I can see what makes sense and what doesn't. The prof is the same as the class above, and while he is pro-American, he thinks that FDR's response to the Stock Crash went too far, and is ineffective today anyway. I think he and I will get along nicely.

3) Communications Law -- Different prof, but I really like his style -- Again this takes a comparative look at the different policy aspects of regulations on telephony, as well as broadcast and internet communications. The focus is on the carriage of data, and not on the data itself. Again, a class that will hopefully explain an area of infrastructure that I'm not entirely familiar with.

4) International Trade and Investment Dispute Settlement -- I may end up dropping this one in favor of Information Law (which is by the same prof as class 3). But, the first day was fairly interesting, if difficult to follow because of the fellow's Greek accent. The co-teacher, an Irishwoman has to be impossible for non-native English speakers to understand as she is rapid-fire, but I have an easier time understanding her than the Greek.


I had wanted to take an Immigration & Nationality Law course, but the professor was awful, and the amount of work was unbelievable. For a two hour class that meets once a week, he wanted us to be prepared to discuss over 1000 pages each class. What's worse is that he refused to assign any specific reading, he would simply pass out a sheet with some topics, and a couple of books he thought might be helpful. While he had written a dissertation (which he was none too shy to recommend to us for reading) he gave off the aura of a pretentious grad student who is obsessed with his own academia. Prakash Shah, you're an egotistical prick. He refused to give straight answers on simple questions. For example, in the earliest discussions, he indicated that Britain had an interesting issue in this area of law because it wanted to refuse to allow nationals to immigrate to the UK. None of the Americans in the class understood what the hell he was talking about, so we asked him what he meant by "national" and if he could define it. His response? "Well, is 'national' something you can even define? What does it mean to be a national anyway?" That's all fine and dandy if everyone's using the same terminology, but we weren't even on the same page vernacular-wise, and he refused to clarify the issue. At the first break, I think all but 5 people left.