We are proud to offer law students the opportunity to broaden their law school experience by spending an exciting summer in Cairo, Egypt, studying international and comparative law. The Seton Hall Law School Summer Program for the Study of Law in the Middle East will operate a six week, fully accredited ABA-approved summer session at The American University in Cairo located in downtown Cairo, Egypt. Students will be offered the opportunity to take courses in Islamic Jurisprudence, International Admiralty and Maritime Law, International Criminal Law, International Human Rights Law, and International Oil and Gas Law. The program will also sponsor several roundtable discussions with international lawyers practicing law in the Middle East. These sessions will focus on cutting-edge legal issues in the Middle East today, including the Palestinian peace accords, international trade and tariff issues, the influence of oil and gas law in regional and global politics, the role of international organizations in resolving disputes, the impact of religious law, and practical considerations in practicing law in the region. The program will provide students with the opportunity to visit Egyptian legal institutions and meet with prominent scholars, judges, and public officials involved with those institutions.

Cairo, a modern city of over 19 million, is the largest city in Africa and the largest city in the Middle East. It is a city with a rich history of enlightenment and mystery and countless wonders to be explored. Acknowledged as Umm Dunya or "Mother of the World" by the medieval Arabs, it was described by Jan Morris as "one of the half-dozen supercapitals--capitals that are bigger than themselves or their countries...the focus of a whole culture, an ideology, or a historical moment." Ibn Khaldun, the great Arab historian and social theorist, recounts the story of a traveler telling him in 1384 that "what one can imagine always surpasses what one sees, because of the scope of the imagination, except Cairo, because it surpasses anything one can imagine." Ibn Khaldun later visited Cairo and described it as "the metropolis of the universe, the garden of the world, the anthill of the human species, the throne of royalty, a city embellished with castles and palaces, its horizon decorated with monasteries and with schools, and lighted by the moons and stars of erudition."

Cairo is still the great city described in these medieval chronicles. It is now a modern metropolis, with the latest technological innovations and amenities available to all who visit. Its antiquities, including the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, the Khan el Khalili bazaar, and resplendent mosques and cathedrals, are all accessible by modern transportation. Egypt has been a prize for conquerors from Alexander the Great to Napoleon to Rommel the Desert Fox. Cairo is the jewel of that prize. Its name in Arabic means "The Conqueror" and anyone who visits is immediately awed by its power. It is also a city with a rich scholarly history, deep religious belief and scientific discovery, with libraries and museums rivaling any in the world. There is indeed no greater place to study in the Middle East than in Cairo.
 

Classes will be conducted on the campus of the American University in Cairo (AUC), an undergraduate and graduate institution located in downtown Cairo. Founded in 1919, AUC operates two large and well-equipped campuses adjacent to each other in Cairo as well as two multidisciplinary research centers, the Desert Development Center and the Social Research Center. The university today enrolls more than 5,294 full-time students in its degree programs and over 32,556 non-degree students in its Center for Adult and Continuing Education. The main campus of the university consists of elegant, turn-of the century buildings two blocks from the Nile River. It features a movie theater, gymnasium, cafeteria, tennis courts, and a lush, well-appointed courtyard and garden for student relaxation and enjoyment. All AUC classrooms are spacious, air-conditioned, and equipped with modern audio-video facilities. The AUC library is one of the strongest research collections in the region with 250,000 books and 2,400 periodicals and continuations. Students in the program have full library privileges and the right to participate in all AUC student activities. The university offers students a range of other services, including state-of-the-art computer facilities, counseling and medical services, bookstore, banking services, student lounge and a student hostel.

        The New Alexandria Library.

The program will operate from May 31, 2008 until July 10, 2008. Students wishing to participate in the Nile Cruise should plan to remain in Cairo until July 20, 2008. Students are expected to be in Cairo on or before May 30th.  The program orientation will take place on May 31st and June 1st. Classes will begin on June 2nd. Classes will be held four days a week (Monday through Thursday) from 10:00 AM until approx. 6:00 PM with a one hour and thirty minute break for lunch. Each course meets for 20 sessions during the summer, with the last class occurring on or about July 3, 2008. Each professor will also schedule a review session for each course.  Exams will take place between July 6, 2008 and July 10, 2008. The curriculum is described in detail below. All classes are conducted in English and taught by a Seton Hall faculty member with assistance from AUC faculty and members of the Egyptian Bar. The program will maintain an office in the faculty office wing on the main campus of AUC. Student accountability will be measured by a final examination, administered in accordance with Seton Hall Law School regulations. Classroom attendance is mandatory. The Seton Hall Law School attendance policy and honor code will be enforced. Enrollment in the classes is drawn primarily from law schools in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom with a few students coming from Europe, Africa, and Asia.