International Law & Human Rights Conference 2023

Mar 23 24, 2023

The Institute for International Law and Justice and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice are pleased to announce that submissions are now being accepted for the 20th Annual International Law and Human Rights Emerging Scholarship Conference, to be held at NYU School of Law on March 23-24, 2023.

The conference, open to current NYU School of Law JD, LLM, and JSD students, provides an opportunity for the presentation of papers and works-in-progress, discussion, and debate on a broad set of human rights and other international law issues. The purpose of the conference is to encourage the development of scholarship in a constructive and collaborative environment.

Students are welcome to submit papers on any issue of human rights, international, or transnational law. We particularly encourage submissions on contemporary topics that respond to current gaps in research and literature. Below is an illustrative non-exhaustive list of potential themes that papers could explore:

  • the future of international law in light of resurgent anti-globalism
  • human rights and the rise of populism
  • the United States and the future of the international human rights system
  • data, big and small, in human rights methods, law, and policy
  • data governance of (and for) international organizations
  • regulation of recognition technologies
  • regulatory effects of physical and/or digital infrastructure
  • migration crises and human rights
  • climate change, environmental justice, and human rights
  • earth systems and planetary governance
  • governance of data and digital technologies in economic development and humanitarian projects
  • persistent poverty, rising inequality, and human rights private ordering in global economic law and governance
  • Queer theory and human rights
  • corporate capture of the regulatory state: implications for human rights and international law
  • data infrastructures in governance of space and oceans (e.g.Argo), especially climate data
  • SEC regulation of data, including ESG data

Students whose papers or works-in-progress are selected will be expected to briefly present their work at the conference and will receive comments from an interdisciplinary group of faculty members and practitioners, who will lead discussion and debate following presentations.

One student will be awarded the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice Emerging Scholar Essay Prize for the best paper on human rights. Outstanding papers on any issue of international law may also be considered for inclusion in the IILJ Emerging Scholars Working Papers (http://www.iilj.org/publication-category/emerging-scholars-papers/).

Papers should be submitted by Wednesday March 8. You will be notified of the selection committee’s decision by Monday, March 13.  Submissions should be between 20 and 30 double-spaced pages (including citations), but we will consider other lengths.

Please e-mail questions and submissions to Angelina Fisher at  angelina.fisher@nyu.edu