Northeastern Law Announces New Center for Global Law and Justice

09.30.24 —Northeastern University School of Law is pleased to announce the launch of a new Center for Global Law and Justice (CGLJ), which employs innovative and collaborative approaches to address the most urgent global challenges of our time. Led by center director Elizabeth Ennen ’08 and faculty co-directors Martha Davis and Zinaida Miller, CGLJ’s work is guided by Northeastern University’s distinguished international law faculty and enhanced by collaborations with scholars and practitioners worldwide. The center focuses on global injustice and diverse forms of inequality and subordination through its commitments to promoting human rights, humanitarianism, climate justice, fair governance and democracy. As one of the law school’s five Centers of Excellence, CGLJ combines scholarship and practice with a keen commitment to the training of the next generation of advocates and scholars. The center’s approach is interdisciplinary, strategic and grounded in an appreciation for community leadership and experiential learning.

“Through our internationally recognized Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy, our leadership with the International Social and Economic Rights Project [iSERP], faculty scholarship and student co-ops across the globe, we have long been committed to promoting global justice and protecting human dignity,” said Dean James Hackney. “The Center for Global Law and Justice will build upon all that we have done and allow us to do so much more as we advocate for universal law and norms that protect marginalized and vulnerable populations.”

On October 24, CGLJ will host an official launch event at Northeastern University’s John D. O’Bryant African American Institute featuring an address by Justice Natalia Ángel Cabo of the Constitutional Court of Colombia. The afternoon program will also offer an opportunity to learn more about the center’s vision, upcoming projects and how it aims to shape the future of global justice.

CGLJ is also hosting an inaugural speaker series, Issues in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, that is open to the Northeastern University community and the general public. Guest speakers include: Tom Dannenbaum, associate professor of international Law at The Fletcher School at Tufts University; Karen Engle,  Minerva House Drysdale Regents Chair in Law and founder and co-director of the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law; Vasuki Nesiah, professor of practice at the New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study; Miriam Ticktin, professor of anthropology and director of the Center for Place, Culture and Politics at CUNY Graduate Center; and James Cavallaro, professor of the practice at Wesleyan University and co-founder and executive director of the University Network for Human Rights.

“We are thrilled to launch the new Center for Global Law and Justice,” said Elizabeth Ennen. “Our goal is to harness the international resources of Northeastern University to address pressing human rights challenges around the globe.”

To learn about upcoming center events, including expert lectures, brown bag lunches, panel discussions and the annual Valerie Gordon Human Rights Lecture, please subscribe to the CGLJ mailing list.