11/2/01--Boston College Law School's Holocaust and Human Rights Project and International and Comparative Law Review hosted an International Law Conference on November 1 and 2, 2001 on the Law School's Newton campus. A theme of global interdependence linked this sequence of two major back-to-back events. The conference included the 4th Annual Kupferschmid Lecture, and an ICLR Symposium in Honor of Professor Cynthia Lichtenstein, Globalization and the Erosion of Sovereignty.

"A lot of people have been looking at simply one aspect of globalization, and that is how do you encourage trade in a more interconnected world?" said BCLaw Professor David Wirth, who spoke at the symposium on Friday. "One answer lies in getting states out of the business of distorting markets, by taking some of the power away from individual governments. But we're looking at these issues now in a new light after September 11, and we're finding that we need states' help dealing with issues such as human rights, the environment, fighting terrorism. We need to look at the larger picture--what do we want the world to be like in the future? These are some of the issues that were addressed at the conference."

The events kicked off on Thursday afternoon with the Fourth Owen M. Kupferschmid Lecture, delivered by Stephanie Farrior, former Legal Director of Amnesty International and currently a professor at Penn State's Dickenson School of Law. Professor Farrior spoke on "Using International Human Rights Mechanisms to Combat Racial Discrimination."

Professor Farrior holds a master of laws degree from Harvard Law School, a J.D. from American University, and an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. A specialist in international human rights law, she has conducted human rights missions to India, Malawi, Pakistan, and Yemen for Amnesty and served on its U.S. delegation at meetings in Yokohama, Cape Town, London, Ljubljana, and Oslo.

A full-day symposium in honor of Professor Cynthia C. Lichtenstein, who is retiring from Boston College Law School after 30 years of service, followed on Friday. The symposium, "Globalization and the Erosion of Sovereignty," featured three principal speakers: Professor Andreas Lowenfeld on international finance; Professor Dinah Shelton on human rights; and BCLaw Professor David Wirth on the environment. The symposium papers will be published in the Boston College International and Comparative Law Review as a Festschrift honoring Professor Lichtenstein.