Bringing Practical Knowledge to the Classroom
Classes taught by outside experts can provide important insight that compliments a student’s other coursework. That’s why EPIC hosts senior-level practitioners to visit for a quarter and co-teach a course with a member of the University of Chicago faculty. The courses are specially designed and tailored for each distinguished fellow to share their expertise and experience gained from decades on the job.
In 2016, EPIC welcomed Sue Biniaz, one of the key architects of the Paris Climate Agreement and a top U.S. State Department lawyer, as the first distinguished fellow. While at the University, Biniaz taught a seminar at the University of Chicago Law School on the negotiation of international agreements, with a focus on climate change. In her law seminar, students learned about the cross-cutting features of international environmental agreements, and, through the lens of climate change, explored the process of negotiating agreements, the development of national positions, the advocacy of positions internationally, and the many ways in which differences among negotiating countries are resolved. Biniaz also gave several public talks during her time on campus and was available to meet with students and faculty upon appointment.
“Any time you have the opportunity to learn from someone who has experience and who is as renowned as Sue, it’s really something special…I think Sue has an ability to tell different anecdotes that is really quite enjoyable. It makes the class fun to be in because you’re with someone who was actually there and there’s a real life to the way she tells those sorts of stories that makes it easier to ultimately understand the material.”
– Daniel Shmay, 3rd year law student in the class Negotiating International Agreements: The Case of Climate Change
In subsequent years, EPIC has hosted Indian Member of Parliament Kalikesh Singh Deo, as well as MIT Professor John Deutch, who served under President Bill Clinton as director of the CIA and deputy secretary of defense and under President Jimmy Carter as undersecretary of energy.