|
 When
nations recover lost treasures from the depths of the ocean, one
person they should thank is College of Law Professor James Nafziger.
For more than a decade, Nafziger helped lead an effort to draft
a comprehensive treaty on underwater cultural heritage. In 2001,
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) adopted the treaty for ratification by governments. The
law sets out the first clear rules for the recovery of artifacts,
allocates rights and responsibilities among countries and creates
a mechanism for collaboration and resolution of disputes. “Shipwrecks
seem like a rather novel topic of law, but the economic and political
stakes are very high,” he says.
Yet Nafziger’s work in cultural heritage law is only a fraction
of the substantial contributions he has made to promoting global
cooperation. Currently in a second two-year term as president of
the American Branch of the International Law Association, Nafziger’s
prolific writings have helped cut a broad swath of legal groundwork
for  resolving
international and foreign law issues in dispute resolution, human
rights, the United Nations, religious practice, artistic and historical
heritage and migration. His book on international sports law is
a seminal piece in its field and through his work with the Oregon
Law Commission, Oregon became the first common-law jurisdiction
in the world to legislate conflict-of-laws rules applicable to contracts.
“Fundamentally, I’m interested in helping people achieve
a more just and peaceful international system,” says Nafziger.
“As civic leaders, lawyers have a particular professional
responsibility to bring their knowledge and skills to bear on spoken
and written discourse ranging from normal social conversation to
the technical solution of problems in a rapidly globalizing world.”
Nafziger has also proven that vigorous research and quality teaching
can be mixed to great effect. “I’m convinced that quality
scholarship has a significant impact on teaching. We’re just
better teachers when we do scholarship. I’m always learning
something new from my students. I get fresh ideas from teaching
that contribute to my scholarship and certainly the other way around.
I just see it as a wonderfully reinforcing duality of the academic
life.”
Nafziger was largely responsible for establishing the College
of Law’s international and comparative law program and building
its national reputation. As an integral developer of the College
of Law’s study abroad program, Nafziger also helped break
the library-bound image of law education, spearheading a semester
program in Ecuador and a summer program in China that is now the
oldest and largest in the nation. “The motivation for these
exchange programs is to expand our student’s horizons, prepare
them for international careers, and enrich our life here on campus.”
Fittingly, Nafziger’s own travel and work experiences abroad
have bolstered his enthusiasm for teaching. “I’ve found
that there’s no mystique about any particular law school or
program. Students are students everyplace, and some of the best
are at Willamette.” For someone who has spent his life plumbing
every depth to find common ground, that is a very comforting observation.
|
