- Oxford Academia at:
- 2026 Sessions:
July 3–16, 2027
- Eligibility:
- Typical Seminar Size:
In this seminar, explore legal principles to better understand why laws exist, their place in our social world, and the state’s role in defining what may be ambiguous or evolving doctrine. Examine the different forms of constitutional governments, and apply a critical lens to the relatively modern concept of constitutions as governing documents. Learn about the various multinational institutions—including the UN, the WTO, and the International Court of Justice—that work independently and together to establish order throughout Europe and beyond. Examine the scope of their regulatory and enforcement power and discuss controversial cases and legal doctrine. Compare and contrast European, British, and American legal systems, and meet with international law professionals.
FEATURED FACULTY
American University of Beirut, M.A., Arabic Literature
American University of Beirut, B.A., Economics
Ziad is a university professor and researcher. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Sciences Po Paris, a master’s degree in Arabic Literature, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the American University of Beirut. After working with the Lebanese Red Cross, the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies in Beirut, and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in Stockholm, he joined the American University of Paris in 2010, where he has since taught Middle Eastern Studies and International Relations. Over the past three decades, Ziad has published extensively in journals, newspapers, and research institutions around the world on democratic transitions, political systems, elections, civil society, reform, and citizenship in Lebanon, Syria, and the wider Arab region, as well as on the Palestinian question. His recent books include Syrie, la révolution orpheline (Actes Sud, Paris, 2014); Iran and its Four Arab Fronts (International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, 2017); Dans la tête de Bachar Al-Assad (with Subhi Hadidi and Farouk Mardam-Bey, Actes Sud, Paris, 2018; 2nd ed., 2025); and Le Proche-Orient, miroir du monde (La Découverte, Paris, 2025). This is his fifth summer teaching with Paris Academia.