Chantal J.M. Thomas, Cornell Law Professor at Cornell Law School, directs the Clarke Initiative for Law and Development in the Middle East and North Africa. She teaches in the areas of Law and Development, Law and Globalization, and International Economic Law. She is active in the areas of human rights and social justice, particularly in the Middle East.
Education.
Thomas graduated from McGill University in Quebec in 1992 with a B.A. in Political Science. She received the James McGill Award for Outstanding Scholarship in 1989 and was a University Scholar in 1992. In 1995, Thomas received her J.D. and graduated with honors from Harvard Law School. She received a PhD candidate from Cambridge University.
Career.
Prior to joining Cornell, Thomas chaired the Law Department of the American University in Cairo, and served on the University of Minnesota and Fordham University law faculties. She has been a Visiting Professor of Law teaching international economic law at institutions including the Center for Transnational Legal Studies in London, Soochow University in China and the University of Texas School of Law. Thomas has been an Academic Visitor to the University of London and Oxford University, School of Law.
Thomas has consulted for the USAID Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Affairs. She currently serves on the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law and the U.S. State Department 2019s Advisory Committee on International Law.
Thomas is a founding member of McGill University's Labour Law and Development Research Laboratory, sits on the faculty of Cornell University's Land Theme Project and is a participant in the Interdisciplinary Project on Human Trafficking.
Speaking engagements.
Thomas is a frequent speaker and lecturer at conferences and symposiums on the subject of international law, having spoken at the University of Maryland, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Minnesota. In 2014 she was a keynote speaker at the 7th Annual Toronto Group Conference for the Study of International Transnational and Comparative Law.
Published works.
Thomas has authored several papers, articles, and book chapters. She has been a featured guest of many news agencies. She has written for CNN and been interviewed by PBS on the subject of Egyptian politics. She focuses her scholarship on the relationship between international law, political economy, and global social justice in a variety of contexts. Her writings include:
References.
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