Thomas Simon

Expertise

Regions

• Balkans
• Eastern Europe
• Persian Gulf
• Philippines
• Southeast Asia
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• Western Europe

Topics

• Conflict Resolution and Negotiation
• Culture, Religion and Politics
• Education Policy
• Ethnic Conflict
• Governance
• Human Rights and Democracy
• Genocide
• Humanitarian Crises and Relief Efforts
• International Law
• International Crimes and Tribunals
• Islamic Religion, Politics, and Law
• Post-conflict Reconstruction
• Rule of Law
• Terrorism

Background and Education

Prior to the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, Dr. Simon was associated with the Department of International Studies of the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Before that he taught philosophy and chaired the Department of Philosophy at Illinois State University. As a Fulbright Scholar, he taught in the University of Malaya Law Faculty and conducted research at the Centre for Civilization Dialogue. He has taught law at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia and the University of Prishtina, Kosovo. He held the Distinguished Chair of Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Northern Colorado as well as helped to establish an English-speaking Japanese university, Miyazaki International College.
 
His awards include a Liberal Arts Fellowship from Harvard Law School. He has received awards for teaching excellence from the University of Florida and the University of Illinois.

He holds a PhD in philosophy from Washington University and a JD in law from the University of Illinois.
 

Research and Publications:

His research focuses on global injustices and on minority issues. In addition to over forty articles, his publications include Group Injustices (2011), Laws of Genocide (2007), Law & Philosophy (2000), and Democracy and Social Injustice (1995). He founded and edited Injustice Studies, an electronic journal. He has consulted for the United Nations Working Group on Minorities and the American Bar Association Central/Eastern European Law Initiative. He served on a drafting committee for Albania’s new constitution. As a practicing attorney, he has represented a Diaspora Rwandan group in an extradition case to the Ad Hoc War Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda and has served locally as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for child abuse cases. He has been admitted to the practice of law in the District of Columbia, Illinois, and Maryland.

Download Curriculum Vitae (PDF)