Kalajdzic with Co-Professors
Professor Jasminka Kalajdzic's comparative class action course was featured in the recent state visit to Canada by the King and Queen of the Netherlands, the Minister of Education, the Foreign Affairs Minister, and various other officials. The three day visit commemorates the liberation of Holland 70 years ago by Canadian forces.
Part of the visit includes an academic mission, pursuant to which Dutch and Canadian government officials and university representatives are deepening their academic and research ties. Several presentations were made at the University of Waterloo highlighting existing collaborations between academics in the two countries.
In the fall of 2014, Prof. Kalajdzic co-taught a comparative class action course in conjunction with Prof. Deborah Hensler of Stanford University and Prof. Ianika Tzankova of Tilburg University (Netherlands).
The students "met" each other virtually every week for six weeks by way of video conferencing, skype, online discussion boards, and other platforms. Teams of students from the three law schools did mini-projects together. The three professors discussed and debated various aspects of collective redress in their jurisdictions.
The feedback from students was very positive. They enjoyed the interactive aspects of the course and learned a great deal, not only about the substantive law of three jurisdictions, but also soft skills such as co-operation, flexibility, collaboration and open-mindedness.
The above photo is of Prof. Ianika Tzankova (far right) and Koen Becking, president of Tilburg University. On the far left is Roos Hogenkamp, Director of Tilburg's international office.