Teaching

Dr. Williams brings his entrepreneurial approach to teaching by fostering an experiential classroom environment and encouraging learning through small group activities, interactive lectures, and negotiation simulations. Dr. Williams’ courses include a strong professional development component that provides students the skills to excel in networking, job searching, and job performance. Dr. Williams’ students include candidates for MA, JD, JD/MA, LLM, and PhD degrees.

In addition to teaching, Dr. Williams serves as the Director of American University’s JD/MA Program and the Lawyering Peace Program, an experiential learning opportunity in public international law.

Dr. Williams currently teaches Advanced International Law & Peace Negotiations. Previous courses taught include:

Public International Law
Advanced Public International Law
Law and Peace Negotiations
Law of the Sea
International Environmental Law
Law of State Succession and State Recognition
International Law and Legal Order

"Professor Williams is quite easily the best professor I've had in law school. His insight into the subject matter is great. He treats his students with great respect and cares about their experiences and opinions. He also makes a big goal of his helping us to develop professionally and make connections that will help us in the job market, which is really helpful."

"The work I've done for Professor Williams’ class has been the best experience of law school. There is no better way to learn public international law than to actually do it. The in-class topics were interesting and thought-provoking as well. We did a number of very good peace negotiation and National Security Council simulations that helped develop an understanding of what the participants in such meetings will be seeking to accomplish."

"Professor Williams is an amazing professor. He connects well with all of his students and shows a great amount of care for us both personally and professionally. He, more than any other professor I have met, is dedicated to our future success and doing anything he possibly can to help us be successful young professionals. I am grateful to be able to learn from him and have him as a resource both now and in the future."

"Professor Williams is extremely knowledgeable and experienced in this area making it fun to learn from him. He is able to break down concepts and ideas into bite sized chunks which makes topics easier to understand and engage with. He gives very thought-provoking and constructive push back that makes the class think harder and dig a little deeper."