School of Law: Yuanyuan (Kate) Ren

Professor Ren joined the faculty of the University of Dayton School of Law as an Assistant Professor in the fall of 2025. Prior to her appointment at UDSL, she served as an Adjunct Professor at Elon University School of Law and was a Hauser Postdoctoral Global Fellow at New York University School of Law from 2020 to 2022. Earlier in her career, she was a Fox International Fellow at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University (2010-2011) and worked as an assistant research professor and International Programs Coordinator at the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) in Shanghai (2012-2013). She also serves as an Associate Fellow with the University of the Arctic (UArctic) Chair of Arctic Legal Research and Education.

Professor Ren’s research primarily focuses on how China engages with international law as its weight continually increases in the global economic and political order. Her recent scholarship has examined China’s role in the polar regions (the Arctic and Antarctica). This concentration encompasses a wide range of law of the sea and international environmental law issues, including maritime boundaries and entitlements, climate change, indigenous human rights, and international dispute resolution. Professor Ren’s work has been published in numerous law reviews and peer-reviewed journals in the United States, Europe, and China.

Torts

International Business Transactions

Public International Law

S.J.D., University of Wisconsin Law School, 2021

LL.M., University of Wisconsin Law School, 2014

Ph.D. in Law, Fudan University Law School, 2012

M.A. in Law, Tongji University Law School, 2008

LL.B., Shandong Normal University, 2004

Journal Articles

The Question of “Territory” in the WTO Jurisprudence: A Critique of Panel’s Decision on US-Origin Marking Requirement Dispute, NOTRE DAME J. INT’L & COMP. L. ___ (Forthcoming 2025).

Revisiting the Implications of the South China Sea Arbitration: An Arctic Perspective, 30 (2) UC DAVIS J. INT’L L. & POL’Y. 23 (2024).

U.S.-China Arctic Cooperation in a New Era of Great Power Competition: Opportunities and Challenges, 14 Y. B. POLAR L. 98 (2023).

A Note on U.S.-China Cooperation in the Arctic: Opportunities and Challenges, 9 CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ARCTIC LAW, 26 (2021).

A Rule-follower, a Challenger, or a Learner? Recasting China’s Engagement in the Arctic, 9 (1) Y. B. POLAR L. 201 (2018) (with Dan Liu).

Study on Subject Matter Jurisdiction under the Alien Tort Statute: Research into the Application of Customary International Law in U. S. Federal Courts, 15 (1) INT’L L. REV. WUHAN UNIV. 95 (2012) (in Chinese).

DSU Expeditious Arbitration within the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism, 4 J. INT’L ECON. L. 118 (2011) (in Chinese).

Study on “the Group of Companies Doctrine” in International Commercial Arbitration, 3 ARB. IN BEIJING 40 (2009) (in Chinese).

Book

YUANYUAN REN, ARBITRATION WITHIN THE WTO DISPUTE SETTLEMENT SYSTEM (Beijing: Law Press China, 2015) (in Chinese).

Book Chapters

Globalization of the Arctic: Non-Arctic Actors and Global Interests, in ARCTIC LAW IN 1000 WORDS 141-143 (Kamrul Hossain et al. eds., Lapland: Lapland University Press, 2023).

China in the Arctic Council: Existing Problems and Prospective Solutions, in EMERGING LEGAL ORDERS IN THE ARCTIC: THE ROLE OF NON-ARCTIC ACTORS 244-260 (Akiho Shibata et al. eds., London: Routledge, 2019).

Beyond a Tool for Short-term National Interests: China’s Polar Science Diplomacy Revisited, in LAW AND GOVERNANCE: EMERGING ISSUES OF THE POLAR REGIONS 359-404 (XUE Guifang & HE Liu eds., Beijing: China University of Political Science and Law Press, 2018).