Rate My Professor Cris Mirasol

Chris Mirasola serves as Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Houston Law Center and affiliate faculty in the Department of Political Science. His research centers on emerging questions of national security and international law, situating legal doctrines in historical contexts informed by his practical experience as a Department of Defense attorney-advisor and prior work in the People's Republic of China. Mirasola's scholarship has been published or is forthcoming in prestigious journals including the William & Mary Law Review, Southern California Law Review, Harvard National Security Journal, University of Pennsylvania Law Review Online, and Harvard Negotiation Law Review. Key publications include "Domestic Military Deployments after Trump v. United States," 67 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 189 (2025); "Common Heritage as Public Trust: A Property Law Approach to Managing Resources Beyond National Jurisdiction," 97 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1469 (2024); "Sovereignty, Article II, and the Military during Domestic Unrest," 15 Harv. Nat’l Sec. J. 199 (2023); and "The Role of Secretariats in International Negotiations: The Case of Climate Change," 24 Harv. Negotiation L. Rev. 213 (2019). He regularly contributes articles on national security law, international law, and PRC law to Lawfare. Mirasola frequently advises on matters of national security law and international law, with recent emphasis on the legal framework for domestic military deployments. He teaches International Law, National Security, and Property at the Law Center.

Mirasola earned his J.D. cum laude and Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.) from Harvard University in 2018, and a B.A. with honors from The Johns Hopkins University in 2012, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. His professional career includes Attorney-Advisor in the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of General Counsel (International Affairs), from January 2019 to May 2022, overseeing domestic military deployments, National Guard issues, the government response to COVID-19, and the Afghanistan withdrawal, among others. He held the Climenko Fellowship and served as Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School from July 2022 to June 2024. Earlier roles encompass legal internships at the U.S. Pacific Command, Department of Defense, and Naval War College; teaching assistant positions at Harvard; and work in China designing online teaching modules for criminal defense attorneys with International Bridges to Justice and teaching English with WorldTeach. He received the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Award, the second highest award for career civilian employees. At the University of Houston Law Center, Mirasola serves on the Graduate Legal Studies Committee (2024-2026) and Academic Affairs Committee (2024-2026), and is a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of National Security Law & Policy (2025-2030). In March 2025, he presented the Skelton Lecture titled "Why Study International Law?" for the Houston Journal of International Law.