I found the opportunity to study at Harvard valuable because of the possibilities to combine theory with practice.
I graduated from Edinburgh Law School in 2001 before studying for the LLM at Harvard Law School as a Kennedy Scholar in 2002/3.
For someone like me with a keen interest in international law, Harvard was the ideal place to study. Beyond the extensive course offerings in international law and human rights, I enjoyed many opportunities to work on actual human rights projects through the Human Rights Program in addition to attending a plethora of talks and presentations from human rights academics and practitioners from around the world. This was in addition to generous access to prominent faculty members and a rich and experienced student body.
After my year at Harvard, the Human Rights Program awarded me a Henigson Fellowship to spend a year in Sri Lanka working with national human rights organisations on transitional justice. I consider this one of my most formative years in learning about the application of human rights in practice and one which I would not have had if it was not for the Human Rights Program. Since then, I have worked as the International Legal Adviser at REDRESS where I carried out a range of research, policy and legal work on torture, including bringing cases and amicus curiae briefs before national courts and regional and international human rights bodies and as a programme lawyer on the International Criminal Court at the International Bar Association where I spent a good deal of my time working in East Africa. In 2010, I joined the Law School at the University of Essex where I research, practice and teach international human rights law.
Beyond Harvard itself, the Kennedy scholarship is a very exciting and special part of the year and continues to be a great privilege to be part of. The year was so incredible that I often wish I could go back to study for the LLM all over again - a wish I know is shared by many of my peers!
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