88 Students Start their Learning Journey in Geneva

28 September 2021

The 88 students enrolled in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (LLM) and MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law (MTJ) started their respective programmes last week.

While most students managed to come to Geneva and attended the orientation week, we will maintain our system of hybrid teaching – with courses taught simultaneously in-class and online – to ensure that all our students can follow them.

‘New COVID-19 regulations issued by the Swiss authorities demand that students present a valid COVID Certificate to attend classes in person. While our priority is to have all our students in class, we will maintain this system as long as it is required by the sanitary situation’ explains Dany Diogo, Coordinator of our Masters’ Programmes.

Our 2021–2022 student body is, as in the previous year, characterized by a wide variety of profiles, backgrounds and countries of origin.

‘This diversity is an added strength to our programme as it brings different perspectives in class and enriches discussions and exchanges’ says Professor Gloria Gaggioli, Director of the Geneva Academy.

LLM

The 2021–2022 LLM class has 46 students from 25 countries: Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, India, Italy, Kenya, Malaysia, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

MTJ

The 2020–2021 MTJ class has 42 students from 29 countries: Algeria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burundi, Colombia, Eritrea, France, Gambia, Georgia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Nigeria, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Netherlands, Turkey, Uganda, the United Kingdom, the United States and Venezuela.

14 students from the LLM and 14 from the MTJ received a full or partial scholarship. These are allocated through a highly competitive process based on criteria established by the scholarship donors, and which notably include academic merit, extracurricular achievements and the candidate’s financial needs.

New MTJ Format

Several novelties enrich both programmes. The MTJ has a new format with a series of core courses – complemented by weekly tutorials – that cover central theoretical and practical issues in the fields of transitional justice, and a large offer of optional courses on issues like the role of civil society during transitions, memorialization or cultural heritage in post-conflict. Weekly tutorials given by our Teaching Assistants complement the core courses and allow students to revise and discuss concepts and issues address in class and prepare for exams.

Extracurricular activities

Extracurricular activities have also been expanded for the LLM and the MTJ. They notably include a new series on United Nations human rights mechanisms with Geneva-based experts and practitioners, discussions around movies with filmmakers and experts, as well as training on the use of social media.

More Internships Opportunities

‘We are also expanding the list of institutions we collaborate with for internships during the second semester in order to respond to an increased demand by our students to have this professionalizing activity’ explains Dany Diogo

The Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict – a part-time programme designed for professionals – will start on 29 September 2021, both in Geneva and online.

‘Applications for this programme are closed and we expect more than 40 participants with a mixture of online and in-person candidates. The final numbers will be confirmed in the days to come once the admission process is finalized.