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June 28, 2007

In these past two weeks, I have had the opportunity to help out with and participate in the Centre's summer schools. Law students, PhD candidates, practitioners, NGO directors, advocates, and other representatives of all kinds of legal, academic, activist, IR, and HR communities have come to Galway to participate in a series of lectures and workshops. Although a good chunk of the material covered in the courses went right over my head, given my inexperience with law and human rights, I tried my best to follow the lectures. I have learned about theory, principles, measures, articles, provisions, and instruments...and I have also been exposed to real-life stories about Hutu radio propaganda inciting Tutsi hatred in Rwanda, Malaysia, Irish travelers, Swedish Roma, Gaeltacect, Saddam on trial, and more.

I came to Ireland to learn about Ireland. But here at the globally-focused Irish Centre for Human Rights, I am gaining an international perspective – which in a way is telling about how deeply engaged this small country is with the rest of the world.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the course was how intensely the participants seemed to prioritize networking. When it came to socializing during coffee breaks and after class, everyone seemed a bit frantic about not missing out. Is this how working adults get to know each other?