On March 13, 2015, I had the pleasure of participating in the Centre for Critical International Law’s first Graduate-Staff Workshop. The workshop provided a venue for LLM and PhD students from the KLS community to give an academic talk in a professional setting and situate their work within the workshop’s theme: ‘The Victims of International Law.’ I participated as a second-term LLM student, along with three of my wonderful colleagues from the LLM programme: Amber Cheema, Mateja Koltaj, and Andriani Panayi. We each delivered ten-minute talks on our research to the Centre for Critical International Law (CeCIL) Co-Directors, Professor Peer Zumbansen from King’s College London, and various members of the KLS community.
Having participated in the workshop, I feel more confident in my plan to apply for PhD programmes. This was the first time that I presented work in an academic setting. I could not have asked for a more supportive and encouraging environment for my entry into this area of academia. I benefited not only from the experience of presenting and obtaining feedback, but also from listening to the presentations of the PhD students (Paulo Ilich Bacca, Josipa Šarić, and Josephine Uwineza). The opportunity to hear how other early-career academics are developing their research was very instructive and interesting, especially as I consider what it means, practically, to be a researcher.
My experience participating in the workshop encapsulates what I find so extraordinary about KLS. The lecturers here display genuine interest in the academic and professional development of their students. Their availability and accessibility has exceeded my expectations. Through my coursework, discussions with lecturers, and attendance at various events, I can honestly say that I think about (international) law with a much more critical and informed eye. And thanks to the CeCIL Graduate-Staff Workshop, I had the opportunity to launch my own career as an emerging scholar.