A two-month visit to Kent Law School proved “crucial” for doctoral legal scholar Natalia Torres Zuniga who found the exposure to critical theory and socio-legal studies to be pivotal for the development of her thesis.

Natalia spent two months at Kent as a PhD Visiting Student. Originally from Peru, Natalia is studying her PhD at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights in the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo.

Natalia said: ‘The period in Kent was crucial for my thesis. This is the first time that I have been in real contact with academics working with critical theory and socio-legal studies. During my stay, I attended the PhD study group and discovered new literature and new topics of interest. Participating in the Marxist reading group was also a great experience because I realised that “academia” at Kent means plurality. Here I could see that there is a joint dialogue driven by academics using different critical approaches, regardless of the differences in their thought.’

To help tackle the internal structure of her thesis, Natalia prepared an abstract comprising the core elements of the project. This became a route map for writing her final draft and the two chapters that she wrote at Kent were well received by her supervisors in Oslo.

Natalia also enjoyed the diversity of the student body at Kent, meeting PhD students from Zimbabwe, Bulgaria, Thailand, Russia, Australia, Israel and the USA among others: ‘I am impressed by their research topics and I am looking forward to seeing their contributions in the future.’

Natalia has now returned to Oslo and hopes to complete her thesis in February 2019. She has no hesitation in recommending Kent to other PhD scholars and hopes to return to be able to present the outcome of her research.