In September, the Future of Human Rights team made history. In a collaboration between RWI and the Faculty of Law at Lund University, the team hosted a pioneering workshop for early career researchers from a range of Global South and Nordic countries.
The workshop was a flagship event for the project team – Jessica Almqvist, Kirstine Kjaer, Radu Mares, Thérèse Murphy, Alberto Rinaldi, Mia Rönnmar and Sue Anne Teo. It was made possible by the project’s award from the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation.
Modelled on junior faculty fora used by Ivy League universities, the workshop participants did intensive work on draft articles that had been submitted by the early career researchers. Each researcher received insights from everyone present, in addition to having their own dedicated mentor–an experienced researcher from RWI or the Faculty of Law at Lund University, from the Centre for Human Rights at Pretoria University, from Copenhagen University, from the South Asian University, from Åbo Akademi University, from the University of California, Irvine, and from Queen’s University Belfast.
The workshop was supported by a leading journal, the Human Rights Law Review, which sent one of its lead editors to the event.
The workshop also featured:
- a former Guardian newspaper journalist on how to write for a general audience;
- an ERC award-winning colleague who gave tips on how to turn a research idea into a funding application;
- RWI’s senior librarian, Victoria Heisler, on how to maximise research tools; and
- a former Dean of the Law Faculty who led a session on building and sustaining an international network.
The city of Lund was showcased too, with guided tours of both Lund Cathedral and Skissernas Museum.
Following the event, the project team met with participants to further discuss the outcomes of the workshop.
I am a human rights law scholar with a passion for law and society. I have been doing research on international environmental law, criminal law, asylum law and, naturally, on human rights law. A golden thread has often been the role of international law within the national legal system. Teaching is an integral part of my work, and I like it a lot. Supervision is my favourite task – it is such a privilege to be able to follow someone’s journey from initial thoughts and ideas to the final result. As the Director of the Institute for Human Rights I have a significant amount of administrative tasks, which is at times a bit cumbersome. I nevertheless try to live with the motto “you can learn something new at every meeting”. In my free time I read, and read some more and go to the theatre.
What was the best piece of advice for early career researchers that you gave, or heard, during this event?
Plan ahead, but be flexible. It is important to keep your options open.
The workshop was part of the Future of Human Rights project. For you, what three words best describe the future of human rights?
Resilience, hope, brightness.
I’m a relative newcomer to academia, having returned to study after a lengthy career in journalism, much of it spent covering the Northern Irish conflict, which ignited my abiding passion for human rights. I was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, and obtained an MA in English literature from Edinburgh University before starting work as a newspaper reporter. Eventually I became Ireland correspondent and then crime correspondent for the Guardian. I enrolled at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) in 2016 to undertake a Master’s in Law followed by a PhD. There my research explored the impact of rape myth belief on juror decision-making in rape trials. I recently joined QUB School of Law as a lecturer, specialising in constitutional law and transitional justice. Also, I am an English language editor of the Global Campus of Human Rights, an umbrella organisation championing human rights education in 100 universities worldwide.
What was the best piece of advice for early career researchers that you gave, or heard, during this event?
I think the best advice I heard all week, reiterated by numerous participants in the Future of Human Rights workshop, was to seek out great mentors, just like those who provided such excellent feedback on the draft articles written by the early career researchers who took part. Take some time away from your research to network, attend conferences, get involved in organising events and engage on social media. Pluck up the courage to approach experienced people whose work you admire, both inside your own university or organisation and further afield. Once you have built up some rapport, you can make a reasonable request for advice or feedback; at worst, they may be too busy, but often they will be glad to help you as others helped them when they were in your shoes.
The workshop was part of the Future of Human Rights project. For you, what three words best describe the future of human rights?
Three words I would use to describe the future of human rights would be – vital, active and varied – as was demonstrated by the sheer range of fascinating topics and approaches examined by early career researchers who participated in this workshop.
I am the Senior Librarian at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute. I moved to Sweden from Vermont, USA in August of 2022 and I joined the institute in January of this year. Previous to RWI, I have worked in various libraries, archives, and in non-profits.
What was the best piece of advice for early career researchers that you gave, or heard, during this event?
There was quite a lot of excellent advice from the mentors, but the advice I’d like to highlight (a bit selfishly, perhaps?) is to utilize libraries and librarians! We can assist in finding the right resources, connect you to the right research tools, request content through global library networks, and more.
The workshop was part of the Future of Human Rights project. For you, what three words best describe the future of human rights?
Cooperative, intersectional, accessible.
I am a professor of international law at the University of Pretoria. I am also the 2023-2024 African Scholar Programme Visiting Senior Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden. My research interests include the African Union, transnational policy development, good governance and democratisation in Africa, critical approaches to international law, and comparative regionalism.
What was the best piece of advice you gave, or heard, during this workshop?
It is important to develop the art of communicating one’s scholarship beyond the traditional medium of journal articles, books, chapters in books etc by exploring writing op-eds and blog articles.
The workshop was part of the Future of Human Rights project. For you, what three words best describe the future of human rights?
Diversity. Agency. Compassion.
I am an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Legal Studies, South Asian University, an international organisation established by the SAARC. I have been a recipient of the Fulbright Fellowship and International Visitors Leadership Program. My main areas of research focus on international environmental law and conflict of laws. For me, being an academic is about sharing knowledge and impacting people’s lives.
I have published in several leading international journals like the Journal of Private International Law, Transnational Environmental Law, Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law, and Chinese Journal of Environmental Law, to name a few. I have undertaken projects and consultancies with various organisations, including the European Union, the International Renewable Energy Agency, and the Asia Europe Foundation. My work has enabled me to travel and collaborate, helping me grow by gaining new perspectives on my personal and professional life.
What was the best piece of advice you gave or heard during this workshop?
The writing workshop was a learning and sharing experience. The best advice which I gave focused on two aspects. First, while writing for a journal, focusing on a narrow dimension is crucial rather than opting for a broad agenda. The narrow focus can only come after thoroughly understanding the literature and the dominant and minority narratives in the field. Secondly, while writing, remember the audience and readers who may not know what is in your mind. So, one must be careful in writing coherently and logically with connection and linkage between sections and paragraphs.
The best piece of advice I heard was not to be disheartened by harsh review comments, as research is a process, and it is essential to realise that every review adds strength to your paper and learning for further research.
The workshop was part of the Future of Human Rights project. For you, what three words best describe the future of human rights?
In my opinion, the future of human rights revolves around forging new conversations, setting new goals, and expanding and developing new tools.
New Conversations and New Goals: Traditionally, human rights are created for the protection of humans. However, recent times have seen the expansion of human rights to rivers, nature, and animals, and new conversations are emerging. They will continue to emerge around the idea of granting rights to robots and AI systems.
New Tools: The expansion of technology exacerbates discrimination and threatens the right to privacy. It also introduces new actors to the human rights framework. At the same time, technology and AI can assist in monitoring the right protection of people and broaden access to knowledge. Hence, it is crucial to explore the tools to ensure that technological advances benefit all people.
I consider myself a professor of law and humanities. My PhD was in American Studies and from quite early on, I was interested in the role of law and lawyers in American culture and history. This led to a similar interest in human rights and today, I am fortunate enough to have a double appointment in both history and law at the University of Copenhagen. My teaching in the History Department is on American history, whereas I teach human rights, especially cultural human rights, in the law school. My UNESCO Chair supports this cultural rights approach.
What was the best piece of advice you gave or heard during this workshop?
Maybe that it is just as important to be interdisciplinary in one’s scholarship as it is to be international. And also that life is full of randomness and you have to be ready and willing to grasp whatever chances come your way.
The workshop was part of the Future of Human Rights project. For you, what three words best describe the future of human rights?
Mitigating climate change.
I’m a Nigerian lawyer and storyteller in the human rights discipline. At the moment, I am based at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria where I am a communications officer and postdoctoral fellow. I still enjoy the uncertainty that comes with becoming. I still believe the world can change.
What was the best piece of advice you gave, or heard, during this workshop?
It is difficult to stratify. Everything I learned was brilliant but there were the recurring ideas of patience with oneself amidst hard work and the celebration of serendipity which will stay with me forever.
The workshop was part of the Future of Human Rights project. For you, what three words best describe the future of human rights?
Defiant. Transdisciplinary. Multiracial.