Students Share Experiences at Justice Forum
Jeff Kaloustian 3L spoke about his experiences in Bangalore at the Justice Forum.Sept. 17, 2008 -- Students shared stories of working with illiterate farmers who crossed the Himalayas in search of education, interviewing death row inmates in the American South, and volunteering at an Indian orphanage for human trafficking victims at the USF School of Law Justice Forum Sept. 2.
While their experiences differed dramatically, all said the unconventional legal education the summer internships afforded was powerful.
"I learned more than anything that poor people do not get the same day in court as people who can afford adequate representation," said Natalie Davis 2L, who participated in the Keta Taylor Colby Death Penalty Project.
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Other students taught human rights and English as a second language at the Tibet Transit School in Dharamsala, India. The school serves refugees from China and Tibet, including nomads and farmers, former monks and nuns, previous members of Chinese military, and Chinese university students who want to learn about Tibetan culture. To reach the school, refugees cross the Himalayas, often witnessing the death of fellow travelers and losing toes and fingers in the freezing conditions.
"This is where foreign policy, economic relationships between the United States and China, international law, (and) human rights law all come together at the intersection of the human element," said Jennifer Irving 3L. "We have economic relationships between China and the United States that affect illiterate nomads on the top of the world in the Himalayas."
Natalie Vu 2L traveled to Vietnam this summer.Next summer, additional positions will be available at the office of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy, and the office of a progressive member of Parliament in New Delhi.
In Bangalore, India, six students worked for major international business firms and three students worked for human rights organizations, including Elizabeth Hallock 3L, who volunteered at an orphanage for trafficking victims, and Jeff Kaloustian 3L, who worked at a small non-governmental organization called the South Indian Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring. These internships were organized by USF's Center for Law and Global Justice.
"This was an extremely awarding experience for me...personally and professionally," said Kaloustian, whose work focused on a project to prevent torture in India. "I got a lot of exposure...to the operation and management of a small human rights NGO in India, which was very much in line with my professional career goals."
The Center for Law and Global Justice also sent students to Vietnam to work in international law firms and U.S. Agency for International Development offices, to Cambodia to study Khmer Rouge history and tribunal proceedings, and to the Dominican Republic to assess human rights abuses toward Haitians.
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The summer internships are a critical part of USF's distinctive brand of legal education, Dean Jeffrey Brand said at the forum.
"We talk a lot about educating minds and hearts to change the world, we talk about a more humane and just world, and it's premised on the notion that engagement in community means something, not only to the people in the community but to your education as law students and future lawyers," Brand said.
