West Long Branch, NJ – Furthering the global education vision of the university, thirteen Monmouth University students will be traveling to prominent capitals of international law and politics over winter break in conjunction with Professor Bordelon’s section of International Service Seminar (PS 371) in the spring. Some of the students began their engagement with a new course during the fall 2014 semester in the Department of Political Science and Sociology, Public International Law (PS 431), which builds off of the international relations curricular strand in political science.
Senior Harmony Bailey said, “I think visiting The Hague or European Union will probably demonstrate the best correlation to what I learned in this class and how to tie it to the trip. Plus it is always beneficial to have knowledge beforehand of how everything works, especially when it comes to a trip of this caliber.” The learning objective of the experience is to present the theoretical foundations of international law (PS 431 – Fall 2014) and transition students from experiencing the institutions (winter break study tour) of it to realizing its fundamental relationships to social justice through local legal aid organizations (PS 371 – Spring 2015).
The study tour over winter break will include visits in London, The Hague, Amsterdam, Brussels and Bruges. In London, Monmouth students will visit Parliament, the British Library and attend a lecture on the political history of London, as well as have opportunities to take in a host of governmental and legal sites through a local inns of court tour. From there, the students will visit the Hague and see the epicenter of the world’s stage for public international law, the Peace Palace. An experience at the Humanity House and presentation by the Red Cross will prepare the students for the local law-based projects planned for the International Service Seminar class in the spring semester. After visiting the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, students will end the study tour will a tour of the European Commission (executive arm of the European Union) in Brussels and an excursion to Bruges before returning to the States.
The experience will culminate in an experiential education course in the spring where students will go out into the community to engage in legal assistance through social justice projects with a goal of understanding that the broad notions of international law and human rights done in places like the Hague or London is just as relevant as doing it here at home. Assisting in immigration matters, special advocate volunteer assistance, citizenship and civic participation are being considered for the PS 371 course.
PHOTOS COURTESY of Gregory Bordelon
