News - The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

14 September 2020

The 78 students of our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (LLM) and MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law (MTJ) are starting their classes this week, both in Geneva and online.

For this academic year, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, courses will be taught simultaneously in-class and online.

This will allow the five students who were not able yet to travel to Switzerland – one for our LLM and four for our MTJ –, as well as students at especially high risks or students in quarantine, to follow their programme remotely.

‘Hybrid teaching is a necessary innovation in our masters this year. It requires adaptation from professors and students alike but at the same time it opens up opportunities for innovations with, for instance, guest speakers potentially intervening form all over the world. An exceptionally high level of quality and interactivity in our teachings is what makes the Geneva Academy’s reputation, and this remains our top priority even in challenging times like the COVID crisis’ explains Professor Gloria Gaggioli, Director of the Geneva Academy.

Gloria Gaggioli during a class at the Geneva Academy

Olivier Chamard/Geneva Academy

Students of our MAS in Transitional Justice during their first class

Geneva Academy

Online Orientation Week

The start of classes was preceded last week by the orientation week, aimed at introducing our students to their programmes and life in Geneva.

‘We held, for the first time, this orientation week entirely online, which turned out to be a real success. Our IT and communication team developed a series of short videos and tutorials which allowed our students to familiarize themselves with the Geneva Academy, their programmes and the campus, hybrid teaching, as well as with administrative and legal issues related to their arrival in Geneva’ underlines Dany Diogo, Coordinator of Masters Programmes at the Geneva Academy.

Part of the video on Villa Moynier with the Student Office

Geneva Academy

Graduate Institute

A Rich and Diverse Student Body

Our 2020–2021 student body is, as in the previous years, characterized by the richness and diversity of the profiles – both in terms of professional and disciplinary backgrounds, as well as countries of origin.

‘This diversity tremendously enriches discussions and exchanges in classes, which is a real plus for our programmes’ underlines Gloria Gaggioli.

LLM

The 2020–2021 LLM class has 48 students from 20 countries: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, New Zealand, Serbia, South Africa, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, Ukraine and the United States.

Only one student could not travel to Geneva and follows the programme online.

MTJ

The 2020–2021 MTJ class has 30 students from 23 countries: Afghanistan, Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Kosovo, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tunisia, the United States and Ukraine.

For the moment, four students are following the programme online.

Geneva Academy

28 Scholarships

16 students from the MTJ and 12 from the LLM received a full or partial scholarship.

These are allocated through a highly competitive process based on criteria established by the scholarship donors, and which notably include academic merit, extracurricular achievements and the candidate’s financial needs.

A Later Start for the Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict

The Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict – a part-time programme designed for professionals – will start on 1st October, both in Geneva and online.

‘Applications for this programme are closing today and we expect around 30 participants with a mixture of online and in person candidates. The final numbers will be confirmed in the days to come once the admission process is finalized. We are also looking forward to welcoming external participants on each courses in addition to those following the full programme’ says Dany Diogo.