The Center for Civil and Human Rights welcomes its new class of international human rights lawyers for the 2014-15 academic year.
Bringing together 17 human rights advocates from 16 countries, this year's LL.M. class continues the tradition of offering students a wide range of viewpoints and experiences to augment their classroom work. While retaining its historically strong base in Latin America and Africa, CCHR has consistently broadened its reach into other parts of the globe. This year's class includes lawyers from China, Russia, Canada, India, Myanmar, and the Polynesian nation of Tuvalu, in addition to a host of countries throughout Africa and Latin America.
Sean O'Brien, director of academic programs at CCHR, sees the diversity of this year's group as one of its greatest strengths. "We are thrilled to welcome this year's class of human rights lawyers to Notre Dame," he says. "These lawyers come to to us with experience working for international tribunals, grass roots human rights organizations and in key governmental positions. With interests ranging from the rights of environmental refugees to gender justice in the context of transitional justice processes, these lawyers will stretch our faculty's expertise and enrich the quality of the classroom experience for all Notre Dame law students."
CCHR also welcomes a new student into its J.S.D. program, Samuel Tilahun Tessema, of Ethiopia.