Teaching

Research Methods in Law course (Undergraduate)

The Research Methods in Law course focuses on the importance of research and social science methods in the everyday work of lawyers. The objetive is to develop skills to design research projects, conduct literature reviews, as well as to expose students to different methods from the social sciences.

The course is divided into two blocks. In the first one, they learn about research design, research ethics and to conduct a literature review. In the second block, the student is taught to use and identify the limitations of the methods in law (doctrinal, history of law and comparative law), and contrast them with methods of the social sciences (interviews, participant observation and surveys).

Legal Argumentation course (Undergraduate)

The Legal Argumentation course is set up as a theoretical and practical course where students are introduced to the main concepts of legal argumentation, and then they are given a set of exercises where they practice what they learn. It takes students from the very basics of argumentation to the more complex task of writing an argumentative essay.

The course is divided in three blocks that are progressive. In the first section of the class, the student is taught to identify, evaluate and build a simple and then a complex argument. After those skills are set, the course moves to a second section where the student is taught to build arguments using rules for interpreting legal texts. The student needs to combine what she learned in the first section of the course with some rules of interpretation to produce arguments. Finally, the course moves to a section on argumentation through evidence, a skill that is required in any court of law or legal practice.

Throughout the course, students submit a series of exercises that are then revised by the lecturer, who gives very specific and detailed feedback to each group of students. Another output of the class is a step by step writing process of an argumentative essay, where the lecturer supports each student in applying what they learn throughout the course into a document led by their own interests. 

Business and Human Rights course (Postgraduate)

The Business and Human Rights course focuses on the business and human rights literature, as well as the interplay of the discussions found in that literature with the transitional justice scholarship. The objetive is to introduce students to the ongoing discussions at the national and international level regarding the role of businesses in human rights violations, and the accountability mechanisms available to victims of those abuses.