A strange world: A Summer School in law in Germany

By Andrea García González
Student
Master in Social Studies
Universidad del Rosario

I will always be grateful for the opportunity that the Institute CAPAZ gave me to take part in the Summer Law School in International and Comparative Law at the Justus-Liebig Universitat Giessen. Everything was new and rewarding in this experience. I thank the opportunity to share with people from different disciplines, nationalities and cultures and staying during a month in a foreign country. I thank the opportunity to travel around distinct cities and, obviously, the courses that I received in this period.

The scholarship granted by the Institute CAPAZ covered all the expenses to attend the Summer School: from air tickets and hosting to the cost of the cultural and academic program we had the opportunity to enjoy.

The Summer School provided me an integral experience, combining harmoniously recreational and tourist activities within an academic environment. It demanded a careful preparation of the readings and exams.

As a sociologist attending to classes of Comparative Constitutional Law and Business Ethics and Human Rights, this experience was very strange but lovely at the same time. I would like to highlight the high level and relevance of the professors who taught the classes. Each week we met experts of the different subjects, as well as academics from different countries and universities, who provided enriching perspectives on the matter.

The courses that I took were important inputs to my research project on peace. Based on the knowledge learned in class, I reflected on the role that the Colombian Constitutional Court plays in a process such as the current implementation of the Havana Peace Agreement subscribed by the FARC-EP and the Colombian Government.

Moreover, the course on Ethics of Business and Human Rights allowed us to think outside the box and question the role of national and transnational companies in the perpetuation of the internal conflict and their role in a new post-agreement scenario.

So, in this world that was new for me, I learned not only law, but also met wonderful people, discovered new cities and tried new dishes. But above all, I acquired new skills that I will put at the service of present and future academic projects, which might contribute to the consolidation of a country in peace.