Hello everyone,

I was wondering if some of you may be able to offer some advice with regard to postgraduate options in the field of human rights.

I have been offered a place at Essex, to do the LLM in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, and a place at SciencesPo in Paris to pursue the MA in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action. I hope to work in the field of human rights in advocacy and research, thus having a law degree is not a prerequiste for me as such. Both programmes have great scholars and practitioners in the particular topics I am interested in. I find it very hard to make the final decision and I would really appreciate any kind of advice!

Thank you in advance and best wishes!

Hello DariaJar,

Both programmes have great scholars and practitioners in the particular topics I am interested in. I find it very hard to make the final decision and I would really appreciate any kind of advice!

Thanks Flori!

It is not as easy as it seems, unfortunarely.

Essex is well-known in the field and has rather established reputation. The course in SP is relatively new... Also, some people told me that the LLM is always better than an MA, as it gives more conctrete set of skills...

This is why I keep hesitating :)

Hi,

When applying for jobs, you would be competing with qualified lawyers, who are likely to be recruiting you too. I suspect that an LLM would go further than an MA to correct their biased estimation of the legal knowledge that is required particularly for advocacy work. I feel that the Essex LLM covers your bases better, but are there aspects of the Paris course that you would not gain from the LLM? What are they?

Thank you for your post!
My main concern is that 80% of people who do the LLm at Essex have had versatile professional experience, or at least another degree. I thought that maybe it would make more sense for me to first complete one degree, work, see where it gets me and then potentially re-apply. I would like to work in research and advocacy, so much as the LLM would be ad advantage, not having it would not preclude me from doing the kind of work I hope to do. Also, I could learn french, which could also be an asset in human rights world.

It is hard with human rights as there is not really a linear path. So your uncertainty is perfectly understandable.

Yes learning another language is one of the best things you can do. Its possible to survive without it, but many NGO jobs would be off limits, regardless of whether it's actually necessary for the job.

Since there are not many organisations recruiting in these kind of roles, you could sign up for job updates just to get an idea of what's out there and what skills they look for. Fundraising is the bottleneck with all human rights work and not many people have experience (versus it being a given that everyone has done research, although to different quality).

I suspect that with legal aid cuts, there could be an influx of socially minded qualified lawyers now applying to organisations for a change of direction. I think that could particularly be an issue for advocacy roles.

Also check out Youth In Action and European Voluntary Service

Two schemes where Europe will help pay for you to get experience with human rights through voluntary work or funding for your own projects. :) There are many stipulations and it is many years since I looked into it though

SciencesPo is an amazing school, probably the best one in France and extremely well connected with other outstanding schools in the world (Columbia and Harvard for example). While Essex is internationally known for their HR program, SciencesPo is known everywhere for a lot more things. Learning French while in Paris is also an asset that can be a life long investment - so pick carefully. I would also take into consideration the costs of living as Paris is certainly more expensive than Essex... Good luck :D