Michael Moore was the inaugural recipient of the Stromberg Scholarship, the LSJ program’s new annual scholarship that aims to aid students in their goal to study abroad. With the help of the Stromberg Scholarship, Michael was able to study in Galway, Ireland and The Hague, Netherlands with the Jackson School of International Studies in programs focused on the international court system.
Michael was initially drawn to the LSJ program, he said, because he wanted to understand the effects of law on everyday citizens. As he put it, “While studying the historical or theoretical aspects behind modern day laws is certainly important, I wanted to discover the social, economic, and political impacts that law has on the average person.”
Michael’s interest in studying abroad grew out of the curiosity his LSJ courses generated about the international legal system and role played by the international courts.
“The professors and courses at UW teach us a lot about the issues and topics of which we would like to study, but study abroad programs allow us to interact with and ask questions to experts who have vast amounts of experience within their field of work,” he said. “That direct access simply cannot be offered inside the classroom at UW despite the extremely high quality of education we are receiving.”
As he got further into the course material of the LSJ program and started to have a growing interest in international law, his interest in studying abroad grew. “After reading countless articles ranging from the generations of rights to the Bush Administration’s hostility towards the ICC, I found the opportunity to finally use my academic knowledge and experience it by seeing human rights and international law in action in The Hague, Netherlands,” he said.
While he was abroad, Michael was able to directly apply the knowledge he gained during his time with the LSJ program and experience the intricacies and complexities of the international court system firsthand. Michael also explained how, “the most enjoyable aspect of both study abroad experiences were definitely the European Union institution site visits in Brussels and being a spectator at the courts in The Hague, primarily the ICTY trial of Ratko Mladic.”
Michael also described a very unusual experience during the trial when, “Ratko Mladic would stare at the gallery and get into staring matches with my fellow students and I, as well as salute us all on his way back to the detention center. It is a pretty surreal scene getting into a staring contest with one of the most notorious international war criminals ten feet away from you.”
Clearly studying abroad provides students with a unique educational experience that cannot be replicated in the classroom, and the Stromberg Scholarship helps students attain that.
“The Stromberg Scholarship afforded me the opportunity to study abroad and I am not sure I could afford to complete both programs I went on this summer without it,” Michael said. “The Stromberg Scholarship mitigated the day-to-day expenses of living abroad and I am very thankful for the financial assistance.”
The LSJ program is thrilled to have helped facilitate Michael’s positive experience studying abroad and proudly looks forward to continuing to annually award the Stromberg Scholarship to aid future students.
This article was written by Chase Beauclair