UCL - Conferences on current topics

[MCEU2307]

[15h] 2 credits

Teacher(s): Paul Nihoul

Language: French

Level: Second

Aims
Main themes

Aims

The seminar and the conferences provide the context in which the student is invited to write his or her final paper (15 credits).

The paper is in itself an individual exercise to which students have already been confronted during their previous studies. To assist them, these collective sessions are organised. This helps to get along with the requirement irrespective of their background. That form of organisation seems to correspond to the expectations of students, which at that stage want to carry out their activities in a quasi professional environment - which provides for collective work. The purpose of the paper is not to check whether students have the necessary aptitudes to write a document - these requirements have already been dealt with earlier. It is rather to develop them further by inviting the student to apply them to new fields or new topics.

The conferences aim at providing students with an opportunity to hear people engaged in practice. With these opportunities, students can better understand the problems which are raised. This is a way to open their horizons to the life as it really is after the university.

Main themes

There are several conferences for a total of about 15 hours. These conferences have a certain coherence. The speakers are engaged in practice although they are not necessarily in law practice. They provide an insight on how issues are addressed in the professional world and help students develop critical questions. Students have opportunities to ask questions and exchange with the speakers. The conferences are coordinated by a professor belonging to the teaching team responsible for the Final Paper. The evaluation, at the end of the year, takes the form of a written dissertation. The evaluation is integrated in the evaluation of the final paper. The themes chosen for the conferences taken into account the fact the conferences are meant for students with both a European and an international law orientation.