Each year, the Observatory selects outstanding law students from the Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) or graduate program (LL.M. or Ph.D.) and offers them an unprecedented leadership curriculum titled "Leading with Courage: Leadership and Human Rights", which is based on the pedagogical approach of experiential learning. Throughout the year, our students are trained by top experts from the Leadership Academy, the Telfer School of Management, the Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC), the Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory on the Rights of the Child (LRIDE), as well as numerous Pilots (exceptional individuals whose inspiring careers have positively impacted Canada and the world) and Collaborators (experts recognized for their remarkable contributions to human rights).
Three teaching modules will enrich their experience: "The Roots of Leadership (Being)," "Leading Across Divides (Doing)," and "Leading Towards Systemic Change (Institutions)." Students will contribute to the work of the United Nations treaty bodies by producing and presenting scientific reports in Geneva, enabling them to be authentically engaged in activities that challenge them to experiment and adapt to dynamic issues within a multi-stakeholder, interdisciplinary, and internationally comparative framework. Upon their return from Geneva, they will democratize human rights in ways that are engaging and accessible to the general public, through podcasts, films, media interviews, conferences or other creative projects.
This pedagogical method fosters rare skills: thinking critically, holistically, and collaboratively; putting acquired knowledge into practice through concrete cases; navigating through a multiplicity of systems (the university, the United Nations, the general public); and implementing real and sustainable social change through innovative initiatives.