Susannah Shaw began her study towards her Master of Laws at Harvard last week after three weeks of orientation, and says her classes so far have been very interesting.
She has found that her professors are accessible and enthusiastic about teaching, and use the Socratic Method where lectures are taught through questioning of students.
“I’m grateful to have come from Victoria’s Law School where the same method is employed, so I feel somewhat equipped to get a lot out of this style of teaching.
“The reading load, is as I expected, on the heavy side!”
The Frank Knox Memorial Fellowship programme provides funding for students from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to conduct graduate study at Harvard University.
Annie Reid Knox set up the scholarships to honour her late husband and asked that future scholars be selected on the basis of "future promise of leadership, strength of character, keen mind, a balanced judgement and a devotion to the democratic ideal".
The Fellowship covers Harvard tuition and health insurance fees and provides a stipend sufficient to cover a student's living expenses for the 10-month academic year.
“I’m very grateful to all my professors at Victoria, and the support of the Scholarships Office who helped me to get to Harvard.”
Susannah was drawn to Harvard because of the quality of the teaching and breadth of the programme, excellent reputation and ability to write a thesis as a component of her degree.
“I was also interested in the diversity of students in the classes. There are 180 students from over 70 countries.”
Susannah attended many orientation activities, including an introductory course in American Law, a duck tour (an amphibious vehicle that travel on both land and water) of Boston, food trucks, field games and an ice cream social.
“The Law school campus is beautiful, with the Langdell Law Library being my favourite building.
“Boston itself is an incredible city–steeped in history, with the downtown centre very close to campus–so I have been enjoying exploring the city with my classmates.”
Susannah is taking courses in both public and private law, including Constitutional Law and Complex Litigation and Mass Tort Law.
“I am hoping to write my thesis in the area of Mass Tort Law, with a comparative project focusing on the New Zealand representative action procedure drawing on insights gained from the rules governing class actions here in the United States.”
Susannah graduated from Victoria in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Chinese and History and a Bachelor of Laws with Honours.