On 23 January 2014, Syed Imad-ud-Din Asad [LL.M. (Harvard); Founder and Director, Center for Law and Policy; Founding Director and Associate Professor, UMT School of Law and Policy] was invited by European Law Students' Association to give a talk at ELSA Annual Partners Reception in Brussels, Belgium.
Professor Asad started by briefly introducing Center for Law and Policy to the audience. He then explained how, in the summer of 2012, his first foreign intern from Heidelberg University, Tianyu Yuan, introduced him to ELSA and its activities. To Professor Asad, ELSA's STEP seemed like a great opportunity to allow Pakistani and European law students to interact with each other and, consequently, initiate a much-needed cultural exchange between Pakistan and Europe in order to ultimately overcome the prejudices and misconceptions that unfortunately prevail on both sides.
Professor Asad offered internships to ELSA members in 2013. He hosted law students from Finland, Norway, Spain, and the Czech Republic. They were mainly responsible for providing research assistance to Professor Asad in his projects on rights of non-Muslims in Islam and Islamic humanitarian law. While on the one hand the interns learned about different aspects of Islamic law under the supervision of Professor Asad, on the other hand they were encouraged to interact with Pakistani law students and were introduced to judges, lawyers, bureaucrats, politicians, scholars, and entrepreneurs. In other words, in addition to acquiring academic skills, they experienced the diverse and dynamic realities that Pakistan has to offer.
Professor Asad shared that the result of this activity was extremely positive. Where there was a marked change in the approach of Pakistani students towards Europeans and European cultural trends, the European students also learned about the wonderful things that Pakistan had to offer. He also mentioned that three of those interns, as a result of their excellent experience in Pakistan, have expressed a very strong interest in joining CLP as visiting faculty after completing their graduate studies in 2014.
Professor Asad announced that CLP and ELSA have signed a traineeship agreement for 2014 and that he looks forward to having a lasting relationship with ELSA.
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