November 07, 2003
International Law Society takes Students to Kosovo
Professor William Slomanson and two of his Kosovo Pristina Summer University (PSU) International Law students--Camille Guerra from Mexico and Marnix Eichelberg from the Netherlands recently gave a presentation on Kosovo, the U.N.-occupied province of Serbia. Professor Slomanson used his Web site to display photos so that he could “take the audience to Kosovo.” See http://slomanson.tjsl.edu/KSU_Present.html. These included the bombing of the local police headquarters and courthouse where five Albanian war heroes were arrested and tried during last summer’s class. He has taught pro bono for the last two years to teach international law to students of all backgrounds.
“It’s more of a challenge for both me and my students over there,” said Slomanson as English is a second language for most his PSU students. Precision of all features of a law school course is even more exacting than in a US classroom. Guerra and Eichelberg added that they both experienced first-hand the ethnic, political, and international tension in the region. A Serbian classmate, who knowingly risked his life to stay in the dorms and attend PSU was found dead, despite the urging of the University to stay with the professors in their apartments, rather than in the dorms.
Despite the danger, Eichelberg enjoyed it. “It’s still a lot of fun and there’s a party every night,” he said. Guerra added that taking the International Law class was especially rewarding. “It’s one thing to study about this subject, but quite another to live it.”