The LIDS family is growing and going global!
During the 2013-2014 school year, LIDS launched LIDS Global, a pilot program aimed at growing the LIDS family and the opportunities that come from being a part of the LIDS community. As described in more detail on our LIDS Global page, this past year, six universities collaborated on a research project built off the previous year’s LIDS white paper project focusing on corruption. Students in Singapore, Kyrgyzstan, Tanzania, the Philippines, India and Sri Lanka have created LIDS-like student organizations that, while separate entities from Harvard LIDS, all researched the issue of corruption in their own countries or regions with the ultimate goal of sharing this information with each other on a LIDS-provided platform.
As 2013-2014 Co-Vice Presidents of Collaboration, Maryum Jordan and I have been working with these groups since Fall 2013. Often we started by speaking with one student we were put in contact with by acquaintances. That person would then gather other interested students, work with their school’s administration, and create a student organization and a research plan. Thanks to the wonders of Skype and the amazing motivation of these students, we have been able to coordinate meetings with these groups despite 11+ hour time differences and continents between us.
There has been amazing progress from all of the student groups. In Tanzania, students have been collecting data about strategies for combating corruption. In the Philippines, students wrote a proposal for an all-in-one remedy for victims of corruption based on existing and available remedies under Philippine laws. In Sri Lanka, Master’s students from around the region worked on a research project on corruption as part of their academic program.
Liz Loftus and Chris Crawford, Co-VPs of Global Collaborations for 2014-2015 school year, have jumped on board and together with Maryum and I, are finalizing a single document that will share the findings and suggestions made by the LIDS Global groups around the world. Stay tuned for this exciting and informative document to be shared on the LIDS website in soon!
Liz and Chris are also recruiting and preparing the LIDS Global team of university students for the upcoming school year. Students involved in LIDS Global are able to share their findings and start a larger global conversation on important issues, such as corruption, on a local, regional, and international scale. In the future we hope to maintain these connections and grow LIDS Global to even more countries!
If you have any questions about LIDS Global or would like to be a part of LIDS Global in the 2014-2015 school year, feel free to contact Co-Vice Presidents of Collaboration, Chris Crawford (ccrawford@jd16.law.harvard.edu) or Liz Loftus (eloftus@jd16.law.harvard.edu).