The Talsky Center for Human Rights adds a new opportunity for MSU Law students to gain real-world experience in international law and learn from global experts.
The new course, International Criminal Law Colloquium, follows on the International Children's Rights Lab, and is taught remotely by Michelle Oliel, the center’s deputy director who is an international human rights lawyer and child protection expert based in The Hague.
Students enrolled in the new course will learn from leading global experts at the forefront of international criminal justice.
“The Talsky Center is all about impact and experiential learning,” Oliel said. “Students work with the world’s leading international experts and organizations to address real and emerging challenges which affect the enjoyment human rights.”
In addition to taking for-credit courses, MSU Law students can apply for a Talsky Center fellowship, join the Talsky Center Student Network or the human rights research team.
The Talsky Center for Human Rights was founded in 2012 by Lori E. Talsky, ’96, and her husband Alan S. Zekelman.
MSU Law students enrolled in the 2023 course, International Children’s Rights Lab, began work on developing technical guidance in three areas of child rights law, globally:
- access to justice for children with disabilities
- child-friendly policing
- addressing complex legal and political issues in cases in which children have committed serious crimes
For the Talsky Center, education begins outside of the classroom. Throughout the years, the Talsky Center has placed more than 30 student fellows at intergovernmental organizations and NGOs in Geneva, London, Cario, Arusha (Tanzania), London, New York, Washington D.C. and The Hague. Among the placements:
- The UN Residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals and its predecessor the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
- The International Criminal Court
- The International Bar Association
Students also have opportunities to volunteer and work with the human rights team at the Talsky Center. This year, students have tackled issues of child trafficking and other forms of exploitation. They also supported governmental institutions, including the Government of Kenya to transform the child care system to one that ends the reliance on residential institutions (sometimes called orphanages).
Madeline Neese, ’25 Madeline Neese, ’25, won a Jurisprudence Award for Children’s Rights earlier last year and completed a one-week course in children’s rights led by the world’s preeminent experts at Leiden University in The Netherlands in July.
She currently works remotely as an intern for UNICEF in New York, helping research solutions to violations of children’s rights around the world.
“The summer course was absolutely amazing,” Neese said. “It focused on children’s rights in the context of forced migration and in times of war. I attended a hearing at the International Criminal Court for two men accused of crimes against humanity. It left an indelible mark.”
Veronica Stachurski, ’20 Veronica Stachurski, ’20, said the Talsky Center was the reason she went to MSU Law. Before graduating in 2020, she founded the Talsky Center Student Network.
During law school she was a Talsky Center fellow and worked on a defense team defending a former child soldier before the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Stachurski also served as part of the Talsky Center research team, monitoring and reporting the situation of child soldiers across a number of conflict-affected countries alongside the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security.
“I worked really hard at the Talsky Center and this has made me the lawyer I am today,” she said. “I learned how to interact with clients, developed skills in interviewing victims and witnesses, how to think critically about issues, and collaborate with my colleagues in the legal community.
“My advice to students is to find a mentor to help you stay focused on positive outcomes,” Stachurski said. “One day – like me – you will be able to pay it forward.”
Today, Stachurski incorporates the lessons she learned at the Talsky Center into her legal practice. She currently practices law in Okemos, Mich., and is a member of the State of Michigan’s Foster Care Review Board.
“You cannot replace real-life experience,” said Oliel. “Talsky Center students have the unique opportunity to work on human rights issues – and with real clients – while they are still in the classroom. This experience is invaluable.”
For more information about the Talsky Center, reach out to Michelle Oliel at michelle.oliel@law.msu.edu.