Study trips to legal London are central to the Goldsmiths Law experience. Autumn 2023 saw Law students from all years of study go into legal institutions, museums and archives for important experiential learning.
Immigration Law students in Year 2 visited the Migration Museum in London along with their lecturer Dr. Marta Minetti. This is a particularly special visit for us because of our close ties with the local community in Lewisham, and visiting the museum provided an important opportunity to understand the law in its socio-political and local context.
The Human Rights Law and Clinic visited the Queer Museum with their lecturer Dr. Aristi Volou, where they learnt about the relationship between the Law and Queer Rights. Critical and intersectional analyses of the law are important to us at Goldsmiths Law, and we make sure that our students hear about these themes not only from our lecturers, but also through immersive learning experiences such as this museum visit.
Year 3 dissertation students had a chance to visit the LSE Reading Rooms in November 2023, where they learnt about doing deep-dive primary research in archives from one of the library’s curators. They had a chance to examine a selection of original archival material from the Women’s Library and Hall Carpenter Collection, which included documents on women’s suffrage, regulation of sex work/prostitution, trafficking, equal pay, LGBT rights.
The third week of November saw Year 2 Tort Law students visit the Royal Observatory at Greenwich with their lecturer, Dr. Jinal Dadiya. Students had a chance to learn about the history of time and length measurement, as relevant to legal adjudication and consumer protection. The lecture ended with a brief discussion on the relationship between commercial clarity and judicial fairness.
As part of the Beyond the Classroom initiative, which brings Law students in contact with other students and faculty in our Social Sciences and Media departments, and exposes them to a wealth of opportunities in London, we have, since the beginning of term, been to the National Theatre, an architectural awards evening at the Royal Academy of Arts, a book talk on big tech firms’ intrusion upon our freedom to think, a visit to the House of Commons and a lunchtime event with the NGO Airwars where we discussed civilian casualties in Palestine, Israel and Ukraine.
Sophia, a Year 1 student at Goldsmiths, said about the programme: “One of the things that really drew me to Goldsmiths was its hands-on, immersive learning experiences, both inside and outside of the classroom. The Beyond the Classroom initiative has far exceeded my expectations, enabling me to meet fascinating people from throughout the University and scaffolding me with the acute understanding of greater societal issues and the necessary tools to contribute both directly and indirectly to positive change through a Law degree”.