Professor Penelope Andrews joined Queen Mary’s School of Law as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow (DVF) at the beginning of March and will return for a second period from 9 May to 21 May. She shares some insights into her career and experience as a DVF at the School of Law.
I began my teaching career at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, before moving to the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law, teaching public international law, gender and law, race and law, comparative law, torts and lawyering. I have also held visiting appointments at several law schools in the USA and internationally. I have served in law school leadership, as Dean at the University of Cape Town Faculty Of Law, President and Dean at Albany Law School, New York, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at CUNY and Director of International Programs at Valparaiso Law School.
I am currently working on three scholarly projects: (1) A manuscript entitled: The #MeToo Moment: A Global, Inclusive and Sustainable Movement for Gender Equality or a Missed Opportunity? (2) A monograph on Justice Ismail Mohamed: Brilliant Lawyer and South Africa’s first black Chief Justice. (3) A book chapter entitled, Race, Reconciliation and Reparations: What’s Love Got To do With It?
I am attracted to the innovative and exciting research and scholarship being conducted by staff at Queen Mary’s School of Law, as well as the backgrounds of the diverse and global student body.
Serving as President of the Law and Society Association in the USA; my academic publications and popular media pieces; my engagement in international collaborative research and mentoring networks and ensuring the relevance of law and society scholarship to academic communities in the global south; serving as a Judge in the High Court of South Africa; chairing and serving on American Bar Association accreditation teams to law schools throughout the USA; the several awards that I have received for my work; the many students that I have taught over the decades and observing their success and satisfaction in their careers in the law.
I just arrived on Friday March 5 and gave a seminar on Decolonising Law to some staff and PhD students. But since the strike, my engagement with the academic staff and students has been limited.
I am hoping to give more student and staff seminars and hopefully a public lecture or two. I am also thrilled to be working with the International State Crime Initiative who are a really interesting group of scholars engaged in thoughtful and innovative research to further our understanding of state crime.
Each year the School of Law hosts a number of Distinguished Visiting Fellows (DVF). The aim of the scheme is to support international research by hosting major scholarly figures for a period of time at Queen Mary.