Rajkiran Barhey, a graduate from Hertford College, Oxford University has received a Leon Jaworski International Law Fulbright Award to enable her to study at New York University on one of the most prestigious and selective scholarship programmes operating world-wide.

As a participant, Kiran has been selected to complete a one year Master of Laws (LLM) degree. She will not formally specialize, choosing to pursue the General LLM, but intends to take courses focusing on international and human rights law, as well as gender, race and the law.

Commenting on receiving the award, Kiran said: ‘When I found out I had received the scholarship I was absolutely delighted as I was desperate to study in the US. I wanted to go to an American university and look at the way they study topics that I am interested in, such as racial justice and the law, and the relationship between gender and the law. Another thing that attracted me to a US university, and NYU in particular, is the range of teaching styles: there is traditional classroom teaching but students can also learn in more practical ways, through clinics and internships. Also, at a time when the legal aid budget is being slashed even more in the UK, it will be interesting to see how public interest lawyers in the US carry out their work without much government funding.’

During her undergraduate degree at Oxford Kiran took options in European Human Rights Law, and was part of the Oxford University Jessup Moot team that made the Washington finals in 2012-13.

Scholar Bio: Rajkiran Barhey (Kiran) is an aspiring barrister in the field of human rights, public and international law. During her time at the University of Oxford, Kiran was heavily involved in mooting (competitive legal debating), most notably competing in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in 2012-2013. Her team were crowned UK champions, and, at the international rounds, ranked 2nd in the preliminary stages, with Kiran ranking 19th individually. Kiran is also an active feminist, setting up a discussion group at Oxford for women of colour to come together, talk about issues of race and gender, and promote awareness of such issues. Since graduating from Oxford, Kiran has interned at the United Nation World Food Programme in Rome, the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust in Dhaka and the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law in London. At New York University, she hopes to deepen her existing knowledge of human rights and international law, and explore new areas such as the relationships between law, race and gender.