Panther Personalities

Professor John Bailly leads students on six-hour expeditions through Miami. In their journeys, Panthers learn things that surprise even Miami-born students.

Baiamonte talks about his FIU journey, the story behind "Dos Minutos" and his top tips for speaking with a full voice.

Rucker is an associate director at Pridelines, a group dedicated to empowering and educating LGBTQ+ youth and communities. He is a senior studying social work at the Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work.

Athayde is a lead author for the Science Panel for the Amazon, an initiative that assembles the knowledge of indigenous peoples, scientists and others in the Amazon region to inform conservation and sustainable development efforts.

Know someone who would be great on the show? Email us your ideas at news@fiu.edu

Linda's profile on FIU News: https://news.fiu.edu/2021/fiu-student-dedicates-life-to-support-sexual-abuse-survivorsKnow someone who would be great on the show? Email us at news@fiu.edu

Learn more about UPE: https://upe.cs.fiu.eduNicholas' profile on FIU News: https://news.fiu.edu/2021/meet-a-miamitech-leader-of-tomorrow-president-of-upe,-nicholas-gonzalezKnow someone who would be great on the show? Email us at news@fiu.edu

The Adam Smith Center for Economic FreedomDo you know someone who would be a great guest on the show? Email us at news@fiu.edu

The Maurice Ferre Institute, where Victoria is an alumni ambassador: https://sipa.fiu.edu/centers-institutes/ferre-institute/Know someone who would be great for Panther Personalities? Email us at news@fiu.edu

Upcoming FIU Engagement events and Saif's previous Cafecito Chat episodes: https://linktr.ee/fiuengagementOther FIU podcasts: https://news.fiu.edu/podcasts/Have an idea for Panther Personalities? Email us at news@fiu.edu 

Every year, architecture students use custom-made floatable shoes to race across a campus lake in an ultimate test of athleticism, determination and — most of all — construction methods. We covered this year's event for the podcast.

For students who want to get involved in DeGennaro's field collections:The email for the internship is: Flagginternship@gmail.comThe instagram is: @flagg_fiu

Want to email the show? You can reach us at news@fiu.edu. Let us know who should be our next guest!To learn more about architecture classes at FIU, check out https://carta.fiu.edu/architecture/

Tweet us: @FIUNewsEmail us: news@fiu.eduClubs at FIU: https://www.fiu.edu/student-life/student-involvement/index.html

Tweet the show @FIUNewsCheck out the 2021 football schedule: https://fiusports.com/sports/football/schedule

Suggest a guest for the show by Tweeting us @FIUNews

Papastamatiou does a deep dive into the world of shark sociology. Drucker gives an update about the increasing frequency of the podcast.

Logan explains how FIU's immersive summer program offers new students the "Panther Camp Magic" experience (2:40). Cardenosa shares how DNA test kits are helping authorities around the world protect threatened animals (18:15). Drucker reports the top stories happening around campus (36:35).

Dr. Marty joins Drucker to talk about her career, which has taken her all over the world.

Drucker shares what's new at FIU (3:47); students from the South Beach Wine & Food Festival® join the show (8:05); Frost Art Museum director Jordana Pomeroy talks about art at FIU and in Miami (37:25). She and Drucker discuss journalism. 

Transcript of Episode 1Valdes: This is Panther personalities presented by Florida International University.Drucker: Hello FIU family and friends and welcome to Panther personalities, where students are stars, research is relatable. And FIU tells its own stories. I'm your host, David Drucker and I am pumped to be here with you all today beginning the first episode of this thing. Okay, so let's talk about what we're doing here. So what we're doing as FIU is making a show where we can connect Panthers with Panthers. We want to create a podcast that will help us build up our F IU community. How are we going to do this? You might say, well, through conversation, oh, yes, we're going to bring in a student, every episode, we're gonna talk to them about what it's like being a student here, you know, what kind of things they do, what kind of their majors, their research, but like life in general to their Panther journeys, you know, how they got here. You know, what they're doing, what they want to do, all these sorts of things. And then also, every episode, we're going to bring you one nonstudent interview. So what does that mean? So we're gonna bring in a faculty member, a professor, a staff member, or an alumna or alumnus, you know, someone who, you know, comes from our community, but isn't a student as well. So this way we can, we can fit in some things about, you know, like, what, what you ended up doing for your career if you are an alumni for example, or we have a professor and talk about, you know, some research that we think our university community would be interested in. And then we also, you know, can get it in a staff member who will, a lot of the times are alumni themselves. And so they can kind of give us a perspective of what it's like to be at FIU, whether they are an alumni or nut. So we have we have a lot to get to over the course of the rest of this podcast, super excited to be here with you all. And so let's talk about our first episode today. So we have two fresh interviews for you today. First, we have a man named Professor Charles Jalloh. He's from the FIU law school. And he also serves on this thing called the UN, United Nations International Law Commission. It's a group of 34 legal scholars from around the world. And what they do is they talk about, you know, the most pressing issues to humanity around the world and how they can discuss law around them. So sea level rise is something we talked about. We also talked about his personal story a little bit, and he gave some advice for students, you know, who are coming out of college. And then we have our student interview coming up. Her name is Teresa Schuster. She's on the Model UN team. And so she talked about what Model UN is, and also what they do in their competitions. She talked a little bit about working for the student paper on campus and her FIU journey. And, and yeah, so it was great having her come by as well. So lots of get to, I'll talk to you guys later in the show. For now, let's bring in Professor Jalloh.Drucker: Professor Charles Jalloh, welcome to the show. Jalloh: Thank you for having me. Drucker: Thank you for being our first faculty instructor on Panther personalities. Jalloh: Thank you. It's a big honor to be here. Drucker: Are you concerned at all about coming on a podcast with zero subscribers at the time of our recording?Jalloh: No, I'm happy to support FIU and all the initiatives that we have.Drucker: So what do you do at FIU? And what do you do on the UN international law commission? Jalloh: Well, thank you for the two-part question. Firstly, at FIU, I am a professor of law at the College of Law. I teach primarily in the area of international law. And I also have a specialty in criminal law. I also have the honor of being a member of the United Nations International Law commission. And that's a body created by the UN is a body of legal experts from around the world that assistance on issues of international law. Drucker: Okay, so you guys do a lot with international law and a lot of like, kind of new issues that you guys are tackling that I know of because we talked before for a separate thing we're working on but um, but before I kind of get into like what you officially do with the UN and international law commission, I kind of wanted to go with your story. And maybe you could tell me a little bit about about growing up and where you're from. Jalloh: Okay, yes. So I grew up in In a country called Sierra Leone, in West Africa, and it's a country that is known, unfortunately for conflict in the 1990s. This is a country that was basically in the throws of an authoritarian regime for a long time. And so a civil war started in March of 1991. And ended about a decade later, I fled Sierra Leone, more or less at the halfway point of the war, and ended up in Canada, where I had the opportunity to study law and then moved into legal academia. Drucker: Wow, yeah. So Sierra Leone, that conflict, that's what blood diamonds is about?Jalloh: That's right. That's right. It is a famous movie with Leonardo DiCaprio, I think that's one of the main actors are called blood diamonds. And basically, it's a riff off of this early on story in terms of this country that has a lot of diamonds blessed with a lot of natural resources, including diamonds, but that those diamonds became a reason for the atrocities in the sense of those who were waging war, were claiming, on the one hand to be interested in issues of governance, and to deal with serious political problems, but actually spent a lot of time pilfering the diamonds and selling them outside. So it's one of those tragic stories of a post-colonial African state that was generally doing very well. But that fell into conflict on hard times. The good news is that it's now moved on and is trying to become a better member of the international community. Drucker: Yeah. And you're actually a part of that story, which is really interesting. And we'll talk about that a little later. But can first you tell me, but that transition from Sierra to from Sierra Leone to Canada was like, did you know anyone over there? What like, what, what was that journey like?Jalloh: It was a bit of a transition in the sense that Sierra Leone in West Africa has completely different weather from Canada, we think about coming to Canada and going to Toronto. So I got to see snow for the first time in my life coming from this very tropical, kind of country closer in weather to Miami, right in South Florida. So here we are, we have this very nice warm weather and humidity. That's what I'm kind of used to growing up and, of course, also the positive side of the beaches and all of that real country on the coast, and then ended up in Canada and having to figure out how to wear winter boots. So that's a little bit of that transition. So you know, another was massive weather shock, but also culture shock in other ways. Drucker: Professor Jalloh, you went on to get five degrees from three different countries. Tell me about like that educational journey. And where did that emphasis on education come from? Jalloh: I was very fortunate growing up, I come from a family, where my dad was very big on the idea of education. So he did not get an opportunity to get formal schooling and promised himself that he would do that for all of his kids. So I was a beneficiary of that commitment that he made. I went all the way to high school and what will be grade 12. In the US system in Sierra Leone, I was injured just at the cusp thinking about university when the conditions with the war made that impossible. So when I ended up in Canada, I still had in my mind, the importance of education and was able to continue that education and went to university in Canada. And driven really in part because of the experience I had had, got an interest in law. So went to law school, and then got called to the bar and went to work in this area of international criminal law, which is the body of law that deals with responsibility for atrocities that occur in conflict. Drucker: Now, I have a question about international law as a concept, I guess, because I understand that, you know, each country has their laws and whatnot. But is there really like one international law? Jalloh: Well, the idea of international law is basically premised on the notion that states have to have a way, states themselves realize they have to have a way to deal with each other. Right. So if you want to, for example, do business with another country, you have to have a common set of rules. So international law from just about the rise of the nation state in Europe, going back to the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, has really developed as a body of rules that are the common rules that countries would agree to, in terms of how they deal with each other across all spheres of possible state relationships. So because of international legal rules, you can have predictability in your relations with other states, you can have peace, because one of the core goals of international law is for the system of rules to replace the system of power. So if you will, the strongest states don't take advantage of what will be seen as weaker states, because after all, we are operating on the same rules. And we are bound by those commitments that we're making towards each other. So the notion of international law really goes above and beyond what you do in your own territory. Clearly, international legal rules may be influenced by the different legal systems that we have. But this is the body of law that's really about regulating interstate relationships. And it's a body of law that has matured quite a bit in the last three or 400 years. Drucker: So what kind of what are some examples of things that international law applies to? Jalloh: So one of the perhaps the best examples would be the law prohibiting the use of force. So for the longest time in history, states have gone to war with each other. And war was seen as a regular way of doing business. So when you wage war and you're the strongest state, against the state that you if you will win win the war, you get to decide the fate of that state. So this was a major issue in Europe, in the 18th and 19th centuries, to the point that when we got World War One, states decided to come together to create an organization called the League of Nations, which was actually the precursor to the United Nations. So by the time we got to World War Two, the rules that we had prohibiting the use of force were not strong enough. So that in 1945, now stung by a second war in Europe, with all the casualties that we know of states decided to write a rule that prohibited the use of force. So all states agreed that they will not go to war with each other. And the only circumstances where it's allowed, if you will, to use force to use when you are responding to an attack effectively. So when you're acting in self defense, and the second situation is where all of the states would agree that the use of force is necessary. So this is so called collective action through the United Nations Security Council. So just an example of one area where the rules of international law have developed quite significantly, and they are meant to provide that peaceful world that we all aspire to have, right? Because otherwise, in the old days, that was the way you did business. And if you are stronger state, you could always wage a war against another weaker state, and have your way with that state. that is no longer permissible. So I cannot imagine a better example, obviously, a sensitive example for a lot of for a lot of states, in terms of the prohibition on the use of force, especially the bigger, stronger ones.Drucker: Tell me about your journey to the UN international law commission, like, Where is this place? You know, do you guys have a headquarters? And how are you invited? And what is your job look like there?Jalloh: So the UN international law commission actually fits very nicely into the conversation we're just having, in terms of the place of international law. So one of the ambitions of the founders of the United Nations, obviously, including the United States, and the countries that had won World War Two, was not only to prohibit the use of force, and create a mechanism to achieve self determination of all peoples. This is a commitment to advancing human rights, which is found in the United Nations Charter that have been the instrument that created the UN as an organization. One of the other ambitions was to actually develop the body of rules that would actually promote that peaceful intercourse in international relations between states. So what states agreed to in San Francisco in August of 1945, in this UN Charter was viewed the responsibility to the representative part of the organization known as a general assembly, to promote international cooperation in the political field, and to promote the progressive development of international law and this qualification. Remember, a system of rules is better than anarchy, right? A system of rules replaces using force and so on. So what did the General Assembly do with that mandate? That's the mandate that was given to it under the charter that states agreed to in 1945 was to turn around and say, “Okay, well, let's consult with legal experts on how best we can go about promoting international cooperation in the political field and progressive development of international law and its qualification. And when that body of experts came back with was the proposal that states create something they call the international law commission. And the idea of the international law commission then was as adopted by states, ultimately in 1947, in a statute that the General Assembly gave his blessing on was a body of experts that will be selected representative of the body of states that are out there from all the different regions, and they will be a part-time commission.So these are folks who are given their time, so to speak, working primarily in the summers. The Commission, many years later, by the 50s, was working out of Geneva, Switzerland. So Geneva has effectively become the home of the international law commission, there are legal experts today, 34 in number from all the different regions of the world, meet in Geneva each year, and work on issues considered to be of pressing concern to States and the international community as a whole. So for example, the commission would choose topics that reflect the difficulties that cities are having in areas of regulation, and present some proposals in the form of draft treaties to states for them to adopt if they decided that they like the product from the commission. So really, the international law commission, as a function of that responsibility given to the 1947 has played a seminal role in developing the body of international law in different areas that we have today, some of which are significant in the sense of setting the benchmark for how states will behave at the international level towards a chart. Drucker: So basically, what you guys do is you consultant and provide recommendations for things that go on in international law?Jalloh: Yes, so we take difficult legal questions that are of importance to states and international community, and try to propose, depending on the project, what states ought to do on those issues in terms of the rules that they would agree to. So for example, to just make it very concrete, in 2019. So that's fairly recently, the commission concluded this study that is started in 2014 on crimes against humanity, crimes against humanity, where international crimes that were forced prosecuted at Nuremberg, after the end of World War Two, but the way international law has developed since 1945, and the trials at Nuremberg, is that we've had this crime that's defined on the customary law, but no treaty, no treaty at all, defining what those crimes are. Now, if you contrast that particular crime, crimes against humanity, with the two other widely accepted crimes under international law, the crime of genocide, this is the famously associated with the Holocaust unfold in, in during Nazi Germany when a lot of Jews were killed and targeted, essentially, because of the belonging to a particular group, the international community in 1948, could conclude a Genocide Convention, learning right out of the experience of world war two to prohibit that behavior at the international level. Right. So that's genocide. war crimes is another crime in 1949, was codified in a set of instruments called the Geneva Conventions. So for Geneva Conventions adopted by states. Now, war crimes and genocide were regulated as a matter of treaty law, but not crimes against humanity. So here's the IRC coming into the mix and saying, “Okay, well, we have a gap in international law. So what can we do to learn from the previous is 1945, to today, to see what the rules ought to be in terms of prohibiting and actually preventing crimes against humanity.” So that project took the commission from 2014 to 2019. And the commission concluded a draft set of articles that they forwarded to states that we forwarded to states in the general assembly with a recommendation that states conducted diplomatic conference to negotiate a convention on the basis of the draft articles that the IOC had produced. So in other words, is a perfect example of the function of the ILC putting something in the bucket for states to say, “Okay, if we like this product, we could actually move forward and negotiate a convention that will create the legal framework for both the prevention of crimes against humanity, but also their punishment, if they are caught.”Drucker: There's another one that you're that you're working on. Right now, right, which is kind of the drafting or the definition of ecocide. Can you tell me about that a little bit.Jalloh: Sothe work on ecocide is actually quite interesting and is a fairly new initiative. Actually, there is some relationship in terms of the work of the international law commission. In the past, the Commission had worked at the request of the General Assembly on an instrument known as a draft code of crimes against the peace and security of mankind. The Commission proposed set of tests in 1954, and also in 1996. The Commission has also worked on what are known as the draft articles on the responsibility of states for internationally wrongful acts. So the state responsibility articles, and in each of those instances, the Commission had actually looked at crimes that may cause damage to the environment. So in fact, in the state responsibility articles, they actually included environmental crimes, the this was not well received by state. So in fact, the commission went back and revisited the text. So the final test that the Commission proposed did not include those environmental crimes, even though the Commission's work with respect to petition the environment did have an influence in what we later ended up having.In Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court adopted in 1998. The ecocide project as it is now is not happening within the framework of the Commission. There's a foundation in Europe, that is actually leading this charge and taken advantage of a lot of interest by this space. So the Swedish parliament, and now the French president and a number for the high officials in Europe. In fact, Europe just passed a decision, the level European Union, encouraging their members to push this idea of ecocide at the level of the international criminal courts, I have the privilege, I think, in part because I'm a member of the commission and somebody who's been doing a lot of work in international criminal law, have been invited to be part of this panel, independent experts to help draft a definition of the crime of ecocide, our work has just begun. And I can tell you, I'm looking very closely at the precedents from the IOC and what the Commission has done in the past to see what lessons we could learn to feed into this other process. That is a norm we want out hopefully will result in it in the new crime in Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court prohibiting severe destruction of the environment. Drucker: Yeah, I mean, like that, that stuff is super relevant nowadays, especially for us here in Miami, right? Where I mean, there's so many of us just living right at surface level. And so you told me another discussion we had, that another thing that's being considered as there's these people who I think you're Indonesia, who, whose islands are going underwater, right, and they have nowhere to go. And so they have to go somewhere. And then there's, you know, people trying to figure out, hey, you know, what's the law around these people? Can you speak about that? Jalloh: Yes. Well, you know, in fact, David, this is a problem that's closer to us, right, as you say, living in South Florida, because we have an increasing encroachment of the ocean, right. So the sea level rise that we experienced in in Florida, is something that's happening also in other parts of the United States. So in Louisiana, we're actually losing an entire small island that's going to disappear shortly. And they've been trying to deal with the effects of that in among talking about the level of the state and the federal government. So we have the first situation where Americans are being relocated from the community that they've lived in for hundreds of years, as far as we know, to other parts because their land is disappearing. So that is a problem that is local, in that sense, is something that we're experiencing right here in Florida and in the United States. But it's also a problem that's very, very prominent for countries in the Pacific Islands. So there we see the similar phenomenon. We, in fact, see this phenomena in the Caribbean. We're seeing it now in Africa, if you think about the west coast of Africa, of the islands, near Senegal, we are seeing territories that are disappearing. So one of the big questions now is how do we deal with this problem, right? Because obviously, for the longest time, nobody was thinking about climate change having these kinds of effects. So presumably, we want to have a system that's orderly, there is the relevance of international law for you, even if you are skeptical about it, in terms of what the powers can get away with. And part of the problem is a what you deal with the populations. Where do you relocate these people because obviously, we don't want the islands to swallow entire populations and not relocate them elsewhere. And in that area, a lot of policy and international cooperation has been coming into the mix. For example, Australia taken in quite a few people coming from those islands and countries closer to them In the Pacific doing a little bit of that, but the question would be, how do we deal with it at the global level so that the burdens are shared equally? There are other questions from the point of view of international law that are also relevant into in terms of how international law deals with even recognizing estate. So international law actually requires the state to have territory. Well, what happens if you don't have territory anymore? you disappear in a legal sense? Or do you move into something else? How should we address that problem is not something we've encountered. So what the ILC has done recently, several projects that have international environmental law that are quite relevant. So the first project which was actually concluded in 2016, is protection of persons in the event of disasters. So in fact, the idea of people disappearing could be part of a disaster, right. So this is the argument that the Commission is making, there's a body of law that surrounds our practices surrounds this. But even more centrally now, the ILC has a new topic that we've added to the program of work, which is sea level rise in relation to international law that's trying to tackle all these different questions. And the hope is, we'll be able to come up with some sensible proposals based on the legal precedents that are out there, and what systems are doing to propose to the General Assembly so they can take it forward. And I can tell you, as a final note, that countries in the Pacific region, on surprisingly, are the most enthusiastic about this proposal, because they've been pushing more and more international attention to this problem. And for a variety of reasons, states have been moving as much as the urgency demands. So I'm very, very pleased that the Commission is doing its own two cents worth to chip into that big bucket to hopefully help move the needle for all these populations and communities. As I said, as you know, that will eventually become a wider problem for everybody, including us right here in South Florida. Drucker: Professor Jalloh, how did you get chosen for the UN international law Commission, the ILC, as you're saying?Jalloh: Well, the ILC is a state created body. So much like other state created bodies, states members of the UN. So at the moment, 193 states can nominate a legal experts from their own countries, but also from other countries if they wish. And then those individuals have to be elected by the grouping of all the states sitting in the form of what they call the General Assembly. So 193 states will come together and elect the individuals who got the largest support, basically. And so I was nominated. I was quite honored to be nominated in 2016 by the Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone, and supported by the African state, so to the African Union, so about 55 countries from African region, endorsed me and supported my candidacy. And I was elected by the broad membership in November of 2016. I took up my seat at the commission in January of 2017, for a five year term. And by the way, actually, the elections have reopened because our five year term is coming to an end. And I also have the further honor of being nominated again, for a second term by the government of Sierra Leone. And this is an election that will happen in November this year. Drucker: Congratulations.Jalloh: Thank you.Drucker: So tell me about your trip back to Sierra Leone and Africa. Because I know you did some work there. And you wrote a book about some of your research there, correct?Jalloh: Yes. So my interest in international criminal law issues has led me to have a research program over the years, we're focused quite heavily on the question of accountability. How do we ensure that individuals who commit some of the worst crimes known to law are held accountable in a fair process that withstands our sensibilities about the rights of defendants? And so I spent a lot of time thinking about this issue, this issues at a global level, but particularly from the perspective of African states, given that, of course, African states have had or the unfortunate experience more recently, have been the region of the world that is afflicted with a lot of conflicts, my home country of Sierra Leone being one of them. So one of my own, surprisingly, I would think, research agendas has been a focus on the work of the special court for Sierra Leone. That been a mechanism that actually is quite historic in the sense that it was the first international tribunal created by the United Nations and one of its member states to prosecute international crimes committed in the territory of that state. So my recent book is on the legal legacy of the special court for Sierra Leone, published by Cambridge University Press in July of 2020. And it reflects many years of research and thinking about the impact and legacy of the special court for Sierra Leone, for Sierra Leone, for Africa, and also for the international community. Because after all, the whole body of international criminal law we have is fairly new. It only goes as far back as 1945. So we're still doing a lot of experimentation in terms of developing and the law. Drucker: Can you give the name of that book, please? Jalloh: Yes, so the title of the book is the legal legacy of this special court for Sara Leone, published by Cambridge University Press in July of 2020, by Charles Chung. Drucker: Thank you. And one of the cool things that I want you to tell me about before we get you out of here, I know you're a busy guy, is you run a program where you take students to actually go do work at this ILC. What's that about? Jalloh: Well, you know, it's this is this is something that I'm very proud of, if I may be a bit immodest here.Drucker: Yeah!Jalloh: I am a faculty member, and I have this fantastic opportunity. This is a dream of a lifetime for a lot of international lawyers to be able to serve on the commission in the entire history of the Commission, we have heard only about 230 members, I'm talking about the 73 year-old organization. So to be among those is quite a honor. And I thought that I got to look back because one of the fantastic things about FIU, especially FIU Law, is our focus on international law. So in fact, because of the big vision behind the university, which is that international, in our name, we attract students that who are internationally minded. So one of the things that we immediately thought of when I approached my Dean was quite supportive of this. And this is really hats off to the dean as well as supporting, it was how could we make the ILC experience open to FIU students. So the Dean was kind enough to provide some kind of funding support. So we have actually have now a competitive fellowship program where NYU law students can compete to go work as a research assistant to me and last year to also other ILC members in Geneva for the summer, where they get Class A experience. Like there is no other place you could go to experience international law in this kind of way. Drucker: What are they? What kind of stuff are they doing over there? Jalloh: Well, they do research, intense research, I might add, working very closely with it. With me, as a faculty member who's also serving on the commission, they basically assist in preparing everything from statements that the members would make on the floor in the plenary debate, definitely, they've been doing that, for me, this fantastic group of students I've been able to take to Geneva, but also to participate in some of the processes where the commission is doing drafting work, again, for a lawyer, even if they don't end up practicing a day of international law just to be in the room, when all these international instruments have been considered. we're debating legalistic issues that get lawyers very excited about whether we should may versus shall. And the difference between the two, that shall mean the same thing as may? Or where the commas should go. This is geeky, right? We are so excited. But again, this is what lawyers do for a living, we have to be frank. So they get that experience, and I'm very proud of the group of students have been able to take and the fact that we're able to do that every year has been really quite remarkable. Drucker: Professor Jalloh, I imagine that there's not a lot of other universities around the country doing this? Jalloh: No, no, only a handful of law schools, NYU, and GW have been the ones that have had some kind of program, taking students to Geneva. Now on the other hand, at an international level, we get a lot of students from Oxford and the big universities like that. So it's necessary. Therefore, you see us in there competing among the best and the brightest. Drucker: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So I have one last question. For you, sir. Thank you for your time. Um, you were once a very highly motivated, well, you still seem very highly motivated, 21 year old, right? And we have a lot of students listening to this podcast. And so what I'm wondering is, what advice would you give to a 21 year old student who is coming fresh out of their, you know, undergrad college, and is highly motivated to get to the top of what they do, but it's anxious about how they'll get there? Jalloh: Well, maybe if I could sum it up, I would say two things. One, persevere. Okay, so don't give up. You got to push for your dream. That has definitely been my own experience. I mean, the fact that I'm able to come from where I did, and to be where I'm at today, definitely have had a measure of luck along the way, but it's been a lot of hard work. And of course, good people have also assisted along the way. So it's really pursue your dream and persevere, don't give up. And secondly, don't be stuck in a traditional route. If you're able to do whatever the traditional route may be in your field, go for it all power to you. But if you're not able to do that, don't hesitate to try to be creative. So it took me many years to actually be able to work in the field of international law. And the reason is, when I came out of law school uses the passion I had, but we didn't have as many jobs in this area. So what I did was I tried to find the kind of experience that will build my profile, and worked my way towards international law. And now I'm happy today to report that that has worked out very well for me, and I hope that it works out for our next generation of law students at FIU, students who are pursuing their dreams after graduating.Drucker: Very cool, can you give the names of the classes you teach at FIU, and how our listeners can get in contact with you if they have any follow up questions?Jalloh: So I teach at the College of Law, as I said at the opening, and I have a number of classes that I teach, that are primarily of international law, some of the advanced classes or seminars that are available also because we have been joined program with School of Public Policy, a number of other departments. So people who are in interdisciplinary programs want to get for example, an international law background could take a course with me I've had students from other disciplines take the international law course with me that start every fall every spring, I also teach criminal law at the College of Law, I have an advanced topics in international law as a seminar that actually used to train students to prepare for Geneva. So it's high level thinking about international legal questions. And oftentimes, I've taught a number of hodgepodge of courses. But really, if you're keen and interested, have a look at the FAQ law website, you'll see the offerings that you will normally see Jalloh especially against international law courses. Drucker: Okay. Awesome. Professor, thank you so much. Jalloh: Thank you for having me.Drucker: All right. Thank you to Professor Jalloh for coming by and sharing some time with us. All right, we're about to get to our our second interview with Teresa Schuster. But before we do that, I want to give a big thank you to our friends at FIU Online for letting us use their sound booth to record our podcast. It is giving us nice, clean sound. And we deeply appreciate it. Okay. Let's go and bring in Teresa.Drucker: Teresa, welcome to the show. Schuster: Thank you. It's great to be here.Drucker: Congratulations on being our first student interview on Panther personalities. Schuster: Yeah, it's an honor.Drucker: That's nice you to say. So what is your major here at FIU? Schuster: So I'm an early admission student, but I'm currently majoring in political science. And I'm planning to do a double major in philosophy. Drucker: Cool, cool. Yeah, yeah. Well, Teresa, you know, I wanted to have you on the show. Because you know, you seem like a high achiever. And also, I'm interested in your story of how you came to F Ru, and like at an early age, and also kind of your involvement on the Model UN team, which I understand is one of the most competitive Model UN teams in the country. And so I guess my first question is, how would you explain Model UN. Schuster: So Model UN, in general, is an extracurricular activity popular both in the US and around the world in general. So high schools, as well as universities, like FIU have their own teams. And what we do is participate in these conference simulations. And they're of the United Nations committees. So we all come together, each representing a country or a character. And what we do is we discuss global issues such as terrorism, human rights, financial transparency, and explore potential solutions to them as a team. And so basically the same types of things that the real un would do, but just on a lower level. And so our team, like you said, is really great, really competitive. We've ranked in the top five for over a decade. And so it's a really valuable experience in learning about diplomacy, about international relations and developing the same types of solutions that could actually make a difference in the world. Drucker: That's really cool. So how did you get involved in this stuff in the first place?Schuster: Well, after I came to FIU, I'd heard a lot about our program, a lot of really good things from fellow students. It's probably one of the best known programs edify you just because it's been here for so long, and we have a very close relationship with the SEPA school. So I definitely knew I wanted to attend and, and to join the program and I think it's probably one of the best decisions I've made. During my time at FIU, we have a very supportive team. And I've learned so much there. And so definitely, I would highly recommend it to anyone else. Drucker: That's great. And we'll talk about like, what kind of experiences you're having over there specifically a little bit later. First, though, you know, a lot of our listeners, you know, they might not even know that people are going to FIU at the age of 16, like you did. So can you first tell us where you're from, where you grew up, and how you came to fit you at such an early age? Schuster: Sure. So I'm I grew up in Miami, and I knew I wanted to take dual enrollment courses in high school, which in Florida, you can do at public colleges and universities, we have a very large school enrollment program. So I had enrolled at Miami Dade College for two years and then I began taking classes at FIU because I had hoped I would find more challenging classes here. I'm studying political science. Like I said, I'm interested in law especially and they didn't really offer many classes there. So I looked forward to taking more of those here. And that's why I decided decided to come here. That's what brought me here. Drucker: How old are you now? Teresa?Schuster: I just turned 18. Drucker: Oh, wow. Oh, my God. Okay. Oh, you're a superstar. Okay. All right. You're very smart. Alright. So Teresa, tell me about what it was like getting here when you're 16. And all of a sudden you're on, you know, the big campus here. Well, where do you at South Campus or BBC? I've, I've only been at Modesto middie. campus? But yeah, so So tell me about like, you know, you're coming in here. And there's people, you know, like, of all walks of life? I imagine it must be very kind of like, Whoa, experience for you at that time? Schuster: Yeah, definitely somewhat. I mean, I was at Miami Dade College, like I said, For two years before. So I'd already been a little bit familiar with a college environment. So but yeah, it was kind of a shock coming to a bigger campus, lots of people, lots of organizations, I will say everyone here has been very welcoming. And overall, I wouldn't say my ages affected my experience too much. And probably that's because I tried not to let it I told very few people about my age. But I think although I was younger than your average student at that point, there were plenty of other people on campus, my age, you know, we have triple eight here and actual High School on campus. And even today, in my classes, I run into many other dual enrollment students. And you know, in the lower division courses, I'm sure you can find even more. So I don't think there's too much of a difference between your average college student here and your average high school student here. And I think I've been in very few situations where I felt my age and my background mattered, thankfully, because I think we have a lot of non traditional students, we have a lot of people from different backgrounds. And I think that's part of what makes it so special here.Drucker: Can you tell the story of when you first got involved with Model UN? Was there an experience that like, made you say, Alright, like, this is what this is something I want to pursue.Schuster: So I think probably my first experience was our tryout simulation. And so I just come out of finals for my summer term classes. And we had to prepare for it right, an entire research guide, and it was on food scarcity in, in the world. And so I was representing Indonesia, a country, which I knew very, very little about. So I was kind of thrown into that I'd actually never done Model UN before. So it was an entirely new experience with parliamentary procedure and everything. But immediately, everyone was so helpful and welcoming. And I realized this was really fun. You know, I've always loved Politics and International Relations, but I never had so much of an experience where I could see how it applied to real life issues. And for me, Model UN really showed me how that could actually be done because I was there. And it was a day and at the end of the day, we actually wrote a resolution on things that could be done and policies that could be implemented to address that issue. So I would say that was the moment I realized that this is where I wanted to be.Drucker: Okay, so you have to tell me about that experience. You're getting up there, you have to speak in front of the whole group is how many people are in that room?Schuster: Well, it's been different Now that everything's on zoom. So that said, you know, upsides and downsides. But I would say generally about 40 people. So yeah, it's kind of, you know, if you're not used to public speaking, it's kind of a shock at first.Drucker: But what I mean public speaking about, you know, you said you didn't know much about Indonesia as a country. How did you get through that?Schuster: I did some research, you know, hide Google tab open during the whole time. I kept I Looking at facts to use in speeches, case studies, things like that. You know, I, I learned a lot about Indonesia during that. And so I think that's one of the most valuable things about Model UN you learn so much about things and issues you never knew about before.Drucker: So how, because I know these are competitions, how do you win a diplomacy competition like this?Schuster: Well, so you're right, that the main thing, and Model UN is really just diplomacy, you're competing against students from other universities most of the time, and you're representing different countries or different characters. And so really demonstrating diplomacy is how you win. And so that can be done in a variety of ways. You know, giving speeches that address these issues in ways that are compelling to a variety of countries, not just yours, not just ones like yours, making alliances with others to write resolutions on issues, developing solutions. And showing leadership is also incredibly important. So you really need to demonstrate the ability to work with others representing countries very different from yours, and still take initiative in solving these issues. So the way to win is to show the committee leadership that you yourself are diplomatic leader.Drucker: Oh, cool. So the committee of leadership is like, is the one who hands out points.Schuster: Yes, it's every committee is run by there's a there's a chair who kind of monitors the whole committee keeps order, we follow parliamentary procedures. So they're the ones who to assign points at the end and choose the winner the winner.Drucker: Okay. Okay. So, um, what was like, what, what has been like the craziest Model UN competition that you've been a part of?Schuster: I would say the craziest Model UN competition I was part of was one on terrorism, and I was Saudi Arabia. And so, yeah, we had many resolutions, many speeches dealing with state sponsored terrorism, you know, we have, we can get into very passionate speeches and heated arguments over things. But at the end of the day, our job is to find solutions. So it's always an interesting experience when you're there having to balance representing your country, which can have very strong and controversial opinions on an issue, but also having to garner support from other countries on these solutions. So it's a very fun, but very chaotic experience, especially because you're trying to do all of this and, you know, a week end up the most.Drucker: So so you're representing Saudi Arabia in this instance. And so like, what what are you saying during this, during this time, like, like, what, what are you doing?Schuster: Well, it was a few months ago, so I don't remember my exact speeches. But, you know, you have to kind of say, oh, we're, we're very against terrorism, we understand the immense throughout this poses to countries around the region. That's why we have to ensure that all countries have the ability to control terrorism within their own borders, and, you know, play that to Saudi Arabia. And really, for us, that would mean the ability to prosecute people just critical of our own regime and things like that. So it's kind of discussing an issue in a way that your country would support. But of course, every country has an ulterior motive.Drucker: I mean, this, this has got to be such like a crash course, if you haven't done this before, on just the different perspectives there are in the world. I mean, wow. Like, I'm not just sitting in on one of these things. And you're like, Whoa, I did not know, all these countries had these stances and takes.Schuster: yeah, definitely, it can be, it can be kind of overwhelming at first, but I think that's, that's how many things in life are, you know, it's complicated, and you just have to go in and do it. And I think it's a really great experience being there and learning how to adapt to ever changing situations. And so those skills that you learn in Model UN, really helped you in the future, especially if you're interested in a career in international relations.Drucker: And I imagine, you know, excuse me, you're going up against a lot of the the brightest, you know, young people in the country. Um, can you talk about, like, What the Who your competitors are, you know, at Model UN?Schuster: Well, like I said, we're in the top five teams in the country. So our main competitors are also teams there. So generally, you Chicago, Harvard, American University, medical schools like that top schools, both in the US and Canada, other countries. So those are generally our main competitors.Drucker: Cool, cool. So okay, so thank you for talking to me about Model UN. Now. Let's talk a little bit about your FIU journey because you know, I know you're busy. We'll get you out of here soon. But you are a news director at Panther now? I'm a fellow Panther now alumnus myself, so I got that Panther now pride. it was the beacon when I was there, but you know, still got that Panther now pride. So tell me like, what, how you got involved with that. And you know what that experience has been like?Schuster: Well, I'm an assistant news director at a Panther. Now before that I was involved in student media at Miami Dade College. So it's something I've always been interested in. And it's really been wonderful, we have a great team. And for me, the opportunity to talk with people from all walks of life and share their stories with others is very enjoyable. And I've also written several investigative pieces that I felt had a significant impact here at FSU. So I would say I fell in love with journalism and with Panther now because I've always just loved questions. I've loved discovering new things, meeting new people learning how things are and asking if they should change. And for me, that's what journalism is all about. And that's what Panther now is about to so it's been very special for me.Drucker: That's great. That's great. So if our audience, you know, if someone listening out here is like, hey, Teresa is cool. And Model UN is cool. You know that I want to find out more. What would you Is there like a Twitter handle or a website you would toss out for people who want more information? Schuster: Yeah we have several social media accounts. I would say Instagrams the best you can find us at FSU Model UN. And our annual High School conference is actually approaching, we're holding a variety of training workshops. On our Instagram, we also have an application and information forum. So I encourage everyone listening to check it out and consider joining us.Drucker: Cool, cool. All right, one last question for you to Teresa. Um, you know, I think a lot of students, you know, who want to be more involved. You know, some students are shy, right? So, you know, some students are a little bit shy about reaching out to one of these clubs or whatever. So, you were, you know, a young student once, and you kind of have seemed to have no problem getting involved here at NYU. But for someone who, you know, is maybe, you know, a little, you know, hesitant about reaching out, what tips would you give for, like, let's say, an incoming fpu student in terms of, you know, how to be more involved, how to get engaged?Schuster: Yes, so I'm an introvert. So I definitely understand it can be difficult to reach out sometimes. And I'd say the most important thing is to just not feel uncomfortable with it. Because even though you might feel like you don't belong here, you do belong here. And so whether you weren't involved previously, maybe you're a non traditional student as I was, or you just don't know where to start, at least in the organizations I've been in, people are generally very welcoming. So just ask other students in your classes, look online for organizations you think you would want to be a part of and just sign up? And if you don't find one, you know, that's, I think that's great, because it means you should create your own for always, there's always room for more here.Drucker: Great, great. Awesome, Teresa, thanks so much for coming on the pod.Schuster: Thank you so much for having me.Drucker: Okay, thank you to Teresa Schuster for coming by. And that's about to be it for today's episode, I do want to let you guys know about what we got coming up, this show is a monthly show for now, we may increase, you know, our production schedule, if demand increases, if we see that, we are definitely open to that. And, and what's going on is you know, we're just gonna talk to you again next month, we're gonna bring your fresh two new interviews next month. And also what you need to know is that the interviews are not going to be all that the show is going forward. See, what we want to do is we want to get, you know, more pieces involved. We want to get more people involved. We want to kind of create new things. And one of the things we're one of the tools we're going to use to do that to get to know people and and to get new information into the show is segments, segments events. You've probably heard them on radio shows. You've probably heard them on other podcasts. You listen to other podcasts. And so our first segment is going to debut next episode, and that's going to be called campus headlines will let you know what's going on around you. So okay, looking forward to that next episode. And it was a great one. First one in the can love it. All right, thanks to the members of our university community that have made Panther personalities possible. Barry Bernhardt, Director of fit bands provided our theme music, the IU Samba, Barbie Ramos, Oscar Negret and Dave Roberts designed our artwork and logo. Our intro was voiced by SGA President Alexandra Valdez and edited by multimedia guru, Eddie Merille. We'll be back before you know it and in the meantime, you can check out more stories about FIU and news.fiu.edu. Talk with you soon Panther friends and family. Paws Up.

Transcript:David: Hello FIU family and friends, and welcome to Panther Personalities, where students are stars, research is relatable and FIU tells its own stories. If you are a member of our FIU community, or you're a friend of ours, or you're a family member of ours, or you just want to know a little more, then this the show for you. This is the place where we are going to be talking with a student every episode about what it's like to be an FIU Panther in the middle of it all. What's your major like? What things are you learning? What were the highlights of your college career? How did you get here? What do you want to do after college? And then every episode, we're also going to be talking with another side of our university community. Our nonstudents, our faculty, our staff, our alumni. We're going to talk about research. We're going to talk about different perspectives about the FIU experience. We're also going to talk with people who have gone out in the real world and done really challenging and great things. So we're going to have a lot to talk about on the show, excited to have you joining us. Talk to you soon. As always, Paws Up.