Senior lecturer, Dr Alice Storey, teaches a range of disciplines within the School of Law. We caught up with Alice about her career so far, what a degree in law is like and advice she has for budding law professionals.
What do you do at BCU and how long have you been part of the University?
I’m a senior lecturer in the School of Law and Associate Director of the Centre for Human Rights. While I’ve been a full-time academic since 2018, my BCU journey began quite a few years ago now when I was an undergraduate.
Dr Alice Storey specialises in:
- International Law
- Human Rights
- Women’s Rights
- Capital Punishment
Could you tell us about your experience and how it feeds into your teaching?
I think my experience of being both a student and a staff member at BCU helps me to empathise with our students because I’ve literally sat where they’re sitting now. For example, when I was an undergraduate, I went on an American internship to New York. I now teach the students who go to the US to do internships and I can bring not only my teaching, research, and practice expertise in terms of American law, but also my experience of being an intern - even if it was over a decade ago!
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What are some of the greatest achievements you have accomplished at BCU?
I think my biggest achievement is my creation of the UPR Project at BCU. The UPR Project engages directly with the UN’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism through submitting stakeholder reports to selected countries’ UPRs and taking part in UPR Pre-sessions, which involves direct engagement with UN government delegations from across the globe and other civil society organisations. This allows our academic research to be translated into practical change.
Through the UPR Project, we are genuinely having an impact on human rights across the world, and all of this is done with input from our BCU law students. The students act as research assistants and are credited for their work on each report we submit.
What makes the courses you teach on distinct and what is the learning environment like?
I teach across the undergraduate LLB and postgraduate LLM programmes and always endeavour to have an inclusive classroom, with plenty of space for debate. In my LLM International Women’s Rights class for example, we discuss themes of feminism and patriarchy in terms of specific issues concerning women across the world. We have students from across the world who all bring their own perspectives and experiences to class.
Why do you think Birmingham is a good place to study?
Birmingham is a diverse and vibrant city, with so much to offer students in terms of career opportunities and just general fun!
What can students do to help prepare them for the courses you teach?
Keep up to date with current affairs, both here in the UK and elsewhere. Especially if you’re interested in human rights!
What’s your favourite thing about working at the University?
It is a very inclusive university, which welcomes people from all different backgrounds and allows them to thrive in a supportive environment. I come from a working-class town in the north-west of England, with very little experience of what higher education entailed, but BCU provided me with the environment I needed to develop both in terms of my career and as a person and I completed my PhD in 2018, with AHRC Midlands3Cities funding. I use this experience to ensure that my classrooms are inclusive, supportive, and welcoming.
