Hi everyone! I’m hoping to go into international law and did an extensive research project on Israel/Palestine. Obviously, this is a controversial topic, and my topic was more focused towards the Palestinian issue, but my research allowed me to work both with faculty from both backgrounds, as well as interview people in the region from both backgrounds. I feel that it gave me a perspective in working in a conflict zone, on a topic that impacts both peoples, showed how both peoples worked together, and allowed me to show how international conflicts are not always binary - and we should focus on the issues that impact people rather than assign people certain perspective based on their background or treat it as a one side vs the other. The project also earned a few awards at my undergrad institution.
Should I write about this or is it too risky (would admissions officers make assumptions)? Does it address the point of a diversity statement? The only other topic I can think of is a more generic underrepresented minority topic. Any thoughts would be very much appreciated!
1 comments
Good question, @Glitterunicorn!
I think your second question is the key here - Does it address the point of a diversity statement? I'd say not. For most schools, their general optional statement, statement of perspective, diversity statement prompts are about getting to know you. Here are a few examples:
Michigan - How has the world you came from positively shaped who you are today?
Harvard - How have your past experiences shaped the person you are today? How will those experiences inform your engagement in your law school community?
That's really more about you and your background rather than an academic area. Specifically in your case, what you're describing sounds more like a personal statement ("I want to do international law. Part of why I want to do that is because I've done a lot of academic work in this area and I find it very interesting."). But that doesn't really tell me much about you as a person, right?
I hope this helps!