Critical Dialogue in the Classroom and the Field

As a third-generation educator, Chidi Odinkalu always thought that teaching was a vehicle for public service. In his position as professor of the practice of international human rights law at The Fletcher School, he marries his work in the classroom with human rights advocacy around the world. 

Growing up amidst Nigeria’s Civil War, Odinkalu recognized that the country was undergoing a humanitarian crisis within the greater authoritarian crisis. Starvation became an instrument of war, and over 3 million people were killed within 30 months. 

“I was born into internal displacement inside the war, and that, in many ways, defined my trajectory,” said Odinkalu. 

This trajectory has situated him as an important decision maker and advocate for various conflicts around the continent. Today, he focuses his work on transitional justice, regional courts and tribunals in Africa, statelessness, and accountability for mass atrocities. 

“I think the lifeblood of an intellectual is not just writing articles,” said Odinkalu. “It is actually being able to take on the big challenges in the fields that you profess to have expertise in. It's necessary to intersect the world of thinking and writing with a world of trying to test some of the propositions that we make.”

Real-World Faculty, Real-World Practitioner 

For Odinkalu, this imperative has meant supporting efforts to improve the protection of human rights and the institutions of human rights and justice throughout Africa. When he was beginning his career in international law, he was involved in negotiating the treaty that led to the creation of the African Court on Human and People’s Rights. 

One of the first cases to come before the court regarded the political assassination of the leading independent journalist in Burkina Faso, Norbert Zongo. Odinkalu represented Zongo’s widow, and the case both awarded her substantial reparations and settled some principles on the human rights of journalists. Since then, he has seen the need for the African regional human rights system to evolve to address human rights atrocities and enforce international criminal law.

From 2004 to 2014, the African continent negotiated adaptations to the African regional human rights court, effectively giving criminal jurisdiction to the African Court on Human and People's Rights. Odinkalu has taken on the task of bringing the court into existence, work he says is keeping him awake at night. To do so requires 15 ratifications; he and his team have secured the first ratification from Angola and are in the process of negotiating more. 

Additionally, he devotes much of his energy to supporting transitional justice in Nigeria. 

“Thousands of people are killed every year as a result of violence,” said Odinkalu. “Part of that violence is also a historical legacy of the Nigerian Civil War.”

To find a way forward for the country that confronts the damage and violence wrought by the war, Odinkalu is chairing a university council to determine whether and how it may be possible to address the legacy of violence on a sustainable basis, bring it to an end, and make life easier for people living there. 

“We’re trying to implement a mechanism of memorialization of that legacy of conflict,” he said. “One of the problems we have found is that there was a concerted effort by the Nigerian government at the end of the civil war to criminalize acknowledgement of the trauma from that violence.”

“You cannot deny historical trauma. Historical narrative is central to trying to heal and emerge from a violent episode. This is where universities, academics, and researchers come in – making sure that that body of narrative and the evidence that supports it is preserved, accessed, and mined for precisely the kinds of things you need to help people and communities repair.”

A Critical Look at Leisure

In addition to his roles across the globe, Odinkalu finds tremendous value in his work teaching Fletcher students. 

“It's really a privilege to work with younger people and the diversity of the Fletcher campus. We've got a mini United Nations masquerading as a university, and it’s a privilege to live in it,” he said. 

Just as he celebrates the diversity of the Fletcher community, he understands that for many students who come to campus from around the world, finding their footing can initially be intimidating. 

“In my view, the first thing an instructor has to do is help the students fit in and believe in themselves,” he said.

Odinkalu sees that the classroom is a place for mutual exchange and respect, and faculty at the graduate level should foster deep, intellectual dialogue with the community, both in the classroom and out. Participating in campus life and activities, Odinkalu finds places where students exhibit leadership and their own expertise, which allows him to draw upon them as teaching resources in the classroom, in turn.

He leads classes that are dynamic and responsive to student interest. Noting that his International Human Rights Law course can focus on such topics as torture, euthanasia, and the death penalty, he insists on teaching a class on leisure and rest as well. 

“How does it impact people differently depending on status, on gender, on sex, on sexuality?” he said. “Most students never knew that leisure and rest were human rights. As you unfold the dimensions – on sexuality, on sex, on status – people begin to tell you their experiences.”

“All you need to do is deploy the tools that are available to unlock the capabilities of your students and their voices,” he added. 

A Pedagogy of Mutual Respect

Odinkalu is a widely beloved figure around campus, and the impact of his teaching upon his students is profound. 

"Chidi Odinkalu is one of the most inspirational educators and leaders I have met during my time at Fletcher,” said Neeraja Kulkarni F23, who took his Law and Development course. “Chidi’s comprehensive knowledge of the political economy of development and the rule of law, or the lack thereof, across the Global South, is always accompanied and strengthened by a critique of development in the post-World War II era.”

“To date, Chidi remains a mentor who empowers me to ask questions that are difficult to answer, but those that we should not be silent about,” she added. 

Reflecting upon the relationship of mutual exchange and learning he fosters with his students, Odinkalu said, “It's about more than just giving students content. In my view, the biggest thing an instructor does in grad school is to give the students confidence in themselves, their voices, and their judgment. That involves a pedagogy that builds trust and trusts the students as resources and assets in the class.”

Read more about Fletcher’s Master of Laws in International Laws degree program.