Daniel Davies ’14 has received a Fulbright grant to study international security in the Netherlands. He will begin his studies at VU University Amsterdam in September and upon completion of the fellowship will have earned an LL.M. in Law and Politics of International Security.
Studying and researching ideas related to international humanitarian law has long been an interest of Davies, who was born in New Delhi, India, and raised in Swaziland, Cambodia, Uganda, and Mozambique. Davies’ early globetrotting experiences inspired him to help alleviate many of the injustices he witnessed as a child.
“Having grown up where I did, I was exposed at a young age to the human consequences of illegal warfare and insecurity,” he said. “I have seen landmine victims, escaped child soldiers, and the devastation of rural areas many years after civil war.”
At Fordham Law, Davies has pursued important, human rights–oriented projects. Last year, he participated in the Leitner Center’s Crowley Program in International Rights. As a Crowley Scholar, he examined access to education for persons with disabilities in Rwanda. He is involved in the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, where he served first as a student member and now as the case manager for the Fordham chapter. He was also a member of the Bedouin Advocacy Project, a student-led fact-finding mission that focuses on access to water for Bedouins in Israel and the West Bank.
In 2012, Davies was selected as a Leitner summer intern to pursue work with refugees in Egypt. He traveled to Cairo to work as a legal intern at the Resettlement Legal Aid Project, where he interviewed 27 different refugees, from Eritrea, Iraq, Somalia, and Sudan.
“Almost all had been displaced by conflict, and almost all continued to suffer due to the insecurity of living as a refugee in Egypt during the revolution. None could return to their home countries because their homes remained too insecure. Their stories reinforced my commitment to working toward a more secure world.”
As a Fulbright scholar, Davies is excited for the opportunity to debate international security issues with individuals from diverse backgrounds. He hopes to deepen and broaden his understanding of the laws and politics regarding international security while making connections with others in the field and in the Netherlands generally.
“Hopefully I can provide an original contribution to the international humanitarian law field with my thesis. Ultimately, I want to promote intercultural understanding and rule of law to the best of my abilities.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this will not be Davies’ first time in the Netherlands. During a weeklong field trip on a study abroad program, Davies visited the country and spoke with a prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and with an advocate for sex workers’ rights.
For assistance with the Fulbright application process, Davies credits Rebecca Stark-Gendrano, Fordham’s Fulbright Fellowships Coordinator. He is also grateful to numerous Fordham professors and staff, including Joseph Landau, Alison Shea, Daniel McLaughlin, Michael Baur, and Aminta Ossom.
“I think that moving every few years growing up has prepared me for the relocation challenges, and Fordham has prepared me well for the academic challenges. I look forward to the year ahead and thank everyone involved for this fantastic opportunity.”