By Mel O’Brien

I just spent three days at the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) in Venice attending a PhD seminar where we discussed human rights law methodology and the benefits of inter-disciplinarity. There were three expert speakers/facilitators, and each participant presented their thesis work, which was then discussed by all participants and facilitators. The seminar is a fairly new idea of the EIUC, but it was extemely useful for all involved as a way of getting external feedback on our thesis work. I encourage anyone to apply for the seminar next year! The EIUC is also running a Summer School on Cinema & Human Rights from 21 August to 10 September 2008. This course coincides with La Biennale di Venezia, the famous film festival held in Lido, Venice. The EIUC is also located in Lido, a wonderful location in a former monastery, with easy transport access to the main Venetian islands. The course costs ?1600, and the EIUC has pre-reserved accommodation for participants given the difficulty of finding accommodation at that time (accommodation is at participants’ costs). See the Cinema & Human Rights website for more information.