In the final year of the BA&LLB, students may choose either to undertake a final research project or an internship.
LALS5001. Research project in law and literary studies (6 credits)
The final-year research project enables students to pursue their individual interests in any aspect of the intersection between literary and legal discourses under the supervision of a faculty member. The project will culminate in an extended essay of approximately 5,000 words. Students are expected to meet with their supervisors regularly and to present their work-in-progress to their supervisors in the course of the semester.
LALS5002. Internship in law and literary studies (6 credits)
This internship course encourages students to contribute to socially impactful projects using the skills and knowledge they have acquired in their interdisciplinary undergraduate studies, and provides them with an opportunity to broaden their undergraduate education through experiential learning. Students will acquire invaluable work experience, hone transferrable skills for a wide range of careers, and develop sharper awareness of social issues and legal challenges.
We offer both internships with external partners (including but not limited to PEN International Hong Kong, the Translation Unit of Hogan Lovells, and PILnet) and in-house internships. An example of in-house internships is Digital Manuscript Studies Research Network – Research Assistant Internship in Law and Literature, led by Dr. Anya Adair, a partnership with University of Sydney on digital humanities and legal manuscripts. Students enrolled into the course might work on legal and archival research, fact checking, interviewing people, grant-writing and fund-raising, event management, writing legal documents, reports or copy for publication, translation and communication, interpersonal speaking and writing, networking and outreach.
Under the guidance of the course supervisor, students must write an application (consisting of a statement of intent and a resume) to the organisation of their choice before the beginning of the semester in which they plan to enroll into the internship course. They must pass an interview with the organisation before being allowed to register with the course. The duration of the internship will depend on the arrangement between the student and the organisation, but should involve at least 40 hours of service for the organisation (approximately 3 hours per week). Students will be assessed by the organisation contact and will receive a letter of reference from the organisation at the end of the internship.
At the end of the internship, students need to submit a written report (approximately 2000 words) on work/project(s) conducted during the internship and a critical reflection on the internship experience, signed by the organisation contact. The report should reflect on how their interdisciplinary training integrates with the workplace experience, and how the experience enhances their personal development and growth, including whether the experience has helped them identify their strengths and areas in need of improvement.
During the semester, students will meet with the course supervisor at least twice to discuss the internship progress and the written report.
The assessment of their performance is not based on specific assignments but their ongoing workplace experience, the evaluation provided by the host organisation, as well as the written report. This course is credit-bearing but will not be counted in the calculation of CGPA as it is graded on a pass/fail basis.
