Cosmas Emeziem is set to join Boston College Law School as a junior scholar in the two-year Drinan Visiting Assistant Professor (VAP) Program. He will join Nicole Langston as the second scholar in the reconfigured, staggered program, where one visiting professor is hired annually to a two-year term. Selected scholars teach a course while gaining research, writing, and teaching experience to prepare for the law school teaching market.
A graduate of the University of Nigeria, Emeziem earned two advanced degrees at Cornell University, Doctor of the Science of Law (JSD) and Master of Laws (LLM). He also won the Rudolf B. Schlesinger Fellowship in International and Comparative Law and the Cornell University Graduate Resident Fellowship.
Emeziem conducts interdisciplinary research studies in international economic law and policy, comparative law, transitional justice, and the law of international institutions. His dissertation, “Legal Transplants and Functionalism in Transitional Justice: The West African Experience of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions,” examined the socioeconomic and cultural rights issues in West African regions that predispose communities to perennial conflicts and argued for the use of truth commissions in transitional justice situations.
Previously, Emeziem was an associate at various law firms in Nigeria, where he worked in corporate practice, cross-border litigations, general litigation, and regulatory compliance. He is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association.
BC Law views the Drinan Scholars Program as an opportunity to model the work of former dean Father Robert F. Drinan, SJ, who devoted his life to ensuring that law students and academics developed to their full potential. Previous Drinan Scholars include Hernandez Stroud, William Sullivan, and Nathaniel Romano.