A Kennesaw State graduate student taught a course with the United Nations University in 2018 after applying for the highly competitive global position.
Brittany Foutz taught the course focused on UNU’s 16th mandate, peace, justice and strong institutions, and she taught masters and doctoral students about how these institutions can be implemented into societies.
In 2016, Foutz began working with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, where she worked on human trafficking cases. Following her internship, Foutz moved to Kennesaw and began her doctorate studies at KSU.
Foutz then began working with the UN center of regional expertise in Atlanta where she discovered that Atlanta is a major center for human trafficking.
Due to her work in Atlanta, Foutz was recommended to UNU and went to Fiji to prepare to teach the course. From Fiji, Foutz moved to the Philippines where she began teaching the course and working with other experts on ways to integrate UNU mandates to complement each other.
While in the Philippines, Foutz’s research was shown to government officials, and after talking with them, Foutz addressed the similarities in human trafficking issues in the Philippines and the United States.
During the course, Foutz spent a lot of time thinking about the question, “what about the resolution of conflict, what do you think needs to change?” The question led her to push her research forward.
“We have different ways we learn of solving conflict, and I feel like a lot of my research is solving conflict not only by creating awareness, but you can solve conflict with the law,” Foutz said.
Foutz continues her work with the International Criminal Court out of The Hague currently. She is still working on her doctorate and hopes to continue teaching with UNU full-time after she graduates.
