Problems encountered in teaching arise from research perspectives. Research provides the necessary tools for teaching.
Jonathan WILDEMEERSCH, Associate Professor in the field of European Litigation. Picture: ©Michel Houet.
J
onathan Wildemeersch studied law at the University of Liège. After obtaining his degree, he continued his studies abroad. "I therefore enrolled in the DEA in European law offered by the University of Liège, which gave me the opportunity to follow part of the programme at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. I then began my professional life as a lawyer at the Liège Bar, and this for 9 years. I then had the opportunity to follow Professor Wathelet to the Court of Justice of the European Union as a referendary. Profession that I still practice today as my main occupation. "
However, he never left university. "When I was called to the Bar, Professor Marc Verdussen (public law) offered me the opportunity to be his assistant. I then joined the European Law Department, first as an assistant and then as a lecturer. After my doctorate, while continuing to teach at the University of Liège, I had the opportunity to teach the "European Politics" course at the Catholic University of Louvain, as a visiting professor, in replacement of Professor Stéphanie Franck (academic year 2018-2019). Since October 2019, I have had the honour of succeeding Melchior Wathelet as head of European litigation. "
Preparing the actors of tomorrow
"In my opinion, the university teacher must, of course, transmit "knowledge". But its role does not end there. Above all, it must give its students the theoretical and intellectual tools that will enable them to be professional actors in the near but inevitably different future. Legal education, since it is in this field that I teach, must therefore necessarily provide the essential foundations for the construction of a thoughtful reasoning that can provide a solution to a legal problem that is by definition unknown to this day. "
A close link between teaching and research
"In this perspective, teaching and research inevitably feed on each other. Problems encountered in teaching arise from research perspectives. From research come tools (at least elements of reflection) necessary for teaching. "
