Maseeh Haseeb, PhD’18, has long wanted to become a professor and now he has evidence of his ability to instruct students. Queen’s Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS ) has recognized his hard work and dedication as a teaching assistant (TA) by presenting him the 2016 Teaching Assistant/Teaching Fellow Excellence Award. 

“My students were passionate and very engaged when discussing law-related topics in class,” says Haseeb, crediting their integral role in inspiring him to do the best job possible.

Those students were in LAW-201: Introduction to Canadian Law, which he continues to teach in both online and blended formats. The course, offered by Queen’s Law to undergraduates, provides an engaging and comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of Canadian law. As a TA, Haseeb led tutorial discussions, marked assignments and assisted students with learning the material. 

With the award, the SGPS recognizes the winner’s commitment to teaching and his or her contribution to student wellbeing. “It is highly competitive; there is only one award per year in this category,” says Haseeb. “However, most importantly the recognition from the students makes winning this award incredibly rewarding. I would like to thank the course professor Mary-Jo Maur (Law’85, LLM’93) for creating a very supportive environment for both the students and the teaching assistants.”

That’s the type of environment Haseeb aims to provide to his future students. 

For now, he’s working on his doctoral dissertation concerning national security law, surveillance and migration. He has presented his research on the federal government’s Anti-Terrorism Act to both Osgoode and McGill law schools and presented a project about migration to the Centre of Culture and Cultural Studies Third International Conference in Skopje, Macedonia. In addition, he is a research assistant at both Queen’s and the Royal Military College of Canada, where his work concerns cross-border financing of terrorism.

Someday there are sure to be law students intrigued with this work and inspired by the award-winning TA. 

By Anthony Pugh