Warwick Law School welcomes a new Reader to our team.

Mara Malagodi joins us all the way from the Faculty of Law of the Chinese University of Hong Kong where she taught constitutional law. Before Hong Kong, she was senior lecturer at the City Law School in London. She was also a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the LSE Law Department.

When asked about joining Warwick she told us, “I am very excited to be joining Warwick Law School, it has a wonderful tradition of law in context and a pioneering approach to studying law from an interdisciplinary perspective. The faculty has the reputation of a collegiate and collaborative environment, so I very much look forward to working with colleagues in the Law School and other parts of the University.”

We chatted to find out a little more…

What will you be doing at Warwick?

At Warwick I will further develop my research in comparative constitutional law with a special focus on Asia, legal history of the British Empire and decolonisation, and Law & Film. I will teach in the area of constitutional law and also contribute to the running of the School from an administrative perspective.

What are your research interests?

I am a scholar trained in law, politics, and South Asian languages, and a non-practising barrister; as such I am broadly interested in exploring the way in which constitutional law impacts people’s lives. In particular, I research how constitutions reflect and mould forms of national and subnational identity — alongside forms of legal exclusion and discrimination, especially with respect to gender and sexuality. In this regard, I think it is important to think historically about the development of law. As a result, my research also explores the constitutional dimension of decolonisation in Asia at the twilight of the British Empire through archival research and legal life writing.

Why did you want to study law?

I wanted to study law after graduating in Politics and Nepali language because I wanted to acquire the technical competence to understand the working of the constitutional machinery and the legal system more broadly. I was always interested in the practice of law and its relationship with politics in shaping our lives.

University can be very stressful, what do you do to unwind?

I hike and exercise a fair bit, in Hong Kong I even picked up Muay Thai to decompress! I also look forward to making documentary films again.

Andrew Williams, Head of Warwick Law School commented, “Mara has a wealth of knowledge and experience researching and teaching in the area of constitutional law. We are delighted to have her join the WLS community and help enhance our contextual and international approach to the study of law.”

Good luck in your first term Mara, we are thrilled to have you join us.