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At IÉSEG, professors inspire, challenge, and mentor hundreds of students every year. Each month, we sit down with a faculty member to dive into their background, their vision, their teaching philosophy, and what truly drives them. This month, we met with Clare Keonha SHIN who has been teaching law on the Lille campus since 2022. 

Clare, could you tell us about your background? 

I was born in South Korea but hold a Canadian citizenship. I grew up mostly in Canada and the US, where I did my middle school and high school education. For university, I decided to go back to Korea to learn the language and get back in touch with my roots. After that, I went to Germany for my master’s degree, and then I decided to go to law school in the United States.  

In law school, I seized the opportunity to do a dual degree with Paris-Dauphine University. So, I went to Dauphine for a year, only to be stuck in my little 25 sqm apartment in Paris because of the COVID pandemic! But it allowed me to start my life in France. 

Why and how did you decide to become a professor? 

My original plan was to work at a law firm in the US, but because of COVID, my job offer at a large law firm was cancelled. I always knew that I would enjoy teaching and that I had an innate passion for it. It was something that I always did on the side ever since I was young, whether it was private tutoring or even being a guest lecturer at a fashion school in the United States. I just didn’t think that this opportunity would come to me so early in my professional career. I joined IÉSEG as an adjunct in January 2022, and I became a permanent professor of practice in September 2023.

What courses do you teach at IÉSEG? 

My main specialties are related to personal data protection law and management, as well as AI law which I teach at the master’s level.  

The Personal Data Protection and Management course is a master’s core course where students learn about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which protects personal data of EU citizens and domiciles and enforces regulations for companies to follow in order to handle people’s personal data. 

With the new EU AI Act that was recently enacted, I teach students how to comply with the regulation when using, creating, importing, or deploying AI in the EU. 

How do you teach these topics to your students? 

A lot of my students come into the classroom in the first day thinking: “Oh, this is going to be a boring law class. I don’t want to become a lawyer, so I don’t need to learn this.” I do my best to ensure that the majority of my students walk out understanding that this topic is both fun and interesting, and that it doesn’t matter whether you’re working in finance, marketing, or human resources – it actually does play a big role in your personal and professional life. 

I’ve created some creative educational five-minute recap videos that I shared on YouTube to start each class. They allow students to review what they learned in the previous class. I try to make these videos very fun. For example, there’s one video where we learn about cookies and cookie consent on a website. In that video, a friend of mine is getting married to a “cookie” and is ready to accept all the terms and conditions. And I run in and try to break up the wedding, saying that she doesn’t have to consent and that she has choices under the GDPR.

I also like to use gamification in the classroom. Once a semester, I create an escape game/treasure hunt where I hide QR codes and envelopes with questions and clues around the campus. Students have to travel from QR code to QR code by answering questions about the class materials. I think it’s a good and fun way to learn and remember things. 

How would you describe your relationship with students?

I think my relationship with students is unique in the sense that I am a bit closer in age. It has allowed me to have a more approachable atmosphere in my classroom, where students do not feel intimidated to ask questions that maybe they would be afraid to ask otherwise. My students are encouraged to raise their hands and ask their questions right away, and that has really allowed us to have a comfortable learning environment 

I’ve met with many students outside of lecture hours who are launching their startups and need some advice. They realize, “Oh, wait, I have to create a website. We need a privacy policy. We need a cookie policy. We need to follow the GDPR! How do we do that again?” So, I have a lot of students who approach me even after they finish my class for advice on how to make their websites compliant. 

It’s very pleasant to see that the teaching I’ve given in class translates into their vision of their future, and that I can play a role in guiding them on how to be compliant with the law and get by without getting sued or getting a fine! 

Does IÉSEG’s Vision—empowering changemakers for a better society—inspire you? 

Yes, absolutely. Being a law professor in a business school rather than a law school in line with IÉSEG’s Vision. If I were just teaching at a law school, I would be mostly teaching future lawyers and policymakers only. However, by teaching at a business school, the capacity and scope in which I can make that change is a bit bigger. Now I’m talking to people who work in finance, marketing, human resources, who will go into politics, and who will go into all of these different fields.

Regarding the school values, I would say that responsibility is the core value that resonates the most with my courses, because law is all about learning what and who you are responsible for and how you need to control your behavior and business to have a fair, safe, and functioning society. 

What do you particularly enjoy about IÉSEG as a professor?

Having such a positive teaching experience at IÉSEG, seeing how much my students enjoy my classes, and witnessing the paths that they’re now taking in life has brought deep meaning and joy in my career as a professor. It has inspired me to even go further and go back to South Korea to talk with Korean students about studying business, law, and even expanding their search to French and European universities. Being a professor at IÉSEG has given me the opportunity to help many different people, and has made me more understanding, patient, and overall, a better version of myself.

Any anecdotes to share? 

It’s very rewarding to see some of my students who have graduated and are now working in the industry. I had one student who graduated a couple of years ago who reached out to me and said, “Clare, I’m working in a data-collecting company and remember when you told us that in the future, all jobs are going to be about data! When I was a student, I didn’t understand what you were saying. And now I work in this field!” It’s so nice to have these little moments of reconnecting with my former students and seeing their growth. It is an honor to see that I played a little part in their professional journey.