Marina Aksenova
My name is Marina Aksenova and I’m originally from Moscow, Russia. Throughout my life, I’ve had the opportunity to work and study all around the world. Not only have I gained unique professional insights from the time I’ve spent in seven different countries, but exploring different cultures is also one of my personal passions. I believe that success means learning, and as a professor of Comparative and International Criminal Law, I learn every day about society and our roles in it.
"Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life. This doesn’t mean you won’t have to put in effort, but that it should come from a place of passion, not obligation."
A professor who's found her passion
While studying criminal law, criminology and international law—and later, throughout her professional journey—Marina has had the opportunity to live in the UK, the Netherlands, Cambodia, Italy, Hungary, Denmark and Spain. Thanks to these experiences, she’s gained the ability to look beyond cultural conditioning to dive deeper into the nature of laws and regulations and how they impact our daily lives.
During her doctoral studies, she found that culpability is a central aspect of international criminal law, but that crime is influenced by a wide range of factors in today’s society. As a full-time professor of the Bachelor in Laws at a diverse institution like IE University, Marina says that her students give her unique perspectives on these issues—on everything from life and death to institutional structures and universal values.
While she clearly appreciates this diversity of thought, Marina mentions that there are a number of other reasons why she came to IE University. She found the school’s emphasis on comparative law to be crucial, mentioning that this approach equips students with the tools they need in today’s interconnected world.
Marina says that she always learns a lot from her students, especially as she is currently working on an initiative that connects art with international justice. The wide range of perspectives that her students bring to the table helps her improve her research, which in turn allows her to bring real-world insights into the classroom.
Marina has certainly found what she is passionate about and hopes to help her future students find what motivates them. She says that everyone should ask themselves what they enjoy, and tailor their career path to fit those desires.
Marina hopes that her students will take advantage of everything that IE University has to offer in order to realize their potential. After all, everyone is different, and in order to achieve success Marina says it’s essential to bring your unique talents to life and find what you enjoy doing. In fact it’s this mindset that she’s found so attractive about Spain. “I truly appreciate the ability of Spaniards to reflect and enjoy the process of life, as opposed to running after certain outcomes,” Marina says.
When she’s not enriching her students’ lives in the classroom or working on her professional research, Marina enjoys painting and dancing. She’s also a yogini and says that she enjoys a good hike in nature. Marina jokes that traveling—another one of her hobbies—is unoriginal but that she draws inspiration from communities that preserve their traditional ways of life. Along these lines, she also studies Sanskrit because she finds the language to be powerful and beautiful.
Check out in detail Marina Aksenova's academic and corporate experience
