Human Rights Fellowships, Internships and Job Opportunities

 

Undergraduate Human Rights Summer Fellowships

The Program on Human Rights at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), together with the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society are offering up to four summer fellowships in human rights for 2014-15. The application period is now opened to talented Stanford undergraduates interested in working for organizations, government agencies, NGOs or international organizations that promote or defend human rights. The deadline to apply is February 3, 2015.

This is a very prestigious fellowship and rare opportunity for undergraduate freshman, sophomore, junior, and non-graduating seniors to gain practical experience at human rights-based organizations. Previous fellows have worked at UNICEF in Cairo;  Bethune House in Hong Kong; and Human Rights Watch in Washington, D.C.

Human Rights Fellows may undertake projects such as women, children’s and minority rights, freedom of speech, rights to food, health, housing or education.  Work should ideally be undertaken abroad, but may also be in a U.S.-based organization with overseas projects.  Applicants should have a clear commitment to the mission of their chosen organization as evidenced by their course work and/or extracurricular activities.  To apply for the fellowship, the student applicant must contact and obtain the support of a sponsoring organization.

Fellowships of up to $5,000 are awarded by a committee of faculty members, senior administrators and/or full-time professional staff at Stanford University based on the applicant's project proposal and budget. For more information and to apply, please click here.

For more information, please contact Joan Berry (Executive Director, McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society) joanberry@stanford.edu or Kathleen Barcos (Administrative Associate, Program on Human Rights, CDDRL) kbarcos@stanford.edu.  

 


Other Fellowships:

 

Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society PhD Research Fellowships

The PACS Center seeks to expand and enhance research on philanthropy and civil society. We think about questions about civic engagement and institutional form that speak to fundamental research questions in the humanities, social sciences and professional schools. To further these intellectual goals, the Center offers PhD Research Fellowships to second year PhD students and beyond, pre-or post-dissertation proposal stage. Students will be expected to begin the year with a well-defined research project to carry out during their fellowship year. We welcome proposals from the social sciences, the humanities, and professional schools. The fellowship provides up to a full academic year of support - 25% stipend, 25% tuition, and 25% health insurance - for PhD students. We will offer up to five fellowships in 2011-2012. Please note the fellowship does not support travel or data collection.

The process is described in detail at http://pacscenter.stanford.edu/fellowships. Applications will be evaluated by an interdisciplinary panel of faculty from the PACS Faculty Advisory Board. Candidates will be notified in mid April.


International Human Rights Exchange (IHRE)
Johannesburg, South Africa

The International Human Rights Exchange (IHRE) is the world's only full-semester, multidisciplinary program in human rights. The program is housed at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa and is a joint venture with Bard College. Each year -- starting in July and ending in November -- students and faculty from Africa and North America come together to participate in a deep and multifaceted intellectual engagement in human rights. In addition to a required core course, students choose from 12 or more electives exploring human rights from the perspective of a variety of academic disciplines.

IHRE also opens up possibilities for substantive participation in human rights work. Students enrolled in the Engagement with Human Rights course intern with an NGO working on contemporary rights in post-apartheid South Africa. Students also explore human rights challenges in rural South Africa through a Community Human Rights Workshop, visit the Apartheid Museum and other relevant sites, and attend guest lectures from human rights experts from South Africa and around the world. For more information on the International Human Rights Exchange: http://www.ihre.org


Haas Center for Public Service 

(Restricted to Stanford students) The Haas Center for Public Service connects academic study with public service to strengthen communities and develop effective public leaders. Curent human rights related fellowship programs are listed below:


Stanford’s University Career Development Center 

(Restricted to Stanford students/alumni) Includes  a comprehensive job/internship database, which covers over 3000 US and international organizations, some of which focus on human rights. The center also makes available hard copy directories of Human Rights organizations and periodicals, and provides access to many subscription databases. Students/alumni may subscribe to CDC’s public service careers mailing list, benefit from personal career counseling and participate in on programs such as training workshops, campus recruiting, the Shadow program and job fairs. 


INet

(Restricted to Stanford students/alumni) Stanford has joined with seven leading universities to form the Internship Network (iNet) Consortium, leveraging combined connections to offer you access to a wider range of internship opportunities.


Stanford Career Network

(Restricted to Stanford students/alumni) The Stanford Career Network (SCN) is a database of more than 9,000 alumni all over the world who have volunteered to be contacted for informational interviews. Whether you are an alum or a Stanford student, this is the way to get connected with those who’ve been there. Investigate new careers, get career advice and—best of all—build your network.

For a comprehensive list of human rights job opportunities in international governmental and  inter-governmental organizations and US-based organizations, please see Minnesota's Human Rights Resource Center website, ReliefWeb vacancies andIdealist.org.


Education Opportunities

Call for Applications for the Vienna Master of Arts in Human Rights  

The Master of Arts in Human Rights at the University of Vienna/Austria, with Professor Manfred Nowak as Scientific Director, offers students the exciting opportunity to study human rights in an international, interdisciplinary and practice-oriented environment.

This postgraduate programme aims at providing students with the scientific knowledge and the practical skills to work as a human rights expert in various professional environments. It is designed for students with at least a bachelor degree in a broad variety of academic disciplines from all world regions, with an open mind, empathy for human beings and a strong interest to experience the fascinating world of human rights. It offers students a wide range of courses with an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to human rights and a strong emphasis on practice.

The Vienna Master in Human Rights starts end of September 2014.

The deadline for applications is 30 March 2014.

http://humanrights.univie.ac.at