This year, in partnership with the Program on Human Rights, we launch our new Human Rights Fellowship program. These fellowships are intended to enable students to make a valuable contribution to human rights theory and practice. Offered to rising sophomores, juniors and seniors, grants will be given to four undergraduates who will partner with human rights organizations, government agencies, NGOs, or international organizations (either here or abroad) during the summer of 2010. It is our hope that these fellowships will encourage students to build human rights work into their future careers, whether those careers are in academic life, in governmental or intergovernmental organizations, as activists, or as legal practitioners.

For more information, contact Joan Berry.

Application deadline: January 15, 2010. 

Sample Fellowships
Although this is the first year the Center for Ethics in Society is offering Human Rights Fellowships, Stanford students have been doing human rights work for quite some time. To read about a few of the projects that they have done and to help you think about the kinds of fellowships you can do, click here.

Eligibility
This fellowship program is open only to Stanford University freshman, sophomores and juniors.  Students from any field of study who have strong human rights interests are invited to apply. 


Fellowship Details

• A $4000 stipend to support work with a human rights organization.
• A late spring workshop to prepare students for their summer fellowships.
• An informal event bringing the fellows together at the start of the Fall Quarter following their fellowship.
• A formal mini-conference in which fellows report on their experiences and present their research in the end of Fall Quarter.
• A formal write up of their experiences due at the end of the Winter Quarter.

Application Process

1. Students will submit an application by January 15, 2010 consisting of:
   
   • A 1500 word proposal that includes the issue that you will work on, identifying the human rights component of that issue and the country and [if possible] the organization that you are proposing to work with.  Proposals will be considered with both a domestic and an international focus.
   • Your CV
   • Evidence of language skills if relevant to the fellowship.
   • Identify a potential faculty advisor for the project.
2. Finalists will be identified in mid-February and invited for an interview.
3. Winners will be notified in early March.

There are no course pre-requisites for this fellowship. However, prospective applicants should consult the list of human rights courses at Stanford posted on the CDDRL website.


Human Rights Launch & Debra Satz' Discussion of the Fellowships
Human Rights at Stanford -- Launch Event (held on October 14, 2009)
On October 14, 2009, two new Human Rights Initiatives were launched at Stanford: the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law’s new Program on Human Rights and the Bowen H. McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society’s Human Rights Summer Fellowships for undergraduates.

Review of launch event and audio files for each session (links found at the bottom of the CDDRL page).

I encourage you to click here to listen to Debra Satz' explanation of the fellowships, the discussion with the student panelists, and the Q&A portion of this session.

 
Stanford's Travel Policy
I also encourage you to go to Stanford's Global Gateway. This site has an enormouns about of useful information including ongoing research projects by Stanford faculty (by region and/or discipline), as well as tips for travelling overseas (from safety concerns to vaccinations to international ID cards).

In terms of travel restrictions, the University’s travel policy is outlined here but basically, undergraduates are prohibited from travelling to countries on the State Department Travel Warning List (or other countries where there is information about significant health & safety concerns).

Additionally, there are US govt trade sanctions against: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria. Any travel plans to these countries must be reviewed by the University’s export control officer, and may require special paperwork.