Providing training and funding so students can contribute their expertise to support human rights worldwide
Building Tomorrow’s Leaders
The student fellowship program is the longest legacy of the Human Rights Center. Our fellowships provide opportunities for students to pursue meaningful human rights work domestically and internationally. Students from UC Berkeley, partner campuses UC Merced, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, and the Cal Graduate Theological Union are eligible to participate in this program. Selected fellows will carry out clearly defined fieldwork with organizations working on human rights issues related to a student’s area of interest. Applicants must plan to spend at least 8 weeks full time or its equivalent part-time working with a partner organization to qualify for the fellowship.
The purpose of the fellowship is to provide students with an opportunity to contribute to an organization’s work while also gaining practical experience that may influence their area of research, academic focus, or career trajectory. Partnerships with both non-governmental and governmental organizations are acceptable. Multi-disciplinary approaches to human rights fieldwork are welcomed.
The Human Rights Center thanks the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe for contributing sponsorship to our fellowship conference .
401
Fellowships awarded over 30 years
351
Organizations fellows have worked with
88
Countries & territories where fellows have worked
This fellowship was the best experience I ever had in my entire time at UC Berkeley. It’s been truly life changing. I feel so grateful to have had this opportunity. I truly can’t overstate how amazing it was.”
— 2023 HRC Student Fellow
Program Staff
Featured Alumni
Anthony Ghaly, 2022
Anthony joined WITNESS a legal intern for the Technology, Threats, and Opportunities team. The team addresses new issues facing human rights documentation and advocacy related to the proliferation of digital technologies. Anthony worked under team leader Raquel Vazquez Llorente to provide legal support on matters related to international human rights law and international criminal justice. This included the harms of sexual and gender-based violence in the metaverse.
Malak Afaneh, 2022
Malak worked as a global legal intern with the International Legal Foundation’s West Bank Team to provide free holistic legal aid for children held in pre-trial detention. She conducted legal research on measures of juvenile justice globally, the utilization of holistic aid and trauma informed strategies in the field of juvenile justice, and analyzed litigation strategies aligned with both customary international law and systems of justice in the MENA region.
Bhavya Joshi, 2022
Bhavya worked with Roda and other partners to study refugee accommodations in Croatia and understand the unmet reproductive health needs of Ukrainian women refugees arriving in Croatia since February 2022. She also worked on a submission to the United Nations Special Procedures on the case of a Croatian woman pregnant with a terminally ill fetus who was denied access to legal abortion in Croatia. Bhavya aims to advocate for reproductive rights in times of compounded crisis using international women’s human rights mechanisms.
Eunchong Cho, 2022
Eunchong studied human rights-centered approaches to youth housing rights in South Korea. He worked with Minsnail Union, a housing rights organization that advocates for young people’s housing rights by addressing structural problems in Korean society. These include unfair laws against tenants, generational economic inequality, and discrimination against young people, women, LGBTQ people, and other minorities. Eunchong’s activities for Minsnail Union included interviewing people experiencing housing difficulties, writing articles for press releases, organizing public discussions, analyzing data, and taking part in collective actions.
Previous Slide
Next Slide
-
Anthony Ghaly, 2022
Anthony joined WITNESS a legal intern for the Technology, Threats, and Opportunities team. The team addresses new issues facing human rights documentation and advocacy related to the proliferation of digital technologies. Anthony worked under team leader Raquel Vazquez Llorente to provide legal support on matters related to international human rights law and international criminal justice. This included the harms of sexual and gender-based violence in the metaverse.
-
Malak Afaneh, 2022
Malak worked as a global legal intern with the International Legal Foundation’s West Bank Team to provide free holistic legal aid for children held in pre-trial detention. She conducted legal research on measures of juvenile justice globally, the utilization of holistic aid and trauma informed strategies in the field of juvenile justice, and analyzed litigation strategies aligned with both customary international law and systems of justice in the MENA region.
-
Bhavya Joshi, 2022
Bhavya worked with Roda and other partners to study refugee accommodations in Croatia and understand the unmet reproductive health needs of Ukrainian women refugees arriving in Croatia since February 2022. She also worked on a submission to the United Nations Special Procedures on the case of a Croatian woman pregnant with a terminally ill fetus who was denied access to legal abortion in Croatia. Bhavya aims to advocate for reproductive rights in times of compounded crisis using international women’s human rights mechanisms.
-
Eunchong Cho, 2022
Eunchong studied human rights-centered approaches to youth housing rights in South Korea. He worked with Minsnail Union, a housing rights organization that advocates for young people’s housing rights by addressing structural problems in Korean society. These include unfair laws against tenants, generational economic inequality, and discrimination against young people, women, LGBTQ people, and other minorities. Eunchong’s activities for Minsnail Union included interviewing people experiencing housing difficulties, writing articles for press releases, organizing public discussions, analyzing data, and taking part in collective actions.
Contact Program Staff for More Details
For more information about the Student Fellowship, please contact Associate Director Alexey Berlind at [hrcfellowships@berkeley.edu] or by phone at (510) 642-0965.