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Global Human Rights Scholars seeks “rights writers,” apply by September 22

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Global-HR-Scholars“North Korea Executes Deputy Premier,” “Mob in Ukraine Drives Dozens of Roma from their Homes,” “Critics Say North Carolina is Curbing Black Vote. Again,” “From Bikinis to Burkinis, Regulating What Women Wear,” “Court Costs Entrap NonWhites, Poor Juvenile Offenders.”

Human rights violations, both at home and abroad, pervade The New York Times daily headlines. The 24-hour news cycle combined with the constant drum of social media ensure access to the latest story. But analysis can be thin, the bigger picture lost, and the human rights dimension gets crowded out.

The Global Human Rights Scholars Program at the Kenan Institute for Ethic is offering a new project called “Rights Writers,” where participants will use a shared platform to blog about human rights issues. The project’s goals are two-fold. It seeks to provide a public space for students to offer in-depth and thoughtful analysis across a range of diverse human rights issues, shaping discussions at Duke and beyond. It also will help students develop their analytical and writing skills, particularly with regards to writing for a general public. Global Scholars will blog on a monthly basis about a human rights topic of their choice (see application for more information), read and comment on one another’s draft posts, and meet regularly to discuss. In addition, the Scholars program offers students an opportunity to engage with the work of the DHRC at KIE and its network of scholars and practitioners.

DHRC at KIE is now accepting applications for the Rights Writers project. Students who enjoy writing, would like more public exposure for their writing, and who are interested in tracing developments of their chosen topic over the course of a year are especially encouraged to apply.

Opportunities and responsibilities for the 2016-2017 Kenan Global Human Rights Scholars include:

  • Scholars will receive an $850 honorarium in support of their participation in the program.
  • Scholars will blog! Each month during the school year (total 8 blogs) scholars will respond to a prompt about their given topic, as well as provide comments on the draft blog of one other scholar in the group. Blogs will be between 500-800 words;
  • Scholars will attend mandatory meetings twice a month to discuss their writing, their own, broadly defined, global human rights interests as well as current events;
  • Scholars will help facilitate the annual Student Research Symposium in April
  • The Program will include invitations to attend events and meet with human rights scholars and activists visiting the Kenan Institute for Ethics;

Download the application form: PDF or Word doc. Completed applications should be sent to Suzanne Katzenstein (Suzanne.Kazenstein@duke.edu) by Thursday, September 22nd at 11:59 pm. Please put “Global Scholars Application” in the subject line.

Admission is selective; 5-6 students will be chosen for 2016-2017. Candidates may be asked in for an interview; applicants will be notified of their admission decision around October 5th. Any further questions about the application process should be directed to Suzanne Katzenstein, Project Director of the Duke Human Rights Center at the Kenan Institute for Ethics (suzanne.katzenstein@duke.edu).

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