This document lists a number of funding opportunities for summer human rights work and related work.
Please also check the CDO publication “Summer Funding for Public Interest Work,” available on the CDO Summer Fellowships webpage, the PSLawNet.org webpage on summer funding (click on “Community Resources link in upper right hand corner and then on “Summer Funding.”) In addition, also visit PSLawNet for their publication entitled Finding and Funding Public Service Opportunities (click “Community Resources” and then “Helpful Resources” and scroll down the page.)
The Tinker Research Grant is offered by the Center for Latin American Studies. The grant competition is open to all registered UC Berkeley graduate students. The grant will provide travel support of summer field research in Latin America. Awards are limited to monetary support for round trip economy airfare between the US and one Latin American country. The award amount is determined by the faculty selection committee. The application deadline will fall during the first week of March 2008; the exact deadline and application instructions will be available on the CLAS website in late January or early February 2008. For more information, visit the Center for Latin American Studies’ website at http://socrates.berkeley.edu:7001/Research/graduate/ or call the Center at 642-2088.
The University of Minnesota Human Rights Center is offering summer fellowships to residents of the Upper Midwest, USA who will work with a human rights organization. For more information and to obtain an application, please visit the Center’s website at http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/center/uppermidwest/index.html. Applications must be received by Monday, February 25, 2008 by 4:00 PM Central Time.
The UC Berkeley Human Rights Center offers 10 summer fellowships to students working in human rights organizations in the US and abroad. The fellowship is $3,500 and the purpose is to provide the opportunity to contribute to human rights research, while gaining practical field experience. Application packets are available online at http://www.hrcberkeley.org/. Applications for the 2008 Human Rights Fellowship Program are due February 29 by 4 PM.
Two human rights groups have internships that are paid by the Everett Public Service Internship Program. The stipend is $280 per week for 10 weeks. The Everett Public Service Internship Program funds summer work at over 100 specific organizations based in NY or DC. Please visit http://www.everettinternships.org/ for more information.
Everett Internships are available for work at Human Rights Watch. The deadline for applying to HRW for Everett Internship positions is March 14, 2008. Please visit http://www.hrw.org/internships/graduates/graduates.html and http://www.hrw.org/internships/funded.html for information about this and other opportunities at Human Rights Watch.
Everett Internships are also available for work at Human Rights First (formerly LCHR). The HRF internship (also based in New York) involves researching, analyzing international law and foreign statutes, preparing advocacy materials, and reaching out to targeted constituencies. This year, the Everett Public Service Internship Program is placing four summer interns in the offices of Human Rights First – two in our NY office and two in Washington, DC. If you wish to be considered for an Everett Internship, please indicate as much in your cover letter. All HRF internship positions are eligible, provided that the individual intern meets the Everett Public Service Internship Program’s requirements. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, so it is best to apply as soon as possible. For more details, visit http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/ and http://www.everettinternships.org/.
The American Society of International Law (“ASIL”) sponsors the Arthur C. Helton Fellowship Program. The program currently consists of a one-time “micro-grant” for law students and young lawyers to pursue human rights work and research at an established NGO or human rights organization. Preferential consideration may be given to proposals with a significant fieldwork component. All applications must be received no later than Friday, February 15, 2008. Due to administrative constraints, only the first 50 completed applications, submitted on-line, and received in full by the submission deadline will be reviewed. A notice that the application process has closed will be posted on the ASIL website once 50 completed applications have been received. For more information, please visit http://www.asil.org/aboutasil/heltonindex.html
The Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Program offers fellowships to study modern foreign languages and develop international studies expertise. FLAS Fellowships are available
for the study of languages in eight world areas: Africa, East Asia, East Europe, Latin America, Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and West Europe. Lowest consideration is given to: 1) students who already possess language fluency equivalent to educated native speakers in the language for which the award is sought, including dissertators; 2) students who are taking the first 12 semester hours or the equivalent in Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish; and 3) students applying for dissertation research or writing as opposed to students applying for language acquisition. Priority is given to students in the humanities and social sciences as well as professional fields. For more information, please contact the Graduate Fellowships Office at 642-0672 or view the website at http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/financial/deadlines.shtml#graddiv. The deadline to apply is Monday, January 28, 2008.