2016 Oak Fellow Previous Oak Fellows

The 2016 Oak Fellow is Khalid Albaih, a Sudanese 2015: Jodi Koberinski has pioneered work in reimagining artist residing in . Albaih uses his daring, often agriculture and advocating for more equitable food biting cartoons to champion important causes like systems freedom of expression and democracy in the Arab 2014: Clare Byarugaba, co-coordinator of the Civil Society world, while also criticizing Islamophobia in the Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law, West, and the use of torture and predator drone founded in 2009 to fight efforts in Uganda to criminalize attacks by the United States. He became associated both homosexuality itself and on behalf of the Oak Human with the in 2011, when his images were LGBTI community turned into stencils and reproduced on city walls in 2013: Maung Maung Than and Mya Nandar Aung Rights Fellowship Cairo and Sana’a that were buzzing with calls for have worked with the United Nations High greater citizen rights. He soon acquired thousands Commission on Refugees to protect the rights of of followers on his Facebook site (“Khartoon!” – a stateless people in western Burma and with various play on his artistic medium and his former home in organizations to encourage Buddhist-Muslim Oak Scholar Gift Ntuli ’14, from Mutare, Zimbabwe, the capital of ). Offline, Albaih’s work also has reconciliation won the 2013 Colby Entrepreneurial Alliance Business Competition, receiving $13,000 for his nonprofit initiative appeared in exhibitions in Vienna, London, Montreal, 2012: Zandile Nhlengetwa, principal of South Africa’s to distribute rechargeable lanterns in remote villages of Detroit, Bahrain, and The Hague, and has been Ulusda School, a place of learning for young people Zimbabwe. Ntuli earned a full scholarship for a master’s featured prominently in numerous media outlets, as well as a community center that organizes adults to program in geophysics at Baylor University in Texas. including the New York Times and . combat problems such as gender inequity, sexual abuse, and violence 2011: Fatima Burnad, founder and president of the Oak Scholarships Society for Rural Education and Development, which organizes and advocates for the Dalit (untouchable) In addition to the annual Oak Human Rights community in India Fellowship, the College also has a Colby-Oak 2010: Jestina Mukoko, executive director of the international scholarship program for students Zimbabwe Peace Project, an NGO that monitors who have suffered or whose families have suffered human rights abuses throughout the country political oppression, including politically motivated 2009: Hadas Ziv, executive director of Physicians for torture. Additional Oak scholarships are awarded to Human Rights–Israel, who has worked on numerous other international students, with two reserved for campaigns to secure access to health care for Israel’s students from Zimbabwe and with a preference for most underrepresented groups, including Palestinians, one or two students from Denmark. African refugees, and migrants

Application Information

For more information, contact Office of Admissions and Financial Aid Colby College 4800 Mayflower Hill Waterville, Maine 04901 U.S.A. [email protected] phone: 800-723-3032 2016 Oak Human Rights Fellow Khalid Albaih 2013 Oak Fellows 2014 Oak Fellow fax: 207-859-4828 Maung Maung Than Clare Byarugaba and Mya Nandar Aung The Oak Fellowship

The Oak Fellowship annually offers an opportunity lecture series or symposium on their human rights and safety of the fellowship experience, the program for one prominent activist in international human interests. The fellow participates in the intellectual is designed to allow dependent family members to rights to take a leave from frontline work and spend life of the campus, providing Colby students join the fellow in residence at Colby. A limited budget the fall semester (mid-August to mid-December) in the opportunity to work with an internationally is allocated to help offset the cost of transportation, residence at Colby. This provides the fellow time for recognized human rights activist. housing, and meals for family members who respite, reflection, research, and writing. Following accompany the fellow. the period of the award, the fellow is expected to In addition to a $33,000 stipend, the fellowship return home to continue their human rights work. includes health benefits, housing, a campus meal plan, Eligibility for the Oak Fellowship is restricted to and transportation. The fellowship also provides an those whose work takes place primarily outside the 2015 Oak Fellow Jodi Koberinski The Oak Fellow’s responsibilities include regular office, access to the College’s computer and library United States. Selection criteria include achievements Credit: Girl Crimson ::: Alt Portraiture girlcrimson.com meetings with students through a small seminar resources, a student assistant to help with the seminar in the struggle for human rights, the need for class and informal discussion groups. Additionally, and research, and secretarial support. To ensure that respite and removal from danger, and the ability the fellow works with Colby’s faculty to shape a the fellow fully benefits from the extended respite to contribute to the Colby community. Application Information Nominations for the 2017 Oak Fellowship should be sent to Film/Photography and Human Rights About Colby Professor Walter Hatch The Oak Institute for Human Rights at Colby Colby College, founded in Oak Institute for the Study of College is pleased to issue this call for nominations 1813, is one of America’s International Human Rights for the 2017 Oak Fellowship. Our theme is human outstanding and most Colby College rights and film/photography. We are looking for prestigious liberal arts 5300 Mayflower Hill a filmmaker and/or photographer who uses one colleges, offering a rigorous Waterville, Maine 04901 U.S.A. academic program that fosters or both of these media to expose human rights e-mail: [email protected] transformational relationships abuses or who has been subjected to censorship phone: 207-859-5319 fax: 207-859-5229 or some other kind of abuse for pursuing their art between students and faculty. or journalism. Applicants may be documentary Located on one of the most or feature filmmakers, photojournalists, or beautiful campuses in the More information and application forms artistic photographers. The successful applicant, nation, Colby overlooks a are available at colby.edu/oak. though, will see the world through a critical lens, small New England town challenging other viewers to think more deeply. in Maine’s Kennebec Completed applications must arrive We ask your help in identifying filmmakers or River valley. The College no later than Dec. 2, 2016. photographers in need of respite. enrolls approximately 1,850 undergraduate students and The selection of the 2017 Oak Fellow has a faculty of 200. will be announced by April 15, 2017.