435 West 116th Street, New York, NY 10027 law.columbia.edu Leading Change HUMAN RIGHTS AT COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL The Human Rights Path at Columbia Law School Columbia Law School’s innovative and Beginning with admission and continuing through graduation and beyond, Columbia students expansive human rights program trains are members of a vibrant human rights community. They work closely with leading faculty and the next generation of strategic and lawyers to develop their human rights expertise. Situated in New York, alongside the headquarters creative human rights leaders. Columbia of the U.N. and many international NGOs, students have diverse opportunities to meet leading Law students join a pioneering human practitioners and hone their skills through clinics, externships, and field placements. rights law faculty at a world-renowned During their time at the Law School, students are provided individualized mentoring and career guidance from professors, the many human rights advocates on staff at the Law School, and university with extensive curricular offerings, Columbia’s extensive network of alumni and advocates around the world. global reach, and deep ties with the interna- tional human rights community. Graduates of Columbia go on to lead social change Far Far left: Professor Sarah Cleveland speaking at a human rights panel around the world through directing NGOs, at the Law School. supporting social movements, advising Left: Human Rights Clinic student governments, working at the U.N., litigating Candy Ofime ’17 meets with a community in Papua New Guinea in international courts, or as teachers to discuss the effects of industrial and scholars. gold mining on human rights. 1L YEAR 2L AND 3L YEARS AFTER GRADUATION Students can apply for Columbia’s Students choose from a wide range The Law School supports students unique 1L Advocates Program, in of classes taught by distinguished in launching and developing their which they work on cutting-edge scholars and advocates. They can careers through public interest human rights cases beginning in their enroll in clinics and externships fellowships, a generous loan first semester of law school. They to develop real-world experience, repayment program, and continued can also join student groups and including the Human Rights Clinic, career advising. moots, and attend frequent talks by Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, Mediation influential advocates. All students Clinic, or an externship at the U.N. are eligible to receive stipends for Students can write academic papers summer public interest internships. with close faculty guidance, and join the staff of one of the Law School’s 14 journals. The Human Rights Institute The Human Rights Institute (HRI) is the anchor for the human rights community at Columbia HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTE ADVOCACY PROJECTS Law School. Co-directed by professors Sarah Cleveland and Sarah Knuckey, HRI is one of the oldest and largest law school human rights centers in the world. Founded in 1998 by the Counterterrorism, Armed Conflict, and Human Rights late Professor Louis Henkin, HRI advances international human rights through education, HRI advances respect for human advocacy, fact-finding, scholarship, and critical reflection. Working in partnership with activists, rights in armed conflict and law communities, and organizations, HRI promotes justice for violations, strengthens human rights enforcement operations through law and institutions, amplifies collective power, builds bridges between scholarship and activism, investigating violations and war crimes, employing data visualization, and develops innovative human rights methods. advocating at the U.N., seeking law reform, and supporting human COMMUNITY & EVENTS INNOVATIVE RESEARCH STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES rights defenders. HRI brings together students, & ADVOCACY Students are encouraged to HRI is a global leader in human scholars, and advocates through collaborate with HRI’s faculty Human Rights in the workshops and panel discussions. rights research and advocacy. and staff on all of HRI’s projects. United States It provides a robust program of Its experienced researchers and Students can join HRI’s Student HRI advances social justice in the events featuring a diverse array large staff of lawyers include Advisory Board, helping to United States through a human of experts, including grassroots experts in counterterrorism and nurture the human rights rights framework, and coordinates activists, senior U.N. and govern- armed conflict, business and community and plan programming the Bringing Human Rights Home ment officials, and academics. human rights, socioeconomic at Columbia while developing Lawyers’ Network of more than rights, data visualization, and leadership skills. 800 advocates. HRI brings leading academics, critical approaches to human emerging scholars, and advocates rights. HRI produces cutting- Human Rights and Business to Columbia as Human Rights edge scholarship that tackles HRI holds corporations to account Practitioners-in-Residence, Visiting pressing human rights issues. for human rights abuses, and Scholars, and Senior Fellows, who seeks to recalibrate the corporate- teach and mentor students. Through community power imbalances that Columbia University’s Human Rights lead to human rights violations. Advocates Program, Columbia students also have the opportunity Human Rights Methods, to learn from experts from the Systems, and Critique global south. HRI innovates interdisciplinary investigation methods, conducts research to improve mental health Carolyn Forstein ’15 in the human rights field, researches in Peru with a mural human rights critiques, and works protesting a proposed to strengthen the global human gold mine. rights architecture. HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTE AND HUMAN RIGHTS CLINIC LEADERSHIP AND STAFF The Human Rights Clinic Sarah Cleveland, Faculty Co-Director, JoAnn Kamuf Ward, Director, Gulika Reddy ’16, Human Rights Institute Human Rights in the U.S. Project, Clinical Teaching Fellow The Human Rights Clinic is a yearlong course that prepares students for lifelong careers in Cleveland, the Louis Hen- and Lecturer-in-Law Reddy is a human rights lawyer and Ward, whose work focuses on using social justice advocacy around the globe. As members of the Clinic, students join a community kin Professor of Human the Founder & Director of Schools and Constitutional Rights, a human rights framework to address of Equality, a non-profit organization of advocates working to recalibrate the global power imbalances that drive economic and political teaches the foundation social injustice in the United States, in India that runs activity-based inequality, threats to physical security, poverty, and environmental injustice. Through fact-finding, course in international is the director of the Human Rights programs in schools with the aim to reporting, litigation, media engagement, advocacy, training, and innovative methods, the Clinic human rights, which examines its history, in the U.S. Project. shift social attitudes that perpetuate laws, and institutions. She is currently an gender-based violence and other seeks to prevent abuse and promote accountability for violations. independent expert on the U.N. Human Tony Wilson, Director, forms of identity-based discrimina- Rights Committee, and the U.S. Member Security Force Monitor tion. She has worked with lawyers and With the mentorship of the Clinic’s professors and supervisors, students work on real human on the Venice Commission of the Council Wilson directs HRI’s Security Force non-profits and academic institutions Monitor, which aims to use data to rights cases, and develop the wide range of skills necessary to be strategic and creative lawyers, of Europe. From 2009 to 2011, she served in India to advance human rights and make security forces more transparent and critically analyze and advance human rights methodologies. The Clinic engages students in as the Counselor on International Law to mainstream human rights education. the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department and accountable. Previously, Wilson an active and co-creator mode of education, and students are involved in building the methods of State. She was a clerk for U.S. Supreme worked with the National Security Tom Longley, Deputy Director, and Human Rights Campaign at the and pedagogy of the Clinic itself. Court Justice Harry Blackmun. Security Force Monitor Open Society Foundations. Longley is a human rights and tech- SKILLS ACTIONS MENTORSHIP Sarah Knuckey, Director, Human nology researcher. He has worked Priyanka Motaparthy ’09, Director, Project selection and strategy The Clinic functions similarly to a To contribute to a strong and collab- Rights Clinic, Faculty Co-Director, on field investigations of war crimes Human Rights Institute Project on Counterterrorism, non-governmental organization. orative human rights community at in Kosovo and Sierra Leone, as Advocacy tactics An international human Armed Conflict and Human Rights Clinic projects vary from year to Columbia Law School and beyond, well as on documenting large-scale Fact-finding rights advocate and Prior to joining HRI, Motaparthy served year, and each addresses margin- the Clinic builds a network of current human rights violations in Zimbabwe, Lieff Cabraser Associate as acting Emergencies director at Interdisciplinary methods alized, urgent, and complex human students, alumni, and scholars. The Cambodia, and other countries. Professor of Clinical Law, Human Rights Watch, where she led Interviewing techniques rights issues around