November | 2019

News and Opportunities

Special Screening of Just Mercy on Dec. 2

Please join us for an advance screening of  Just Mercy  on Monday, December 2 at 7PM. Following the film, there will be a Q&A with Shelagh Kenney, Director of Post-Conviction Litigation at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation and Trey Walk, Justice Fellow at the Equal Justice Initiative. To reserve tickets please visit tickets.duke.edu or call the Duke University Box Office at 919-684-4444. Learn more .

DukeImmerse: Rights and Identities in the Americas Program Travels to Mexico

By Zac Johnson, ’22 From October 28 to November 9 our DukeImmerse cohort travelled to Mexico to work and conduct research with organizations related to immigration and recently returned Americans. We spent the first six nights in Mexico City, the following five in Puebla, and the final night back again in Mexico City. Our partner students at Universidad de las Américas Puebla met us on the second day at a museum dedicated to the men and women subjected to forced disappearances by the Mexican government since the 1970s. Read more here .

Dangerous Work: A Study of Reprisals against Environmental Defenders in the former Soviet Union and the United States

On October 15, students and faculty gathered with environmental defenders and Crude Accountability to attend the public launch of the report on Dangerous Work. Dangerous Work is a compilation of stories of reprisals against environmental defenders, describing the multitude of ways that governments and corporations and their watchdogs retaliate against activists, particularly those working in the extractive sector. It also describes the disturbing trends of increasing threats to environmental defenders in each of the countries highlighted in the report.

Why the Human Rights Certificate? Interviews with Tyler Kopp and Camille Ampey

These interviews were conducted over email with Tyler Kopp and Camille Ampey, by Miranda Gershoni, a second-year undergraduate student working for the Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute. Miranda Gershoni (MG): Why did you decide to pursue the human rights certificate? Tyler Kopp (TK): I had an interest in studying human rights since I first heard the term in high school, but I had very little idea what human rights looked like in the “real world.” People tend to throw around the term “human rights” often, but I think that in a lot of cases, the term is used as a hyper-theoretical, often misinterpreted/misconstrued idea that can end up surmounting to empty wording. This certificate has provided me with a lot of ways to interpret, analyze, and critique human rights — from the international human rights documents we often laud at fancy conferences to the human rights violations of migrant families that I am researching right now as I write my senior thesis in public policy.  Read more . Camille Ampey (CA): I decided to pursue the human rights certificate because it gives focus to my studies and allows me to learn more about how human rights and public policy are intertwined. Public policy and government actors not only have a substantial role in abusing human rights but also in protecting them and changing the national conversation around who should be considered human. This is the role I want to have throughout my future. Read more here .

Looking for Summer Research Opportunities? Apply now!

Currently enrolled Duke undergraduate and graduate students are invited to apply for summer research funding from the Duke Human Rights Center@FHI. The goals of the grants are to strengthen research opportunities for students interested in developing, implementing and working in human rights. Special consideration is given to students whose research projects contribute to a senior thesis or project. Grants are available of up to $2,000. Eligibility and Criteria: Students from all backgrounds and academic disciplines are encouraged to apply. Graduating seniors or graduate students in their final year at Duke are not eligible. Students must be directed by a member of the Duke University faculty and conducted over a period no less than 2 weeks during the summer. Students are expected to be in frequent contact with their advisors and the DHRC@FHI throughout the duration of the project. Read more here .

2020 Oliver W. Koonz Human Rights Prize

Every year, Duke undergraduates are invited to enter essays or alternative projects regarding global human rights issues in our annual Oliver W. Koonz Human Rights Prize competition. The Oliver W. Koonz Human Rights Prize honors Oliver W. Koonz (1910-2009), who was the father of Claudia Koonz, the Peabody Family Professor Emeritus in the History Department and a founding member of the Duke Human Rights Center@FHI. The recipient of many awards, Professor Koonz is a passionate advocate of undergraduate education. She has taught and mentored hundreds of Duke students during her career at the university. Her areas of specialty include genocide, 20th century European history and fascism. From her father, she inherited a passion for the outdoors and learning. This prize honors his memory. For more details read here . For a glimpse into the stories of the recipients of the 2019 Oliver W. Koonz Prize, read more here .

CONNECT WITH US

‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

The Duke Human Rights Center @ the Franklin Humanities Institute brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars, staff and students to promote new understandings about global human rights issues.