"In addition to advancing my international law research skills and learning how to draft carefully and precisely, I learned to analyze and synthesize different viewpoints, finding a principled and sustainable middle ground on issues that are politically contentious and much-debated.”
– Isabella Bellera ‘14
The International Human Rights Clinic enables students to critically engage with cutting-edge human rights issues, strategies, tactics, institutions, and law in both domestic and international settings. Through weekly seminars, fieldwork and travel, students develop a range of practical tools and skills needed for human rights advocacy—such as fact-finding, litigation, indicators, reporting, and messaging—that integrate interdisciplinary methods and new technologies. Students also develop competencies related to managing trauma in human rights work, as well as the ethical and accountability challenges of human rights lawyering. Types of clinic projects include those that: apply a human rights framework to domestic issues; involve human rights advocacy abroad; engage with international institutions to advance human rights; and/or address human rights in U.S. foreign policy. Students work closely with local organizations, international NGOs, and U.N. human rights experts and bodies to further the promotion and protection of human rights.
The International Human Rights Clinic is a core component of the Human Rights Program @ Duke Law.
Learn more about Human Rights @ Duke Law
