Reflection on the rights and freedoms of minority groups, victims of wars and sexual violence, refugees, and people on the move.

The Center on Women, Gender and Public Policy (CWGPP) included an interview with Andrea Daniela Martinez (MHR '19) in the Center's newsletter on February 17, 2021. Andrea is a former graduate assistant for the Center who focused on public policy, evaluation, immigration and women’s rights during her time in the Master of Human Rights Program. Read more about Andrea and her current work below! 

As the Human Rights Program begins to celebrate our program's 20th anniversary, we are looking at the incredible impacts our alum are making in the world today. To begin, we are celebrating the achievements of Katie Burke, Master of Human Rights program (MHR '20) alumna with a concentration in Child Rights. Learn more about Katie’s life “post-MHR” below!

Christopher Grathwol (MHR '21) is a second-year Master of Human Rights Student with a concentration in conflict and international security with a regional studies focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Over the summer, Christopher worked with Nonviolent Peaceforce assisting with multiple projects focused on unarmed civilian protection. To learn more about Christopher's experience, read our interview below!

Yolanda Burckhardt (MHR '21) is a second-year Master of Human Rights Student with a concentration in Gender and Racial Justice. Over the summer, Yolanda worked with Professor Barb Frey on the Observatory on Disappearances and Impunity in Mexico. To read about her work and the experiences she had, read our interview with Yolanda below. 

Bailey Sutter (MHR '21) is a second-year Masters of Human Rights Student with a concentration in Education Justice. This summer, Bailey worked with fellow grad students to study the state of violence in Minneapolis following the murder of George Floyd. To read about her work and the experiences she had, read our interview with Bailey.

Welcome Verónica Cadavid González to the Master of Human Rights class of 2022! Verónica is from Medellin, Colombia and plans to focus on economic, social, and cultural rights, along with international law during her graduate studies. Read below to learn more about her previous work and journey to Minnesota to join our MHR program!

Ta'Mara Hill (MHR '21) is a second year Master of Human Rights student with a concentration in conflict and international security. This summer, Ta'Mara interned with the National Academy of Social Insurance where she had the opportunity to research U.S. social insurance systems, including through comparative analysis of U.S. health policies to other global health systems. Read our interview with Ta'mara below to hear about her experience.

There are over 70,000 reported disappearances in Mexico since 2006. Most of these cases remain unsolved and very few have led to a conviction, as they are failed by a criminal justice system, and often characterized by silence, impunity and corruption. Take a look at how research team from the Observatory on Disappearances and Impunity in Mexico led by Human Rights Program Director Barbara Frey has worked to tackle this problem over the summer.

Paige McLain (MHR '21) is a second year Master of Human Rights student with a concentration in conflict and international security. Over the summer, Paige worked as a fellow for the Human Rights Lab where she had the opportunity to create a report for Nonviolent Peaceforce focused on unarmed civilian protection. We recently caught-up with Paige about her summer experience in the short interview below.

Mikyla Denney (MHR '21) is a second year Master of Human Rights student with a concentration in immigration/migration. Over the summer, Mikyla worked with Refugees International, assisting the organization's President Eric Schwartz on a range of projects and research initiatives. Read our interview with Mikyla below to hear about her experience.

After the murder of George Floyd, MHR students and alumni have focused on advocating for change within the university, actively promoting racial equity, inclusion and anti-racist sentiments throughout every aspect of the institution.

Audel Shokohzadeh is a Master of Public Policy Alumnus ('17) who graduated with a concentration in Economic Development. Audel also has a deep interest in human rights, and took a variety of human rights courses throughout his masters degree. Currently, Audel works as a Community Engagement Director at the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. We caught up with Audel to hear about his role, and how his human rights focus at the Humphrey School helped prepare him for this work.

A delegation of University of Minnesota faculty, researchers, students and alumni will be participating in a variety of research and outreach events at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva during the week of March 2-6, 2020. The week culminates with a public discussion by the Human Rights Lab on research ethics in faculty-student-practitioner partnerships. The visit coincides with two important sessions of the Human Rights Council and the Human Rights Committee.

IDF Fellow Heider Tun closely studies how Mayan Communities in Guatemala respond to Military/Police Violence

Tonje Boerresen is second-year MHR student from Norway with a background in law. This summer she interned with the Center for Victims of Torture in St. Paul. Working with their New Tactics Team, Tonje helped develop unique resources for advocates and activists within human rights designed to help them work on their own issues from their specific regions. Read Tonje's reflection on this fascinating work and how working with a large nonprofit organization such as CVT will help guide her in her professional career path. 

Paul Olubayo is a second-year Masters of Human Rights Program Student. This summer, he interned with Refugees International in Washington D.C. conducting research and reports on a number of policies, as well as a summer-long project regarding global policies and initiatives to provide protection/assistance for individuals affected by displacement due to climate change. We asked him about his experience with them over the summer, and how it has impacted his view of the human rights field.

Olga Salazar worked in Monterrey, Mexico over the summer interviewing journalists to better understand the correlation between the politics of information and accountability in cases of disappearances. Her research is helping to identify best practices in journalism that lead to better outcomes for the families in a country in which over 40,000 persons have disappeared.

Hunter Johnson (MHR ‘20) is producing a documentary on the role of the press in combating enforced disappearances and impunity in Mexico. “Since 2006, over 40,000 people have disappeared in Mexico. This film illustrates how exceptional reporters work with victims' families to demand state accountability in the search for their loved ones, helping to put an end to this ongoing human rights crisis.” Hunter received the Dunn Peace Research Scholarship to investigate and film this project in Mexico.

Since graduating from the University of Minnesota, Sarah Super has been unstoppable in raising awareness around sexual violence and advocating for survivors. Read more about the work she is doing, including her diligent efforts to raise funds for a Memorial for Survivors of Sexual Violence. Please consider making a donation to make this project possible.

As journalists and activists continue reporting on the human rights violations happening in immigration detention, Human Rights and Immigrant Rights organizations and advocates mobilize to lobby their Congressional leaders to vote against additional appropriations for immigrant detention facilities. Among them are a group of Minnesota students, including three Master of Human Rights students. The team recently attended the FCNL Lobby Weekend in Washington D.C. and were given extensive training on how to lobby Congressional leaders on issues related to immigration and refugee rights. They also were able to practice their new skills by lobbying four of Minnesota's Congresswomen to vote against increased funding for immigration detention, among other issues.

Ivan Lopez Justiniano is a second year Master of Human Rights Student who spent winter break working on a fact-finding mission regarding the experiences of LGBTI individuals in Kenya. Using the skills he has gained from the Master of Human Rights program and working in collaboration with other experts, Ivan will spend spring semester developing a report for the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations.

The Observatory on Disappearances and Impunity in Mexico is an ongoing project in which researchers seek to understand the complexities of disappearances and impunity in Mexico. A dynamic, interdisciplinary team led by HRP Director Barbara Frey is moving into a new stage in research, documenting reporting on disappearances in Mexico media. Undergraduate and graduate student researchers on the team are working closely with top human rights and research methods experts in Mexico, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Dr. Calla Brown, second year Master of Human Rights student and Academic General Pediatrics Fellow, is exploring the intersections of human rights and health research and practice. This past year, Calla analyzed data regarding the health services received by incarcerated youth in Minnesota, served on the Migrant Health Elective, joined the board for Doctors of Global Health, and volunteered at the College of Medicine in Malawi.

This summer, second year MHR student Ivan Lopez Justiniano interned at Minneapolis-based Global Rights for Women and supported a research project for HRP Program Director Barbara Frey's project, the Observatory on Disappearances in Mexico. During his busy summer, these roles opened Ivan's eyes to the types of organizations he plans to focus on during his post-graduate job search. Learn more about the new skills and insights Ivan gained from his summer work in this piece.

Second year MHR student Sachal Jacob spent his summer internship in DC focusing on protecting religious freedom. Through his work, he got the opportunity to attend a watershed event hosted by the State Department called the "Ministerial on International Religious Freedom." Learn about where Sachal worked, his key takeaways, and more about the inaugural Ministerial.

This year's Scallen Lecture "Principled Voices" Series focused on "Protecting the Press in Myanmar (Burma)." Expert panelists spoke on current risks to freedom of the press and expression in Myanmar, potential future developments, and how international actors and Myanmar political officials should respond. Read more about the panelists' analysis and insights on protecting Myanmar's press freedom.

Ben Gronowski, second year Master of Human Rights student, spent his summer working at the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion. He focused on a variety of research and evaluation projects for the organization, and also helped in facilitating the organization's annual Stateless Summer Course in the Netherlands. Read more about Ben's experience and what he learned here.

MPP/MSW and human rights minor student Julia Wilber and MHR student Hayley Drozdowski both interned at Refugees International (RI) in Washington D.C. this summer. Hayley also worked remotely as a research intern for the International Rescue Committee. Thanks in part to generous funds from the Human Rights Program, both students engaged in interesting and challenging projects related to topics like the U.S. Southwest border, the Rohingya crisis, refugee resettlement, amongst others. They also got the chance to work closely with former Humphrey Dean and current RI President, Eric Schwartz. Read more about their exciting summers in this piece.

MPP student Fadumo Osman has incorporated human rights scholarship into her studies through the Human Rights Minor curriculum. She was able to dig into this even more during her summer internship with UN-Habitat in Kenya in their Human Rights Mainstreaming Program. In this piece, Fadumo shares the way her role in the Housing Department of the program helped her to learn and grow into a more seasoned human rights practitioner.

Nico Ramos Flores, a Spanish and Portuguese Studies PhD candidate, is writing his dissertation on Afro-Caribbean/Afro-Latino literature. Yet, Nico recently crossed into a new disciplinary field to work with Professor Greta Friedemann-Sanchez on her project, “Family Commissioners: Fostering Justice, Security and Peace in Colombian Families in the Post-Conflict Era” (COLPAZ).

Research Assistant Heider Tun Tun travelled to Guatemala to help find truthful, reliable data about the IDP crisis in El Salvador. The work assisted Prof. McNamara in his HRI grant project, "From IDPs to Refugees: Forced Migration in El Salvador."

While many people think about international issues when they hear the words human rights, Maria was able to see first-hand how human rights ideas and principles can be applied on a local level.

Richa Sharma dedicated her summer to protecting those most vulnerable to sexual and gender based violence to ensure the cycle of violence is broken. As a Masters of Humans Rights student, Richa spent the summer in Geneva, Switzerland as an intern for the Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Unit within the Division of International Protection (DIP) at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Roy Guzman is in his third and final year of the MFA Creative Writing Program at the University of Minnesota. A passionate poet, he uses his experience from his homeland roots in Honduras and his journey of understanding queerness to write and create social change.

Through their internship with Minneapolis based non-profit Children for Incarcerated Caregivers, UMN students have the opportunity to do research, gain global perspectives, and create policies to improve the lives of children with incarcerated parents.

Paula Cuellar, PhD candidate in history and human rights minor, has received three prestigious awards for her dissertation, which focuses on the scorched earth campaigns used during the civil wars in Guatemala and El Salvador.