Using Storytelling to Advance Human Rights

Former Scribes for Human Rights Fellow, Emily Strasser, Talks Post-Fellowship Success, Importance of the Scribes for Human Rights
A black spiral notebook and blue pen sit on a blank of wood resting on some gravel
A young woman with short, brown, curly hair and glasses wearing a white tee shirt and a black sweatshirt sits looking to her right in front of a shop window

Emily Strasser used her time as a Scribe for Human Rights to travel to Dharamsala, India, to interview and share the stories of Tibetan refugees who fled Chinese-occupied Tibet. Emily interviewed a group of more than 10 men and women that included monks, nuns, and laypeople. Several of the refugees had been political prisoners, and some were subject to torture. Emily's work in Dharamsala resulted in publication in Guernica in January 2015. "The Chair" describes the story of a Tibetan monk who worked on a documentary featuring the uncensored views of ordinary Tibetans on life under Chinese rule.

Emily was also able to share the stories of those she met in Dharamsala alongside a photography exhibit at the Soap Factory in Minneapolis.

Emily believes that the Scribe for Human Rights Fellowship helped her receive subsequent grants and fellowships that include the Hawkinson Foundation for Peace and Justice grant, which she also received in 2015. She completed her MFA in 2016, and received a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist’s initiative grant, and was also awarded the WK Rose Fellowship from Vassar College. Emily’s essay that she authored as a Scribes for Human Rights fellow “The Chair” also helped her become an Olive B. O’Connor fellow at Colgate University where she is currently serving her fellowship year.

The Scribes for Human Rights Fellowship offers a unique opportunity for fine arts scholars to collaborate with the Human Rights Program and practice effectively communicating about human rights. This fellowship supports an MFA student each year to work as a writer-in-residence for the Human Rights Program. Scribes provide essential narratives that are useful in appealing to a larger audience about supporting human rights. Creative, accessible narratives can help to significantly strengthen the efforts of those seeking to spread human rights more broadly.

The Human Rights Program recently announced that applications are now open for a new fellow in the Scribes of Human Rights Program. Interested applicants must be a current first- or second-year Creative Writing MFA student at the University of Minnesota. For more information, questions can be sent to hrp@umn.edu.  

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