Required Class Component: Strategic Leadership & Advanced Human Rights Advocacy (2 fall classroom credits). Once a student is accepted into this clinic, the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs will enroll them in the required course.

Additional Co-/Pre-Requisites: Prior semester of the International Human Rights Clinic.

By Permission: Yes. Applications are due by April 15, 2022.

Add/Drop Deadline: June 1, 2022.

LLM Students: Due to the pre-requisite, LLM students are not eligible to apply.

Placement Site: HLS.

Through the International Human Rights Clinic – 3L Leadership Training with Advanced Seminar, students continue to explore theory and practice and to refine core skills necessary to become effective and thoughtful human rights advocates. Students again work on pressing and timely human rights problems around the world, in collaboration with leading international and local human rights organizations. Those in the Clinic have the opportunity to build leadership skills and explore a range of approaches to advance the interests of clients and affected communities. For example, students interview survivors and document abuse; undertake legal, factual, and strategic analysis; and interact with media to build campaigns and advocate for human rights – all under the close supervision of the Clinic’s human rights practitioners. Students work in small teams on a variety of human rights projects and cases. When appropriate, students travel to investigate abuses or pursue advocacy outside Cambridge, participate in sessions before intergovernmental bodies and arguments before courts, and help formulate policy to promote respect for human rights principles and the rule of law. In any given term, the Clinic delves into a wide range of issues, including extrajudicial executions, torture, and criminal justice; the unlawful use of cluster munitions and other weapons; civilian protection in armed conflict; sexual and reproductive rights; human rights and the environment; business and human rights; the role of health professionals in torture; accountability litigation; transitional justice; civil and political rights; economic, social, and cultural rights; and many more. Our clinicians have expertise in numerous regions and countries, including in Latin America, Southern Africa, Eastern and Central Europe, Southeast Asia, and the United States. This wide range of skills, as well as thematic and geographic knowledge, exposes students to a variety of strategies and innovative techniques for promoting and protecting human rights.

Please contact the clinic for more information about the application process.