Summer Human Rights Study and Internship Opportunities

Hey everyone,

I wanted to let you know about several study abroad programs in the summer for those interested in international human rights law. Some things to consider about summer plans is that it can be very difficult to find a paying summer law job your first year (and nearly impossible if you want to do human rights law). There are many unpaid internships in the US and abroad, but you will have to pay your own way. However, there are several study abroad programs that will give you an internship in addition to taking courses, and you can take out financial aid to cover the cost. Even though many of the programs, especially USD's are expensive, you can use the credits you earn to go part time your 3rd year or even graduate a semester early, making the total cost of law school the same. Here's an outline of just a few, and resources to find more!

1. Moscow and St. Petersburg-Russia (Sponsored by USD)

I put this one first only because I did it last year, so I know all about it. The pros are that you can earn 11 credits in only two months, enough to in practice graduate a semester early. You take classes for a month, and in the second month you work full time in an internship. There are several human rights organizations you can work with, and some, including the one I worked for, dont require knowledge of Russian. The internship has lots of hands on experience, and you get a great feel for working in a non profit human rights law firm. Also, contrary to popular belief, Russia is not cold during the summer, but in fact very beautiful and exciting. The cons: Since its a USD program, tuition and living expenses comes out to something like 20 grand. But like i said, since you can graduate a semester early or go part time, the cost evens out.

2. Cape Town- South Africa (Sponsored by Howard Law School)

This one month, 6 credit program entails taking two courses in Cape Town. However, space permitting, the program coordinator is willing to give students a part time internship with human rights organizations to be done in the afternoons.

3. The Hague, Netherlands (American Law School, or Santa Clara Law)

No internship, but a month of intensive international human rights law study in the human rights capital of the world (The Hague).

4. Sydney, Australia (Santa Clara Law)

This 6 credit program is classes and they offer human rights internships for credit also.


There are several other classes only programs that specialize in human rights law. Go to http://www.abanet.org/legaled/studyabroad/foreign.html to see all the study abroad programs offered. Each law schools website has information tucked away about their programs.

I'm currently spending the semester studying human rights law in Amsterdam, which is an option to do your second year. If anyone has any questions about that, or the summer abroad programs, feel free to email me at kgrigsby2@yahoo.com. I hope everyone is having a good spring semester and be sure to attend the excellent IPJ events with Brett!

Kevin Grigsby