INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY

University of Iowa Center for Human Rights (UICHR)

The University of Iowa Center for Human Rights (UICHR) has as its mission the promotion and protection of human rights at home and abroad through distinguished multidisciplinary leadership in human rights research, education, and public service to The University of Iowa, its surrounding communities, the State of Iowa, and beyond. To this end, it attends to all categories of human rights, including "first generation" civil and political rights, but gives special attention to "second generation" economic, social, and cultural rights and "third generation" community or group rights.

The UICHR encourages students to explore human rights internship opportunities in Iowa, the nation, and around the world.  The Center is also committed to helping students secure these internships.  Look through the pages of information to get a feel for what is available.  Then contact the Center if you want to know more. http://www.uichr.org/

Testimonial

Julia LaBua, winner of the 2006 Ken Cmiel Human Rights Award, about the award and her work as an intern at UICHR.

Thank you very much. I'm overwhelmed by receiving this honor. And I am especially pleased to receive the award named in honor of Professor Ken Cmiel, because he was instrumental in sparking my interest in human rights work and it was he who steered me to the UI Center for Human Rights and the wonderful people there.

I met Ken when I took one of his classes in the Fall of 2004, The History of Human Rights Politics. He was a great teacher, one who was deeply knowledgeable and passionate about the topic. And he had a wonderful sense of humor, which made the class as enjoyable as it was illuminating. It was during that semester that I spoke to Ken about wanting to learn more about human rights. He had just been named director of the UI Center for Human Rights, and he encouraged me to volunteer there. The 2 years I have spent there -- first as a volunteer and now as an Undergraduate Scholar Assistant intern -- have been some of the most enjoyable, rewarding and enlightening years of my life. It's been a joy to work not only with Ken but also with Deputy Director Amy Weismann and secretary Liz Crooks, who do so much to make the Center what it is.

When I first came to the UICHR, it didn't take long for me to realize how vital students are to the Center's work. During that spring semester, it was an undergraduate student, Alexis Bushnell, who conceived and planned what has become the Careers for Change speaker series, which gives students a chance to hear people who work in social justice fields talk about how they came to be where they are and do what they do. It's a great opportunity for students to learn about the many, many alternative career paths where they can use the skills they are learning at the UI to do good. The program is almost entirely planned and coordinated by student volunteers who contact speakers, arrange dates, times, venues, publicity and promotion. And I can tell your from personal experience that it works -- I attended a Careers for Change event featuring UI history alum Trudy Peterson, who among other posts was Acting Archivist of the United States and has worked with the UN and other international government and non-government entities on creating, organizing and preserving archives relating to human-rights issues such as the International Tribunal on Yugoslavia and helping the Guatemalan government to preserve the archives of the former regime's secret police. She was truly inspiring and I am now making plans to attend graduate school in library science with the goal of becoming an archivist in human rights.

Other students have taken ownership of other Center projects, such as film series, panel discussions and speakers. They help the Center create programming that is interesting, informative and relevant to the UI and Iowa City communities.

I have been fortunate in my work at the Center to be able to use the writing skills I honed during an 18-year career in journalism. I've helped to write news releases and the Center's annual newsletter. I've also acquired some new skills along the way, including updating the Center's Web site and conducting online research on a variety of human-rights issues, and a new career. None of this would have happened without the inspiration and encouragement of Ken Cmiel. I hope I can live up to the honor of receiving this award named for him.