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The Miller Human Rights Award will support graduate and undergraduate human rights students who seek to deepen their experience through study abroad or volunteer work. The placement should provide substantive and thoughtful engagement, through a human rights lens, with communities experiencing socio-economic inequities, forms of discrimination, or other types of institutional or societal marginalization. Applicants with placements in the Global South are especially encouraged to apply, although the nature of the work and its potential for addressing a significant need in a marginalized community is prioritized over a specific location/country.
Selected students will engage in an opportunity abroad to enhance their human rights education or professional experience. This could entail an internship, volunteer work, or study abroad (study abroad is for undergraduate students only). Human Rights Majors and Concentrators currently enrolled in Columbia College or the School of General Studies, and HRSMA students are eligible to apply. Award recipients will receive a stipend in the amount of $5,000, intended to defray the costs associated with pursuing an experience abroad. Semester and summer opportunities are eligible for funding. Fellowship recipients are expected to write a brief report, discussing their experience and its impact on their academic studies or expected career trajectory in human rights. Recipients are also invited to write a blog post for ISHR’s RightsViews blog.
Steve Miller is the Chief Financial Officer of Warby Parker and serves on the Board of Ubuntu Pathways. Steve graduated from Columbia College in 1995 with a degree in Political Science. While at Columbia, Steve spent time in Johannesburg, South Africa and helped raise over $500K in support of local communities. Steve’s volunteer experience had a lasting impact on his commitment to social justice initiatives and he remains actively engaged with civil society in the country.
To apply, please complete this application, and email any questions to humanrightsed@columbia.edu. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, with a priority admission date of December 1 for Spring term submissions and May 1 for Summer submissions. Alternatively, for general research or internship funding, students should review ISHR's graduate or undergraduate financial resources page.
Note: Disbursement of this award is contingent on compliance with Columbia University’s international travel policies and procedures.
Clara Harrington is a Human Rights Major in the General Studies and SciencesPo Dual Program at Columbia University. Clara's interest in humanitarian work began in 2019 when she volunteered on the UK-France border in Calais, France working with refugee and migrant communities. She returned to live in Calais from 2020-2021. As a recipient of the Miller Prize in summer 2022, Clara will continue to participate in advocacy efforts and daily dry food distribution to 1,500 displaced persons for the Calais Food Collective, a grassroots, flat hierarchy organization in Northern France, set up for emergency response to the pandemic. Since beginning her studies at Columbia, Clara has engaged in the field of human rights with a primary focus on advocacy for refugees and migrants' rights. While at SciencesPo, Clara studied Political Humanities with a Middle Eastern and Mediterranean specialization. She is currently entering her fourth and final year of the program where she is majoring in Human Rights.
