The Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR)  was founded in 1978  at the Columbia University in Manhattan, New York. The institute is committed to its three core goals of providing excellent human rights education to Columbia students, fostering innovative interdisciplinary academic research, and offering its expertise in capacity building to human rights leaders, organizations, and universities around the world.  Right now, the Alliance for Historical Dialogue & Accountability (AHDA)-fellowship is open for applications.

This program is designed for lawyers, journalists, teachers, social workers, community organizers, artists, scholars and other human rights activists working on issues related to dealing with the past such as: transitional justice, historical dialogue, memory studies, historical justice, oral history, history education. Participants are selected on the basis of their previous work experience in work that deals with the past, their commitment to the human rights field, and demonstrated ability to pursue graduate-level studies. Full-time students will not be considered. Applicants who are mid-career and hold full or part-time jobs pursuing their advocacy efforts are preferred.

The programme is aimed at honing practical skills in fundraising, advocacy and leadership; to developing a deeper understanding of and engagement with the past; and to fostering mutually beneficial relationships with their peers and with international and non-profit organizations based in New York and Washington, D.C. Over the course of the semester, fellows take part in seminars, work-shops, site visits, collaborative relationships and networking, providing ample opportunity for networking and advocacy.

Visit the AHDA’s how to apply-website for more information on the fellowship and how to proceed with the application.

Additionally, you can read more about Nayla Khodr Hamadeh, Project Manager at the Lebanese Association for History’s first hand experiences with the fellowship from 2015 below.

https://euroclio.eu/voice/nayla-hamadeh-shares-experiences-ahda-fellow-columbia-university/