LL.M Program in Human Rights Advocacy

In the field of human rights today, the skills required for effective human rights defense include a blend of legal training in the law of human rights, fact-finding and documentation expertise, advocacy through campaigns in traditional and social media, grassroots organization, and other non-legal methods. Unlike in other graduate human rights programs, students enrolled in this LL.M will have the unparalleled opportunity to sharpen these skills by engaging in supervised, practical work.

Central and unique features of this LL.M program are UNHR’s Human Rights Simulation Exercise, followed by supervised travel and field work with partners fighting rights abuses. The simulation exercise places students in a controlled, scripted situation of conflict and violations, exposing them to, and empowering them to avoid common pitfalls and challenges in international human rights practice, including cultural insensitivity, re-traumatization, and the endangerment of witnesses in high-risk situations.

Once they have completed the Human Rights Simulation Exercise, students begin work with partner communities. They are given background preparation materials before traveling to apply what they’ve learned in projects on the ground. Working closely with their supervisor, students participate in meetings and interviews with local rights activists, abuse victims, authorities, and other stakeholders. They also visit sites of past, ongoing, and potential violations, and conduct other forms of field investigation.

The combination of instruction and practicum provides a unique space for both current and future practitioners to study, and then apply, theory, methodology, and novel approaches to advance human rights.