Human Rights Practice Program Receives Grant to Collaborate with Universities in Russia and Kyrgyzstan

The Human Rights Practice Program just received word that their proposal was funded for $15,000 to build collaborative programs between the UA’s new online graduate programs in Human Rights Practice and the law schools at two Russian-language universities – the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and the University of Yekaterinburg in Yekaterinburg, Russia.  Human Rights Practice faculty William Simmons, Leonard Hammer, and Seánna Howard will be working with two members of the program’s International Advisory Board Anton Burkov and Kamila Mateeva.  We will co-develop courses that will be taken by students from all three institutions and provide pathways for students from the two Russian-language universities to earn our 12-credit graduate certificate or 30-credit MA degree. The faculty and administration at these two international universities are eager to develop partnerships with our program and we have developed a plan that will allow for intensive interactions between the faculty and students at all three institutions.  We are also envisioning the involvement of non-governmental organizations from all three areas to provide hands-on opportunities for students as well as the creation of faculty, student, and community research and advocacy teams.