"The Center's Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference provides a unique opportunity for law students - particularly those in their second and third years - to benefit from focused criticism and commentary on their work provided by NYU Law faculty members and other experts in their fields. As a second year law student who had already engaged in directed research, a moot court competition, and an international human rights fellowship program, all with assigned faculty supervisors, I was extraordinarily impressed by the superior degree of feedback that I received in just one day at the EHRSC. Not only did I receive extremely helpful comments from a researcher at the Center on my piece; one of the leading scholars in the field provided an incredibly focused critique of my paper's specific conclusions. I was truly amazed at the Center's ability to use the EHRSC to make the expertise of some of NYU's most prominent faculty members available for the benefit of individual students. In sum, the Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference was by far the most helpful opportunity to improve my writing and scholarship that I have encountered thus far at the Law School, and I would highly recommend the experience to anyone hoping to publish in the field of human rights in the future."
- Christen Broecker, JD candidate 2008, International Human Rights Clinic student 2007-2008
Student Opportunities
Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference
Janet Hostetler (JD ’05) presents a paper at the 2003 Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference as Aaron Dhir (LLM ’04) and John Esmerado (LLM ’05) listen.
Through the Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference, the Center encourages scholarly inquiry into human rights topics at the law school and assists students to develop significant contributions to human rights research. Inaugurated in 2003, the Conference provides a unique opportunity for NYU School of Law JD, LL.M. and JSD students to receive substantive feedback on their human rights work from Center Faculty, Staff and Global Visitors. Several students are selected each year to present their papers at the half-day conference. Each paper receives comment by one Faculty member, one Staff Member or Global Visitor of the Center, and selected fellow panelists, followed by an open discussion. Starting from 2007, the best paper from each Conference will be selected for publication in the Center’s Working Paper series.
Participants and Papers
Fifth Annual Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference (April 3, 2008)
Fourth Annual Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference (April 6, 2007)
Third Annual Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference (March 31, 2006)
Second Annual Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference (March 4, 2005)
Inaugural Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference (October 31, 2003)
Fifth Annual Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference (April 3, 2008)
The Fifth Annual Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference was held on April 3, 2008. Faculty commentators were Professors Philip Alston, Smita Narula and Margaret Satterthwaite. CHRGJ Staff and Global Visitor commentators were William Abresch, Jayne Huckerby, Veerle Opgenhaffen, Conway Blake, Dr. Ludovich Hennebel and Dr. Amparo Martinez. Other commentators included Paige Aurther (ICTJ).
The following student papers were presented:
- Julia Barry, Apostasy, Marriage, and Jurisdiction in Lina Joy: Where was CEDAW?
- Alexis Blane, Analyzing the Use of the State Department Country Reports on Human Rights in the Context of Asylum Cases
- Mitra Ebadolahi, The Case for a “Minimum Core Content” Concept As Applied to the ICESCR’s “International Assistance and Cooperation” Language
- Rosalia Gitau, "God Willing, I will be back": Gauging the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Capacity to Deter Economic Crimes in Liberia.
- Jennifer Hainsfurther, HA Rights-Based Approach: The Utilization of CEDAW to Protect the Human Rights of Migrant Workers
- James Kirk, Navigating the Confluence of Human Rights and Environmental Protection: Difficulties Exposed by the Case of the Inuit
- Alice Jaume, The Social Dimension of Globalization: which Level of Social Protection for which Link with Society? A Study of Acquisitive Residence and Access to Economic and Social Rights in the U.S.A. and in the E.U.
- Amanda Klasing, Towards a Rights-Based Methodology: The Case of the Right to Water in Port-de-Paix Haiti
Fourth Annual Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference (April 6, 2007)
The Fourth Annual Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference was held on April 6, 2007. Faculty commentators were Professors Philip Alston, Smita Narula, Margaret Satterthwaite and Paul van Zyl. CHRGJ Staff and Global Visitor commentators were William Abresch and Jayne Huckerby. Other commentators included Angelina Fisher and Surabhi Ranganathan (IILJ), Doreen Lustig (J.S.D. Candidate, NYU School of Law), and Natalie Reid and Roy Schondorf (Debevoise & Plimpton LLP).
The following student papers were presented:
- Roni Amit, Judicial Activism through International Law: From Security to Rights Supremacy in Israel’s High Court of Justice
- Reena Arora, India’s Private Torture: Recasting State Responsibility in International Human Rights Law
- Stephanie Barbour, The Blending of International Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law: The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
- Christen Broecker, To End Impunity The Decline of Amnesty in Transitional Justice
- Andrej Lang, Human Rights, Global Administrative Law, and the Role of Domestic Courts
- Rahim Moloo, Looking Beyond Article 71: NGOs in the General Assembly and the Security Council?
- Tafadzwa Pasipanodya, Rwandan Participants at the ICTR: For Them, With Them, or Despite Them
- Liz Sepper, The Evolving Scope and Substance of CEDAW Article 5(a) in the Jurisprudence of the CEDAW Committee
- Catherine Sweetser, Ensuring Accountability of UN Peacekeeping Personnel for Human Rights Violations
Third Annual Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference (March 31, 2006)
The Third Annual Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference was held on March 31, 2006. Faculty commentators were Professors Philip Alston, Smita Narula, Margaret Satterthwaite and Paul van Zyl. CHRGJ Staff and Global Visitor commentators were Jayne Huckerby, Frank Haldemann, Julie Ringelheim, and Stephen Humphreys.
The following student papers were presented:
- Andrew Hudson, Not a Great Asset: The U.N. Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Regime: Violating Human Rights
- Shamiso Mbizvo, Reviving The Dream That is Rome Through Ad Hoc Judges At the International Criminal Court
- Liliana Jubilut, Is the ‘responsibility to protect’ a real change in humanitarian intervention?
- Gaylynn Burroughs, Discouraging Demand? Reconceptualizing Demand in the Context of Human Trafficking
- Bill Van Esveld, The Administration of Justice in Refugee Camps
Second Annual Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference (March 4, 2005)
The Second Annual Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference was held on March 4, 2005. Professors Philip Alston, Smita Narula, Margaret Satterthwaite and Paul van Zyl served as commentators. The following student papers were presented:
- Joanna Pozen The Non-Disclosure of Witnesses’ Identities in the Rwanda Trials: Failure to Recognize Cultural Differences in International Tribunals
- Katrina Gustafson Joint Criminal Enterprise Liability: The Link Between the Accused and the Principal Perpetrators of International Crimes
- James Cockayne Toward a ‘First Principles’ Approach to the Accountability of Private Military Contractors
- Adrian di Giovanni The ICC’s First Steps: Uganda, Prosecution and Mato Oput
- Ruben Carranza Plunder and Pain: Should Large-Scale Corruption be Addressed by Transitional Justice?
- Kevin Arlyck Competing Demands: Trials as a Response to the Holocaust in Contemporary France
- William Abresch A Framework for the Judicial Review of Amnesties and Transitional Justice Programs Under the American Convention on Human Rights
Inaugural Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference (October 31, 2003)
The Center held its inaugural Emerging Human Rights Scholarship Conference on October 31, 2003. Professors Philip Alston, Smita Narula, and Margaret Satterthwaite served as faculty commentators. The following student papers were presented:
Smita Narula provides comments to Janet Hostetler (JD ’05) on her paper concerning grassroots activism and human rights compliance.
- Mark Toufayan, Return to Communitarianism? Implications for the Duty to Prevent Genocide for States and the United Nations
- James Cockayne, Human Rights Violations in Iraq: Holding the Occupiers Accountable
- Peter Gutherie, The Trafficking Victims Protection Act: American Exceptionalism or Collaboration?
- John Esmerado, Crossing the Great Divide: The Marginal Embrace of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by State and Federal Courts in the United States
- Patricia S. Mann, Just Individuals with Rights?
- Aaron Dhir, A Critical Analysis of the Proposed Disability Rights Convention and the Application of International Human Rights Norms to Persons with Mental Disabilities
- Chitra Aiyar, The Ongoing Struggle Against Caste Discrimination: Some Observations from Tamil Nadu
- Janet Hostetler, Grassroots Activism and the Evolution of and Compliance with International Human Rights Law
