RELS:4930:0IND
Independent Study
Internship: Rights and Remedial Justice
Arranged Time | Arranged Location
Instructor: Prof. Ahmed E. Souaiaia
Human Rights in Context Internship
The Human Rights in Context Internship is a for-credit experiential learning opportunity that allows students to explore both the theory and practice of human rights through academic research, systems-based analysis, and community engagement.
Developed as an independent educational initiative, the internship brings together historical inquiry, critical analysis, and real-world engagement to help students understand how rights are conceptualized, contested, protected, and advanced within communities, institutions, and social systems.
Through research and experiential learning, participants examine the relationship between human dignity, justice, governance, and social change while developing practical and analytical skills applicable across a wide range of professional and academic fields.
Two Paths, One Mission: Learning Through Research and Experience
Research and Scholarship Track
In this track, students engage in academic research related to human rights, systems thinking, social justice, governance, and historical inquiry. Participants examine the ideas, institutions, and historical developments that shape contemporary understandings of rights and justice.
Potential projects include:
- Human rights research and analysis
- Systems mapping and institutional analysis
- Historical investigations of rights and governance
- Comparative studies across societies and historical periods
- Contributions to ongoing research initiatives
- Public scholarship and research publications
This track is particularly valuable for students interested in graduate study, law, public policy, education, journalism, advocacy, research, and related fields.
Community Engagement Track
In this track, students work directly with civil society organizations addressing contemporary human rights challenges. Participating organizations engage issues such as migration, poverty, education, public health, environmental justice, housing insecurity, incarceration, domestic violence, discrimination, and access to resources.
Students are matched with organizations based on their interests, skills, and professional goals. Through direct engagement with community partners, participants gain practical experience while developing a deeper understanding of how human rights challenges emerge within larger social, political, economic, and institutional systems.
Flexible Participation
Internship credit is variable and may be tailored to a student’s academic goals, research interests, and available time commitment.
Students may:
- Pursue a single track
- Combine both tracks within one semester
- Extend participation across multiple semesters
- Develop an independent project connected to ongoing research or community engagement initiatives
Why Context Matters
Human rights are best understood not only as legal principles or moral ideals, but also as lived realities shaped by interconnected social, political, economic, cultural, and institutional systems. Understanding rights therefore requires both conceptual analysis and engagement with the communities and institutions where those rights are experienced, challenged, and advanced.
Participants are encouraged to examine contemporary human rights issues while considering their historical roots, institutional contexts, and broader systemic dimensions. The goal is not simply to study problems, but to develop the intellectual tools necessary to understand their causes, consequences, and potential remedies.
Students receive mentorship and guidance in developing projects aligned with their academic interests, professional aspirations, and long-term goals. Whether preparing for graduate study, law school, public service, healthcare professions, nonprofit leadership, research, or community engagement, participants gain experience that connects scholarship to practice.
A Model for Collaborative Learning
The Human Rights in Context Internship demonstrates one approach to integrating academic research, systems-based analysis, and community engagement within a single educational experience. The internship was developed to help students connect classroom learning with the lived realities of individuals and communities affected by complex social challenges.
Over time, the internship has evolved into a flexible framework that can be adapted to different educational settings, research interests, and community needs. Faculty members, students, nonprofit organizations, and community partners interested in developing similar initiatives may find elements of this model useful in designing programs that combine scholarly inquiry, experiential learning, and public engagement.
The internship continues to serve as an evolving educational and research laboratory for exploring how human rights education can connect historical understanding, systems thinking, scholarly inquiry, public scholarship, and practical engagement with contemporary social issues.
The lessons learned through this initiative continue to inform broader conversations about human rights education, experiential learning, community engagement, and systems-based approaches to understanding social challenges.
Public Scholarship and Knowledge Development
A distinctive feature of the Human Rights in Context Internship is its contribution to public scholarship and the development of educational resources. Whenever appropriate, students are encouraged to produce work that extends beyond the classroom and contributes to broader public understanding of human rights issues.
Over the years, participants in the internship have contributed research notes, educational materials, human rights explainers, question-and-answer resources, systems-based analyses, historical investigations, book reviews, and other forms of public scholarship. These contributions help build, HUQUQ, a growing body of knowledge that supports students, educators, researchers, community organizations, and members of the public seeking to better understand contemporary human rights challenges.
The initiative provides opportunities for participants at different stages of their academic and professional development. Introductory projects may focus on educational resources, explanatory essays, or curated research materials. More advanced students may contribute book reviews, research notes, systems analyses, literature reviews, and independent investigations. Senior undergraduates, law students, graduate students, and faculty collaborators may develop substantial research projects suitable for publication as journal articles, capstone studies, or law-review-style analyses.
Rather than treating each internship experience as an isolated project, the initiative encourages participants to build upon existing work while contributing new insights and perspectives. In this way, the internship serves not only as an educational experience but also as a collaborative knowledge-development project.
Selected examples of student and faculty contributions are available through the Human Rights in Context resource archive and the HUQUQ Journal. Together, these platforms provide opportunities for participants to engage in public scholarship, contribute to ongoing scholarly conversations, and develop research that remains accessible to future students, researchers, educators, and practitioners.
Community Partners
Community partners represent diverse approaches to advancing human dignity, social justice, public health, community development, and access to resources. The following organizations have supported experiential learning opportunities for students participating in the internship:
- Nisaa African Family Services
• Inside Out Reentry Community
• Open Heartland
• IC Mutual Aid
• IC Compassion
• Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice (Iowa MMJ)
• Shelter House
• Monsoon Asians & Pacific Islanders in Solidarity
• HACAP
• Iowa Community Action Association (ICAA)
• Solidarity Microfinance
• CommUnity Crisis Services and Food Bank
• Field to Family
• Iowa Harm Reduction Coalition
• U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI)
Organizations interested in serving as community partners or learning more about the Human Rights in Context model are encouraged to contact us.
Note to NGOs and Community Organizations
Organizations working on human rights, social justice, community development, public health, migration, education, environmental justice, or related issues may request inclusion as community partners. The internship welcomes opportunities to collaborate with organizations committed to advancing human dignity, promoting community well-being, and addressing systemic challenges within their communities.