The Barbara Harlow Endowed Internship in Human Rights and Social Justice
The Barbara Harlow Endowed Internship in Human Rights and Social Justice honors the life and work of Barbara Harlow (1948-2017), who was the Louann and Larry Temple Centennial Professor of English Literature at the University of Texas at Austin. She was a committed colleague, friend, and mentor to countless students, activists, and intellectuals. As a collaboration between the Rapoport Center and the Bridging Disciplines Programs (BDPs), the internship introduces BDP students to Barbara Harlow’s scholarship and activism and encourages them to imagine future trajectories for her work.
This internship was established shortly after Barbara Harlow’s passing in 2017 with donations that she and family members made to the Center to provide undergraduate students with human rights and social justice opportunities. In 2024, a number of Barbara’s former students, colleagues, and friends have begun to raise funds to endow the internship to ensure its continuation in perpetuity. If you would like to contribute, please visit the donation page. To schedule a future donation, fill out a pledge card.
Barbara’s intellectual praxis crossed continents and encompassed diverse agendas: resistance, translation, political engagement and solidarity, human rights, and pedagogy. She contributed greatly to the University of Texas at Austin, not only through the English department, the Rapoport Center, and the BDP, but through several area studies programs and centers, including African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Studies. To learn more about her life and work, please visit the Rapoport Center’s tribute page and the website for our 2017 conference, Barbara Harlow: The Sequel. To apply for the internship, please visit the application page.
Former Intern Testimonials
“As the inaugural Barbara Harlow intern, I was able to finally have a theoretically grounded and pressing engagement with social, political, and economic inequality that critically considered the role of human rights and social justice.”
– Xavier Durham
(Current PhD Candidate, Sociology, UC Berkeley)
“The Barbara Harlow internship at the Rapoport Center was my first genuine encounter with academic research beyond the classroom. My time as an intern continues to animate how I theorize and move beyond theory.”
– Carol-Armelle Ze-Noah
(Current PhD Student, Political Science, Brown University)
“My experiences as a Barbara Harlow intern at the Rapoport Center have solidified my interest in legal academia, especially in researching the intersection between human rights and civil rights.”
– Manasi Chande
(BA, Government and Corporate Communications, anticipated May 2024)
Barbara Harlow Undergraduate Interns (2018-2024)
