The Sissy Farenthold Reproductive Justice Defense Project, housed at the Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, Texas, is seeking one rising 2L or 3L law student from any U.S. law school to serve as a full-time Reproductive Justice Legal Fellow during the summer of 2025. The Project is guided by the principles of the Reproductive Justice movement and its foundational ideas about maternal health, childbirth, and parenting. Working at the intersection of criminal law and reproductive justice, the Project provides resources for lawyers, health care providers, advocacy organizations, and the public; tracks criminal charges, prosecutions, and civil suits in Texas related to pregnancy and abortion; and serves as a transnational hub for academic research and advocacy regarding the criminalization of pregnancy. We seek to deter investigations of and prosecutions for pregnancy-related offenses and educate on the status of the law to ensure access to legal abortion care.
As promising leaders in reproductive rights and justice, Sissy Farenthold Scholars in Reproductive Justice play a vital role in the daily life and future of the Rapoport Center. Scholars provide research and advocacy support on issues related to reproductive rights, and work closely with the Rapoport Center's programs and planning over the course of the academic year.
Human Rights Scholars work to advance the Center’s human rights programming, promote connections with UT Austin’s interdisciplinary human rights community, and provide support for the Center’s projects. One Human Rights Scholar will be designated as the Sissy Farenthold Scholar in Reproductive Justice.
The Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice, housed at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, is seeking 1-2 graduate student summer fellow(s) to work at least half-time (20 hours/week) supporting the Center’s work on its thematic priorities, including reproductive justice, environmental and climate justice, peace, and the gendered and racialized dimensions of work and livelihoods.
The Rapoport Center offers summer funding and placement assistance to Texas Law students interested in doing transnational or international work on issues of human rights or social justice.
The Charles Moyer Human Rights Fellowship honors the life and work of Charles Moyer, whose professional career has been devoted to the international protection of human rights, and who was the first Secretary of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
This list of human rights organizations, while by no means comprehensive, can be used as a starting point for students to search for opportunities around the world. Organizations where former Rapoport Center Fellows have worked are marked.
2013 Rapoport Center Summer Fellow Elizabeth Nguyen (second row, second from left) with judges, associate legal officers, and interns of the Karadzic team of Trial Chamber III on the terrace of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
The Rapoport Center facilitates judicial internship placements for Texas Law students with international courts and tribunals, including the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Students may receive funding or academic credit for these internships.
