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 2026. 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 pregnancyrelated offenses and educate on the status of the law to ensure access to legal health care.
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.
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.
We invite UT graduate students from all disciplines whose research pertains to human rights and/or social justice to be part of our graduate student affiliate program.
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. Apply by March 29, 2025
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.
This interdisciplinary writing competition on international human rights and gender awards a $1,250 prize. It honors the work of Audre Rapoport, who advocated for women in the United States and internationally, particularly on issues of reproductive health.
Law students in the Immigration Clinic gain hands-on experience representing vulnerable low-income immigrants from all over the world before the immigration and federal courts and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Immigration Clinic also offers annual undergraduate legal internships for students considering law school and/or interested working in the fields of immigration and human rights.
The Rapoport Center is currently soliciting papers for its Working Paper Series (WPS). We encourage submissions from scholars of all disciplines as well as from activists and advocates.
The Rapoport Center invites UT graduate and professional students to serve on the editorial committee for its Working Paper Series (WPS). The WPS facilitates the editing and publication of papers, works-in-progress, and other writing projects which address human rights and social 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 a graduate student summer fellow to work 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 Graduate Affiliates of the Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice are excited to invite UT-Austin graduate and professional students to participate in our Spring 2025 interdisciplinary workshop. This event provides a unique opportunity for students to receive substantive feedback on their scholarly work from peers and faculty working in other disciplines. We welcome work-in-progress submissions related to human rights and social justice (see below), including class papers, draft articles, thesis or dissertation chapters, and other scholarly projects aimed at refinement and publication.
Students in the Civil Rights Clinic, which was established through the Rapoport Center, represent low-income clients in a range of civil rights matters relating to abusive law enforcement practices, prisoners’ rights, discrimination in many forms, and freedoms of speech, religion, and association.
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.
Students in the Employment Rights Clinic, which was established through the Rapoport Center, represent low-income workers in cases to recover unpaid wages, and also engage in advocacy projects asserting the rights of workers here and abroad.
NYU's Center for Human Rights & Global Justice maintains a page for job postings and similar opportunities in the human rights field that may be of interest to current students as well as postgraduates.
This innovative concentration provides students with a robust, critical, and comparative foundation in both human rights and constitutional law. It offers students a comprehensive understanding of contemporary human rights practices, including uses of constitutional law, in both domestic and international settings.
Adriana Corral (MFA candidate, University of Texas) discusses her artwork on the femicides in Ciudad Juárez during a workshop organized by the Rapoport Center's Human Rights & the Arts Working Group, January 2013
The Rapoport Center sponsors collaborative working groups initiated by our affiliated faculty that research and explore various human rights topics. These groups are comprised of faculty and students from diverse disciplines across campus. We invite you to join a working group and become part of the conversation!
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.
