Opportunities for Students: Non-UT Students

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.

The Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice, housed at the University of Texas School of Law, is seeking one rising 2L or 3L law student from any U.S. law school to support the Sissy Farenthold Reproductive Justice Defense Project during the summer of 2024. Working at the intersection of criminal law and reproductive justice, the Project provides resources for lawyers, the public, and reproductive justice and advocacy organizations; 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. In the process, the Project hopes to deter investigations of and prosecutions for pregnancy-related offenses and increase the ability of individuals and communities, in the words of the Atlanta-based organization SisterSong, to “maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.”

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.

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.