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Heinz Klug
Heinz Klug

The Global Legal Studies Center of the University of Wisconsin Law School received a $50,000 award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to create a cross-campus human rights program.

Professor Heinz Klug, GLS director, leads the program with Professor Steve Stern, vice provost for faculty and staff at UW-Madison. Based at the center, the new program provides an institutional home for faculty and students interested in human rights research and advocacy.

Klug says the program's focus on four research areas—state and non-state violence, health, the environment, and land and water rights—encourages the scholarly comparison and evaluation of various approaches to human rights.

“UW-Madison researchers are actively contributing to the growing body of human rights scholarship. And our students are looking for opportunities to study and participate,” says Klug. “We need to prepare students to address the issues created by inequality in the 21st century.”

Sumudu Atapattu
Sumudu Atapattu

Serving as a hub for coordinating teaching and research efforts across campus, the program will host a series of brown bags, lectures and workshops. Plans are also underway for a human rights clinic, where undergraduates, graduate students and law students can receive credit while gaining policy and research experience.

Professor Sumudu Atapattu, associate director of GLS and the human rights program coordinator, says the venture will enlist the expertise of a number of the Law School’s human rights faculty. “This is an exciting first step toward establishing a full-fledged human rights center on campus," she adds.

Program partners include African Studies, Center for South Asia, Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, La Follette School of Public Affairs, Global Health Institute, and Center for Patient Partnerships.

  

Submitted by Law School News on July 22, 2013

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