For 2012-2013, the International Human Rights Program’s Clinic is especially seeking applications from students with fluency in Spanish (reading, writing, and speaking) to work on a project relating to freedom of expression in Latin America.
Note:
• Enrollment in ALL the clinics for credit is limited to upper year students.
• Interested students must apply to the appropriate clinic prior to the deadline for course selection in July.
• If necessary, students will be interviewed for the available positions.
• Exchange Students are not eligible to participate in clinics.
Note: You may select the clinic on the on-line course system but will be waitlisted until the clinic has provided approval of your participation to the Assistant Registrar Records, Celia Genua at celia.genua.utoronto.ca. This approval should be provided by no later than the course selection deadline of July 6, 2012.
Registration:
To register for this course, you must email a 1-2 page statement of interest to ihrp.law@utoronto.ca by June 22, 2012. Please state:
(a) previous upper-year courses in international law or human rights law or experience that you consider equivalent;
(b) indicators of academic, analytical, and research and writing ability, which may include grades in related classes;
(c) any experience in human rights or international issues;
(d) any experience with lawyering or advocacy;
(e) any languages that you can speak/write/read, including at what level (basic, conversational, intermediate, advanced);
(f) why you wish to enroll in the Clinic and whether you can prioritize commitments arising from the clinic; and
(g) a list of any other Clinics you plan on enrolling in for 2012-13.
Students participating in clinical programs are encouraged integrate their clinical work into an upper year paper course. To do so, students must obtain approval from the Clinical Director, the paper course instructor, and the Assistant Dean, Students.
Course Description:
This course exposes students to the practice of international human rights law. It will focus on professionalism and the tools of international human rights advocacy, including research and fact-finding, litigation in domestic and international forums, grass-roots mobilization, and media engagement. The course will encourage critical reflection on international human rights lawyering, including exploration of legal, procedural, strategic, ethical and theoretical issues. Wherever possible, the course will provide students with the opportunity to interact with international human rights advocates.
There are two components to the course: clinical projects and the seminar. Through clinical projects, students will have the opportunity to participate in advocacy under the supervision of qualified lawyers. Project work may include formulating theories and advocacy strategies, conducting legal research, legal drafting, fact-finding field work, creation of public legal education materials, etc.
The seminar will meet once a week for 3 hours and will be structured around skill-building sessions, case-studies, thematic analysis, and project-rounds (i.e. where students discuss the progress made and obstacles encountered in their clinical projects.) Students should come prepared to debate and discuss current human rights issues.
Commitment:
Attendance at all meetings is mandatory. Students are routinely expected to provide oral briefings and analyses and to participate in discussions. While we strive to make the overall workload of the clinic comparable to a course of similar weight, the clinic will, at times, involve obligations to partners and external deadlines that must be met. In this sense, the clinic requires a commitment beyond what is normally expected in an academic seminar. The credit weighting of this course is designed to reflect this additional commitment.
Second Term Practicum:
Students are expected to complete their projects before the end of the academic year, which will usually require signing up for a one-credit, pass/fail, practicum in the second-term. Students who are not currently enrolled in the clinic but completed the course in 2010-2011 are also encouraged to explore conducting a practicum during either the first or second term. Where students so request and workload warrants, the Director may approve a practicum of two credits.
