Lise MacPhee Human Rights Summer Fellowship in Latin America
The Lise MacPhee Human Rights Fellowship Fund was created in honor of Lise MacPhee ’19 whose profound empathy for others fueled an uncompromising commitment to human rights during her time at Stanford and beyond. Lise’s life was sadly cut short when she died a few years after her graduation. However, through this fellowship, her family hopes to give students who come after her the opportunity to make a positive impact in the world, as Lise wished to do. Read more about Lise MacPhee’s life and legacy.
The Lise MacPhee Human Rights Fellowship in Latin America is a partnership between Stanford Global Studies, the Center for Human Rights, and the MacPhee family. This fellowship is meant to support currently enrolled Stanford students interested in working with human rights organizations in Latin America, or organizations focused on human rights in that region. Stipends of $6,500-$7,000 are available to undergraduates or graduate students who commit to working full-time (35 hours/week) for a minimum of nine weeks either in the United States or abroad in Latin America during the summer quarter.
Requirements
The Center intends these fellowships to be open-ended so that students may choose the summer experience that best fits their needs—either connecting with an organization to gain work experience relevant to a profession the student hopes to pursue or spending the summer engaging in community-based research aimed at addressing a pressing local challenge or effecting positive social change. Students may partner directly with a governmental, multilateral, or non-profit organization, or the corporate social responsibility wing of a for-profit business to work on promotion, monitoring, evaluation, or implementation of a discrete human rights or international justice project. Those interested in the research route would identify community members with whom they can work collaboratively to address their particular interests. Interested students are encouraged to use a brainstorm form to help generate ideas. Students can submit and access the fellowship brainstorm form.
Application Process
Applicants must submit all of the following:
- Online application form detailing goals or learning objectives through the proposed internship placement, information about partner organization, and interest in pursing a human rights fellowship.
- Letter of recommendation from an academic or professional reference in any relevant discipline or sector. Recommender must attest to applicant's qualifications to undertake the proposed summer work with the support of the fellowship. Contact information for recommender must be included.
- A letter of support and placement confirmation from the primary organizational partner. This letter should show that the host organization has a confirmed placement for the applicant during the summer, along with a review of relevant projects and tasks for the summer.
- A list of relevant Stanford undergraduate courses the applicant has taken that focused on human rights and/or international justice, including instructor, quarter of enrollment, and official course description (must have taken at least two courses)
- An unofficial transcript
- A tentative budget
Other Information
Note on COVID-19 implications: Given the ongoing pandemic and COVID-19 risks, we ask applicants to open discussions with potential partner organizations around what both in-person and remote placements could look like.
University travel restrictions: Students must ensure that their proposed location of travel does not fall under the "High" or "Extreme" Crisis 24 country rating. University funds cannot be used to travel to countries under this designation.
Interested students are encouraged to begin making connections with potential host organizations during Fall and Winter quarter. Students can reach out to the Haas Center for Public Service, in addition to the Center for Human Rights, for guidance on how to find a partner organization.
For more information, students can contact Student Services Specialist denisefz [at] stanford.edu (subject: Human%20Rights%20Summer%20Fellowships%20) (Denise Fernández).
If you need a disability-related accommodation and/or need to receive any internship information/application in an alternate format, please contact the Diversity & Access Office at, at phone: (650) 725-0326 or email: disability.access [at] stanford.edu (disability[dot]access[at]stanford[dot]edu).
