Wesleyan ACTS for Human Rights
Come to Wesleyan & Work with the University Network for Human Rights
The ACTS (Advocacy & Community-based Training Semester) for Human Rights program at Wesleyan invites students from other campuses to take part in this innovative learning opportunity, the only one of its kind at a liberal arts college in the nation. Students selected for the Program will spend a semester at Wesleyan University, where they will work alongside Wesleyan students in partnership with the University Network for Human Rights. The ACTS program allows students to gain an understanding of foundational human rights texts and critiques and sharpen their research, writing, and advocacy skills.
Train with Experts in Human Rights Advocacy
While on campus, students will receive training from human rights experts, practice their fact-finding and documentation skills in our Intensive Simulation Exercise, and apply their skills to real-world human rights projects under the guidance of our experienced supervisors. Over the course of the Program, our supervisors and staff will provide personalized feedback to students, developing their skills to advance human rights and social justice, locally and globally. Through their projects, students will support the work of communities facing rights abuse and injustice.
Travel to Site of Rights Abuse; Work with Affected Communities
During breaks in the academic year, students in the Program will travel to the site of rights abuse to work directly with affected communities in small groups (2 or 3 students) with a supervisor. Previous field sites have included communities in Louisiana facing environmental racism, in Armenia (to investigate and challenge abuses in Nagorno Karabakh), and Bolivia (to document massacres and advance the rights of indigenous communities).
Return to Your Campus, Continue to Receive Supervision and Guidance, and Advocate for Change
After their semester at Wesleyan and their site visits, students will continue working on their supervised human rights projects in the subsequent semester, from their home university or college. During this period, supervision will be both remote and direct (via supervisor travel to participating students’ campuses and/or return visits by students to Wesleyan). More information on the Wesleyan ACTS program is available here.