Oslo Scholars

The Oslo Scholars Program (OSP) offers undergraduates with demonstrated interest in human rights an opportunity to attend the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway and work with some of the world’s leading human rights defenders and activists.

Show More

Oslo Scholars

The Oslo Scholars Program (OSP) offers undergraduates with demonstrated interest in human rights and international political issues an opportunity to attend the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway and spend their summer working with some of the world’s leading human rights defenders and activists.

The Oslo Scholars Program was established in 2010 by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) and the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University, as HRF presented an ideal platform to engage new generations of human rights defenders and scholars.

The Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF), entering its eleventh year in 2019, provides Oslo Scholars with invaluable networking and learning opportunities, as well as the chance to meet the mentors they will be working with during the summer.

In its inaugural year, the Oslo Scholars Program at Tufts University sent three students to the Oslo Freedom Forum, where they assisted with translation and social media outreach. This group also designed the first Oslo Scholars Program internship, with 2010 OFF speaker Mukhtar Mai of Pakistan. Because of the success of this first internship experience and the student delegation at OFF, the Oslo Scholars Program has been able to expanded. In 2011, the Oslo Scholars Program organized internships with Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, Justine Hardy, and Vincent Manoharan, each of whom hosted Oslo Scholars from Tufts University for the summer, engaging the Scholars in their inspiring work defending and promoting human rights. OSP has since expanded, offering various internships each year in the field of human rights. Students have worked on issues like mental health, freedom of speech, gender rights, corruption, and non-violent resistance in locations varying from Belgrade to Seoul, as well as in Boston and New York.

Oslo Scholars are selected based on their demonstrated interest in human rights, language abilities, and long-term career and professional goals. The Oslo Scholars act as bloggers and social media agents at the Oslo Freedom Forum and are responsible for keeping an active blog over the course of their internships. Internship opportunities vary from year to year based on the human rights activists who elect to participate in the program.

For more information on the Oslo Scholars Program, application details, and to see profiles of all Oslo Scholars since 2011, please visit www.osloscholarsprogram.wordpress.com or email osloscholars@tufts.edu.

Program At-a-Glance

Category

Experiential Education and Research

Areas of Study

Featured Events

Program Size

=10/yr

Year Founded

2010

Locations

Oslo Scholars: Abebe Gellaw

Oslo Scholars: Hannah Song

Oslo Scholars: Maryam Nayeb Yazdi

Oslo Scholars Projects & Events

view more + view less -

Taylor Lewis at the Albert Einstein Institution

Taylor Lewis had the amazing opportunity to work in Boston over the summer for Jamila Raqib, the Executive Director of the Albert Einstein Institution (AEI). As an International Relations and Econo...

Noah Zussman interned for the Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies

Noah Zussman spent his summer interning with Srdja Popovic and his organization, the Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS)  in Belgrade, Serbia.  */

Resistance No Matter the Costs by Dorothy Neher (A’20)

Dorothy Neher attended the Oslo Freedom Forum in Oslo, Norway. For three days he had the opportunity to listen and engage in discussion with several human rights activists. As a result of this expe...

The Thorn in Tyranny’s Side: A Look at the Oslo Freedom Forum by Patrick Beliard (A’21)

Thanks to the Institute for Global Leadership (IGL) and the Human Rights Foundation’s (HRF) Oslo Scholars Program, Patrick Beliard had the honor of attending the Oslo Freedom Forum earlier this sum...