Congratulations to Mark Dovich (BA Political Science; BA Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies '19) who will be the summer 2018 DHRC/PICS/Human Rights First Fellow in Washington, D.C. He will be working for eight weeks with Melissa Hooper, director of the Human Rights and Civil Society unit at Human Rights First in Washington D.C., May 14–July 6, 2018.

The Program in International and Comparative Studies (PICS) and the Donia Human Rights Center (DHRC), in partnership with Human Rights First (HRF) in Washington, D.C., award one $5,000 fellowship to an outstanding College of Literature, Science and the Arts undergraduate student to support a summer internship with Human Rights First and to help defray the travel expenses and costs of living in Washington, D.C. 

The summer 2018 Fellow will conduct research and advocacy on issues of priority to Human Rights First’s Foreign Policy team. This will entail researching new laws and policies contradicting human rights in countries of interest, particularly Hungary, Poland, and Russia; and drafting press releases and statements recommending what action the United States Government should take in response to these developments. The Fellow will also help organize and conduct meetings with Congress, the United States Department of State, and other government officials in service of Human Rights First’s advocacy objectives, and will help organize events in support of these objectives.

In 2018, in addition to tracking anti-democratic developments in Hungary and Poland, Human Rights First’s objectives will include advocacy to raise awareness of the human rights situation in Russia with the corporate sponsors of the World Cup, and authoring and presenting a policy paper on Russian disinformation strategies and how to combat them online. The Fellow may therefore be called on to research corporate entities or responses that technology companies have used to combat disinformation online—or to help evaluate strategies legislated by Congress.

Best wishes to Mark Dovich during his 2018 DHRC/PICS/Human Rights First Fellowship!