Summer Fellowships

Schell
Fellowships
Summer Fellowships

Kirby Simon Summer Fellowships

The Schell Center’s Kirby Simon Summer Fellowships, supported by a generous grant from the Robina Foundation, provide funding for Yale students to undertake at least six weeks of human rights work during the summer. They honor Kirby Simon, the son of Professor John Simon, who was a foreign service officer and died in 1995 while serving in Taiwan. In recent years, as many as 20 percent of all first-year law students have received summer funding from the Schell Center for international human rights work.

Kirby Simon Fellowships cover both travel costs and living expenses. Law students and undergraduate students in the Multidisciplinary Academic Program in Human Rights are both eligible for Kirby Simon Fellowships, and applications from non-graduating Yale Law School students receive priority. Non-law graduate students may apply for travel funding only.

Law students interested in applying must complete Part I of the SPIF application (confirming eligibility) followed by the Kirby Simon application. Kirby Simon applicants do not need to apply to SPIF Part II. Students in the Multidisciplinary Academic Program in Human Rights should contact Madeline Batt at madeline.batt@yale.edu to receive the undergraduate application. Learn more about applying for the Kirby Simon Fellowship below.

Kirby Simon Fellows have worked on a wide variety of issues at non-governmental organizations, international organizations and agencies, and international and foreign courts throughout the world. To see the complete list of summer human rights fellowship placements since 1999, click here. YLS students may view summer fellows’ reports from 2010 to the present. If you would like to see earlier reports, they can be found in the binders in the sitting area outside Jim Silk’s office or you can email schell.law@yale.edu to ask to receive specific reports electronically.

Generally speaking, students have secured positions with international organizations and non-governmental organizations, particularly in the Global South, in the spring term. International courts and criminal tribunals (including the International Criminal Court, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and the European Court of Human Rights) and some big NGOs have early deadlines, however, so if those institutions are of interest, please contact Jim Silk or Hope Metcalf soon for more information. And for anyone interested in consulting with Jim or Hope about summer possibilities, consider making an appointment this fall both to get a good start on your search and because our schedules get busy closer to the Summer Fellowship application deadline.

Summer Fellows

Each summer, the Schell Center funds Kirby Simon fellows pursuing human rights work around the world. Since the Kirby Simon Fellowship began, students have worked in 95 countries.

Rising 2L Kayla Crowell spent summer 2020 interning remotely from New Haven for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland. She worked on various projects for the #IBelong campaign to end statelessness by 2024.

Laith Aqel (left) and Mark Stevens (right) were in San Francisco in summer 2019 working at the Center for Justice & Accountability, which represents victims of human rights abuses in litigation against perpetrators to advance global justice.

In summer 2020, Andrew Ntim worked remotely from New Haven for the Southern African Litigation Centre in Johnannesburg on lawsuits challenging the criminalization of poverty.

Rising junior Elaina Foley spent Summer 2020 interning remotely with the Lowenstein Clinic, working on issues relating to incarceration.

Camila Bustos ’21 interned during summer 2019 with the Climate Litigation Network, a project of Urgenda in Amsterdam & London. The network supports strategic litigation around the world to demand greater government action on climate change.

Sarah Bernardo, Caleb Yong, and Matthew Linsley were in Strasbourg, France in 2019 working with the Research Division of the European Court of Human Rights, an international tribunal that rules on alleged breaches of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Rising 2L Evelin Caro Gutierrez spent her summer 2020 working with Chambers of the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals – The Hague Branch. She worked remotely from Houston, Texas.

Brenda Cachay was in DC in summer 2019 with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an entity whose goal is to promote and protect human rights in the American hemisphere through an individual petition system, monitoring, and training.

Rising 2L Ify Chikezie interned remotely in Summer 2020 at both The Sentry and Minority Rights Group International, focusing on investigating corruption and protecting rights of ethnic minorities in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In summer 2020, rising 2L Alexandria Miskho worked remotely from Washington State with the International Law Commission, engaging on topics of Protection of the Atmosphere and Sea-Level Rise.

Applying for the Kirby Simon Summer Fellowship

Applications for the Kirby Simon Fellowship are accepted on a rolling basis, with the final deadline typically in March. An exact deadline will be announced shortly. Please read the application instructions carefully and meet with Jim Silk or Hope Metcalf prior to submitting your application to humanrightsfellowships@yale.edu.

Application Instructions: The application instructions for 2021 can be found here. Students must read the application instructions, which contain detailed information on eligibility, before applying for the Kirby Simon Fellowship. Updated 2022 instructions will be posted shortly, but students can expect the instructions to remain similar.

Application: Download the 2021 Kirby Simon application. You should submit your application via email to humanrightsfellowships@yale.edu. An updated 2022 application will be posted shortly, but students can expect the application to remain similar.

Before applying, students must meet with Jim Silk or Hope Metcalf. Please use the office hours application on the Inside Page to schedule appointments.

The Schell Center sponsors several panels, workshops, and meetings during the school year to assist students in finding summer projects and to explain the application process.