As the focal point for human rights work at the School of Law, the Buffalo Human Rights Center fosters coursework, research, scholarship and direct engagement in human rights among faculty and students.
Guided by the belief that scholarship and action are inseparable, the Center provides direction and vision for advancing the study and practice of international human rights law.
Throughout the year, the center organizes speakers, conferences, films and symposia with leading human rights thinkers and practitioners.
The Center also funds and facilitates student internships with leading human rights organizations worldwide, introducing students to the intellectual complexity of human rights law through practice.
It also organizes opportunities for students to participate in international meetings to expose them to the process of international law making, and maintains a close working relationship with the Buffalo Human Rights Law Review and the Immigrant Justice and Human Rights Clinic.
Because of the intersection in human rights of law, politics, morals and ethics, the study of human rights at School of Law is inherently interdisciplinary. The center maintains a wide range of cooperative links with human rights organizations, human rights programs in other universities, think tanks, and governmental or quasi-governmental agencies interested in human rights. In so doing, the Buffalo Human Rights Center seeks to bring attention to areas of human rights discourse that are less explored and developed. It employs a critical but engaged approach to teaching, scholarship and human rights practice.
The Buffalo Human Rights Center is co-directed by Professor Tara J. Melish and Associate Professor Paul Linden-Retek.