Essay

UVA Students Selected for Prestigious Oslo Scholars Program

ight UVA students were selected this year to participate in the prestigious Oslo Scholars Program. The goal of the Oslo Scholars Program is to provide students the opportunity to work directly with an international human rights or democracy organization, providing them with direct hands-on experience in how their academic work can have real world impact. Among the possible organizations available to students were Ecohome, where they would research the environmental consequences of Russia’s war in the Ukraine, and UFOLO -Centro de Estudos para a Boa Governaçao, developing a human rights training program for Angolan officers.

UVA students have been attending the Oslo Freedom Forum, sponsored by the Human Rights Foundation, for the past three years as part of their work with UVA’s Democratic Futures Project (DFP). While there, UVA students have expanded the research of the DFP as well as developed projects, such as the Democratic Advocate Ally Portal where students volunteer their academic research skills to the needs of democratic advocates globally. At last year’s event, the Oslo Freedom Forum opening speaker praised UVA students encouraging advocates to be sure to find time to talk with them. It is not surprising, then, that DFP was recently asked to join the Oslo Scholars Program.

Steve Parks, DFP Chair, was also not surprised that so many UVA students were selected in DFP’s first year of participating in the program. He stated, “Over the past four years, UVA students have worked extensively with democratic advocates across the globe. As a consequence, UVA students are seen as not only possessing the academic training that provides real support to advocates and organizations, but also a deep civic commitment to issues of democracy. In many ways, these students have become ambassadors for the UVA’s ability to create ‘citizen leaders’ who can help shape a democratic future for those too often on the wrong side of privilege.”

In many ways, these students have become ambassadors for UVA’s ability to create ‘citizen leaders’ who can help shape a democratic future for those too often on the wrong side of privilege.

The selected students will have the opportunity to work with a variety of organizations:

Danean J. Kim, a fourth-year student in the Global Public Health track in Global Studies, will be working with NK Insider, an online news platform publishing accounts of North Korea, primarily by North Korean defectors. “The mission of NK Insider aligns deeply with my values and academic pursuits,” said Kim. “As a News Research and Reporting Intern this summer, I look forward to breaking new ground to produce articles concerning the health of North Korean citizens and healthcare in North Korea, especially researching the aftermath of North Korea's closed doors to humanitarian organizations during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.”

Naldy Turcios, a third-year student in Global Security and Justice, and Sydney Gogia, a second-year student in Global Development Studies, will have the opportunity to work with Defiende Venezuela, an organization aimed at defending and promoting human rights in Venezuela. Turcios shared that “As an intern for Defiende Venezuela I’m looking forward to deepening my understanding of the global human rights challenges that lead to continuous displacement.”

Virginia Bonnie, a second-year student in Computer Science, will be working at Shuddhashar Free Voice, a nonprofit and digital publisher focusing on politics, free speech, activism, and literature.

Janie Sanborn, a third-year student in Environmental Sciences and Global Sustainability, will have the opportunity to work with Green Governance Zimbabwe Trust, an NGO working in Zimbabwe to promote sustainable environmental management. "Through my coursework, I've been able to learn about the complex relationships between environmental, social, and economic systems, especially in the communities most vulnerable to climate change," she explained. "By working with an on-the-grounds organization actively confronting and developing solutions to these issues, the Oslo Scholars Program would allow me to translate that knowledge into tangible action."

Delina Ogbe, a second-year student in Global Development Studies and Foreign Affairs, Mayukha Rajupalepu, a third-year student in Global Development Studies, and Gabriela Yon Morales, a third-year student in Global Development Studies and Anthropology, will all be working with The Center for the Study of Organized Hate, a nonprofit think tank based in DC focused on understanding, preventing, and combating organized hate. Yon Morales shared, "I’m thrilled to have been selected to work as an intern with the Center of Study of Organized Hate. I’ll be learning more about how to create policy reports and multimedia journalism that focuses on counteracting organized hate, extremism, violence, and/or radicalization in South and Southeast Asia." She added, “I’m thankful for my Global Development Studies major which has consistently encouraged its students to critically examine the social, political, and economic structures that shape inequality, governance, and human rights—especially those tied to the local community and advocacy in their resilience."

Funds permitting, the students will travel to the Oslo Freedom Forum in May, where they will be given their fellowships and interact with internationally recognized political leaders and democratic as well as human rights activists.