Eric Stover has long considered himself more of a Human Rights practitioner than an academic. "I'm less into academia than I am into the field," he says. "To me, academia was a place that I got books from." 

Despite that particular disclaimer, Professor Stover spent the Autumn Quarter of 2014 at the University of Chicago as the Pozen Visiting Professor in Human Rights. He was visiting from his home at the University of California at Berkeley, where he is the faculty director of the Human Rights Center. Before coming to Berkeley, however, Stover served as the Executive Director of Physicians for Human Rights and the Director of the Science and Human Rights Program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Professor Stover sat down for a moment before heading back to sunny California to reflect on his time at the Pozen Family Center for Human Rights.

Have there been any highlights to your 10 weeks at UChicago?

The highlight has definitely been the students. You know, my course was designed to take students out of their comfort zones--it makes them challenge their social confirmation biases. (We all seek evidence for that which we already believe is true, right?) But the moral universe can change very quickly, and this course was designed to make students think critically while keeping an eye on what matters, survivors and their communities.

The students really read and engaged the material, and it's tough material. I've asked them to understand complexity and then come around to accountability. How do you hold those responsible accountable in a way that honors the survivors?

I've really enjoyed the students here, and I wish I could take some of them back to Berkeley with me.

I think that's what's great about the center [PFCHR] here. The center is more focused on teaching and on students. This center is very supportive of students, and that's great.  

What advice would you give to students who are thinking of pursuing human rights work?

The difficulty with human rights work, I think, is that we often don't take the time to reflect on the complexity of these situations. It's so easy to slip into black-and-white thinking. But in terms of concrete advice for students I would say first, for undergraduates: You'll need to get a graduate degree, and probably at a professional school such as a law school or something like that. But also, always keep in mind that you really need to be interdisciplinary. Sometimes in professional schools, you can get into one-track mode.

The other thing I would say is to find an area of expertise and learn languages. You really have to engage in the long-term. Things don't happen over night. You want to become a go-to person in your field, so dig deep. 

Finally, keep in mind the journalist's rule of doubt everything. Always question, but don't lose sight of what matters.