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The Pozen Center announces an exciting opportunity for students to study abroad at the new University of Chicago Hong Kong Center. Hong Kong: Human Rights in Asia is a three-week course offered before the beginning of Fall Quarter in September 2019. Co-taught by Faculty Director Mark Bradley and Pozen Faculty Board Member Johanna Ransmeier, the course will explore contemporary human rights challenges in Asia, including labor, gender justice, education, democracy, and freedom of artistic expression. From their home base in Hong Kong, students will participate in short field excursions and meet with human rights practitioners across the region. “Hong Kong is just bursting with human rights potential. It is a rich ground for mobilization efforts throughout Asia, while simultaneously a place where many citizens and guest workers feel their rights increasingly threatened,” said Professor Ransmeier, Associate Professor of History. “We are thrilled to be able to bring students into that dynamic environment.”

As a capstone project, students will produce multimedia documentary projects that draw upon their experiences in the course, giving students the opportunity to incorporate interviews, historical content, photo and video documentation, and artistic sources to create their own original work. Ransmeier and Bradley look forward to providing students with a diverse set of references to draw upon for their capstone projects.  Bradley, the Bernadotte E. Schmitt Distinguished Service Professor of History, reported “We plan to engage with local activists working to protect domestic helpers, with advocates for labor rights throughout the region, with legislators and rights educators, as well as with artists and curators whose critical practices place human rights under the public eye.” Ransmeier added, “students will have the opportunity to develop their own projects documenting their encounter with this exciting city and its human rights trajectory.”


Applications are due Friday, March 15, 2019. More information is available on on the Study Abroad website.