Oslo Scholars

The Oslo Scholars Program offers undergraduates with demonstrated interest in human rights and international political issues an opportunity to attend the Oslo Freedom Forum and spend their summer working with some of the world’s leading human rights defenders and activists.

The Oslo Scholars Program was established in 2010 by the Oslo Freedom Forum and the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University, as the Oslo Freedom Forum presented an ideal platform to engage new generations of human rights defenders and scholars.

The Forum, entering its seventh year in 2015, provides students with invaluable networking and learning opportunities, and the chance to plan their summer internships with their host speakers. 

In 2010, the new Oslo Scholars Program sent three students to the Oslo Freedom Forum, where they assisted in Forum translation and social media outreach. This inaugural group also designed the first Oslo Scholars Program internship, with 2010 OFF speaker Mukhtar Mai of Pakistan. Based on the success of this first internship and the student delegation to the Forum, the Oslo Scholars Program has since expanded. In 2011, the Oslo Scholars Program organized internships with Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, Justine Hardy, and Vincent Manoharan, each of whom hosted Oslo Scholars from Tufts University for the summer, engaging the Scholars in their inspiring work defending and promoting human rights. Four internships were created over the summer of 2012, when the program expanded to McGill University in Montreal, Québec, Canada. Following the 2014 Forum, Oslo Scholars interned with the Human Rights Foundation in New York, and CANVAS in Serbia.

Oslo Scholars are selected based on their demonstrated interest in human rights, language abilities, and long-term career and professional goals. The Oslo Scholars act as bloggers and social media agents at the Oslo Freedom Forum and are responsible for keeping an active blog over the course of their internships. Internship opportunities vary from year to year based on the Oslo Freedom Forum speakers who elect to participate in the program.

For more information on the Oslo Scholars Program, application details, and to see profiles of all Oslo Scholars since 2011, please visit www.osloscholars.com

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