Law: International Human Rights
Sunday, May 12 to Sunday, June 2, 2024
Thank you for your interest in Catholic University’s International Human Rights Summer Law Program in Rome, Italy. We are excited to offer in 2024 Summer both the International Human Rights Summer Law Program (offered in even years) and the International Business and Trade Summer Law Program (IBTSLP) in Kraków, Poland. The programs are scheduled:
Sunday, May 12 to Sunday, June 2, 2024 - Rome Program offers a three-week session, two courses, each with two credits
Sunday, June 9 to Sunday, July 14, 2024 - IBTSLP-Kraków offers two course blocks, each with two 2-credit courses:
Block 1 runs from June 10-June 26
Block 2 runs from June 24-July 14
The Rome and Kraków (IBTSLP) summer programs offer mix-and-match options tailored to a student’s interest and time. Students can go to Rome and Kraków in the same summer or to successive summers. Rome is offered in alternate years while the IBTSLP is offered every summer. Coursework and/or externships in Poland for credit at prestigious law firms and other legal institutions can be combined up to a maximum of 10 credits.
You can opt to take:
- classes in both programs—combining Rome at 4 credits with 2, 4, or 6 credits in the IBTSLP
- combine 4-credits of classes in Rome with an IBTSLP externship for an additional 4-6 credits. (The externship includes taking the 2-credit Law of the European Union course from June 10-20; the on-line, 1-credit Becoming an International Lawyer course; and 1-3 credits for fieldwork, which students start as early as June 24.)
- IBTSLP classes in one or both the course blocks (the first beginning June 10, second beginning June 24) with classes alone or combined with externship (packages ranging from 4-10 credits).
The International Human Rights Summer Law Program in Rome is offered at Catholic University’s beautiful Rome campus on the Janiculum Hill above Trastevere, close to the historic center of Rome as well as Vatican City. Our three-week program was founded in 2010 and offered for the first time in 2011. Professor Lucia Silecchia ably directed our program from its beginning until 2019. Having taught previously on the program in 2018, I am honored and excited to serve as the director of the program.
We believe strongly in the importance of educating students and encouraging discourse about the vital importance of human rights in promoting justice, ensuring the satisfaction of basic human needs, and protecting the vulnerable against exploitation and abuse. Rooted in the fundamental value of human dignity, global human rights instruments and institutions dedicated to the protection of human rights have vastly increased in number since World War II. But unfortunately human rights violations continue to occur across the globe. We hope that students on our program will dedicate their talents to protecting human rights, no matter where their professional lives may take them.
Rome is an amazing location to explore human rights issues. Human rights were of vital interest to many ancient Roman thinkers and jurists, including Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus and Justinian. The Roman Catholic Church has played a significant role in the development of human rights. Many international organizations dedicated to human rights protection are headquartered in Rome. Students can gain hands-on experience in human rights protection and/or other aspects of legal practice relating to international law by participating in legal externships after the conclusion of their studies on the program.
We also seek to foster a community of human rights scholars and so we offer you a variety of speakers, field trips, dinners, and other social events where you will have the opportunity to engage with Italian professionals and students with an interest in human rights.
We welcome students of all backgrounds and with a variety of interests. All of our courses are taught in English.
We hope that you can join us in Rome!
Professor Susanna F. Fischer
Director, International Human Rights Summer Law Program in Rome
fischer@law.edu
