Center for
International Studies
Building E40-434
1 Amherst Street
Cambridge, MA
02139-4307

Fax:617-253-9330
phrj@mit.edu

The MIT Program on Human Rights and Justice (PHRJ) is a collaborative effort between the Center for International Studies and the Department of Urban Studies and Planning.

PHRJ aims to encourage the creation of a cutting-edge inter-disciplinary environment at MIT for research, teaching, curricular development and real-world application in human rights and justice. It has a broad focus that goes beyond human rights in the formal legal sense to encompass a variety of approaches to securing rights and justice in today’s world.  It contributes to the involvement of MIT students in human rights and justice work through summer internships and fellowships, courses, applied research, field work and through the organizing of special events on current human rights issues.   It provides advice to students interested in working on human rights and justice issues with organizations around the world, and organizes conferences to bring diverse human rights constituencies to study and reflect on their work.  It also occasionally hosts Visiting Fellows to enrich the human rights offerings at MIT.  Through its activities, it seeks to make human rights and justice a central part of education at MIT.

PHRJ is the first human rights and justice program in a top-ranked University that is primarily oriented towards science and technology and the first in the world with a specific focus on the human rights and justice aspects of economic, scientific and technological developments.  It is also one of the first academic programs in the United States to broaden its scope from human rights to justice.

On April 9-10, 2010, PHRJ held a conference titled "Group Violence, Terrorism and Impunity: Challenges to Secularism and Rule of Law India: A Workshop."