Funded Externships
Preliminary Semantical Note:
This part of the website refers to “externships” because all of the opportunities described below are consistent with that categorization at MSU Law. However, the institutions and organizations listed below refer to these same opportunities as “internships.”
There are diverse institutions and organizations devoted to international human rights law and humanitarian law protections, and many of them provide externship opportunities for qualified law students.
The nature of these externships vary a great deal. The best way to ascertain the responsibilities, benefits, and experiences that a particular externship will entail is to go to the website address, given below, for each institution and organization.
- Institutions and Organizations Providing Externships
The Talsky Center funds externships for eligible MSU Law students at the following institutions and organizations:
- Free the Slaves
Type of externship that will be funded: only policy externships
Location of externships: Washington, D.C.
Organization’s website: http://www.freetheslaves.net (Click on "Jobs/Internships" under "About Us.")
- International Service for Human Rights
Type of externship that will be funded: only UN monitoring team externships
Location of externships: Geneva, Switzerland
Organization’s website: http://ictj.org (Type the word "internships" in the space provided to research the site.)
- International Human Rights Law Group
Type of externship that will be funded: any
Location of externships: Mostly Washington, D.C.
Organization's website: http://www.hrlawgroup.org/ (Click on "Work With Us" and then on "Internships.")
- Amnesty International USA
Type of externship that will be funded: only in Amnesty’s Washington, D.C. and New York City offices
Organization's website: http://www.amnestyusa.org/ (Click on "Work With Us" and scroll down to "Internships at Amnesty. . . "; click on "Learn More.")
- Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Type of externship that will be funded: any
Location of externships: Washington, D.C.
Institution's website: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/ (At the bottom of the page, click on "Internships.")
- Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Type of externship that will be funded: any
Location of externships: San José, Costa Rica
Institution's website: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/pasantias.cfm (You need to translate the page from Spanish to English.)
Special prerequisite: Fluency (oral and written) in English and Spanish.
- United Nations Office of Legal Affairs
Type of externship that will be funded: any
Location of externships: New York City
Institution's website: http://untreaty.un.org/ola/employ.aspx
- Center for Justice and International Law
Type of externship that will be funded: only legal externships
Locations of externships: Washington, D.C.; San José, Costa Rica; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Organization’s website: http://cejil.org/en/internships-cejil/legal
Special prerequisites: Fluency in oral and written Spanish (fluency in oral and written Portuguese for externships in the Brazil office is also required.)
- UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)
Type of externship that will be funded: any
Locations of externships: New York City or Regional Offices in other countries
Organization’s website: http://www.unifem.org/about/internships.php (Click on "Internship Conditions.")
- International Bar Association Human Rights Institute
Type of externship that will be funded: only legal externships
Location of externships: London, England (The Talsky Center will pay BUNAC fees.)
Organization’s website: http://www.ibanet.org/IBAHRI.aspx (Type the word "internships" in the space provided to research the site.)
Special feature: Pursuant to its partnership with the Talsky Center, the IBA will each year reserve an externship opportunity, to occur during the spring semester, for an MSU Law student who meets the eligibility criteria of both the Talsky Center and the IBA.
- International Criminal Court
Type of externship that will be funded: any
Location of externships: The Hague, The Netherlands
Institution’s website: http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC/Recruitment/Internships+and+Visiting+professionals/
Eligibility+Requirements/Eligibility+Requirements.htm - Human Rights Watch
Type of externship that will be funded: externships only for graduate students and only in HRW's Legal & Policy Office
Locations of externships: various countries
Organizations's website: http://www.hrw.org/about/volunteering
- UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Type of externship that will be funded: any
Location of externships: Geneva, Switzerland
Institution's website: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/AboutUs/Pages/InternshipProgramme.aspx
Special prerequisites: must have a good command of at least 2 of the six official languages of the UN, i.e., English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Chinese.
- International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
Type of externship that will be funded: any
Location of externships: The Hague, The Netherlands
Institution's website: http://www.icty.org
- Human Rights & Empowerment Project
Type of externship that will be funded: any
Location of externships: Lagos, Nigeria
Organization's website: http://ncsjhr.webs.com/
Externship responsibilities: The Human Rights & Empowerment Project ("HREP") is a relatively small, but very active, nongovernmental organization . An externship at HREP may include such responsibilities as engaging in human rights law research (for books HREP is producing on the African human rights system, and in connection with human rights litigation in Nigeria) and attending Federal High Court sessions hearing human rights cases in which HREP is involved. The extern may also be asked to help develop HREP fund-raising initiatives.
- Free the Slaves
- Eligibility to Apply
- Determination of Student Eligibility to Apply
Eligibility will be jointly determined by the decision of the dean of the Law College, the director of the Talsky Center, and the assistant dean for career services at the Law College. - Criteria for Determining Student Eligibility to Apply
- Only MSU Law students are eligible to apply;
- MSU Law students must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher as of the date of application;
- MSU Law students must have earned a grade of B or higher in a course in either international human rights or public international law at MSU College of Law or another accredited law school; these students may be enrolled in the course at the time of application, but must successfully complete the requirement prior to the externship; those who fail to complete the requirement will have their application withdrawn or invalidated; and
- Eligible externship participants will be selected from the list of eligible applicants based on the following factors: commitment to furthering international human rights, academic achievement, and personal qualities consistent with the student's ability to serve as an outstanding representative of the Talsky Center and MSU College of Law.
- Effect of a Determination of Student Eligibility to Apply
If a student is determined to be eligible to apply, as described above, that does not mean that the student has been awarded an externship. Rather, such a determination of eligibility is a prerequisite to directly filing an application for an externship at the selected institution or organization.Note that the final determination as to whether an MSU Law student is awarded an externship is the decision of such institution or organization.
- Determination of Student Eligibility to Apply
- Benefits and Responsibilities of Externships
Externships for eligible MSU Law students involve the following benefits and responsibilities:- Externships held by MSU Law students will be funded by the Talsky Center as follows:
- A student awarded an externship that takes place outside North America will be granted up to $5,000 if the externship is at least as long in duration as a full spring or fall semester at MSU Law; if said externship is of substantially less duration, a student awarded such externship will be granted up to $4,000.
- A student awarded an externship that takes place within North America will be granted up to $4,000 if the externship is at least as long in duration as a full spring or fall semester at MSU Law; if said externship is of substantially less duration, a student awarded such externship will be granted up to $3,000.
- Academic credit will be available to MSU Law students receiving Talsky Center externships in accordance with the following standards:
- Each externship will be held to the same requirements as MSU College of Law currently imposes on all other externships, except as otherwise provided below.
- Each externship requires the externing student to work at least 40 hours per week at the site.
- Each externship requires that the student and a supervising professor communicate regularly for the duration of the externship. The frequency, duration, mode, and content of said communication to be determined by the supervising professor. (The supervising professor must be knowledgeable about the areas of law that the student is pursuing in the externship.)
- The 9-credit option:
- A student will earn 9 credits by successfully completing a Talsky Center externship.
- A student who earns 9 credits in accordance with the paragraph III.2.d.1. above, may also enroll in a 3-credit externship (not at the same institution or organization) during a summer or regular semester, and count the total of 12 credits toward graduation.
- The 12-credit option:
- A student may earn 12 credits both by successfully completing a Talsky Center externship (worth 9 credits) and by writing an academic paper (worth 3 more credits) that conforms to the requirements set forth in paragraph III.2.e.2. below.
- The subject matter of the paper must be related to the legal work that the student is doing as a Talsky Center extern, and the paper must be deemed acceptable by the supervising professor.
- Externships held by MSU Law students will be funded by the Talsky Center as follows:
- Application Procedures for Externships
In order to initiate the application process for an externship, students must first contact the MSU College of Law’s Office of Career Services. The student should speak to Elliot Spoon, assistant dean for career development, or to a career services advisor at 517-432-6830 or career@law.msu.edu.Please note: A student seeking a Talsky Center externship must not directly file any externship applications or related paperwork with the institution or organization offering such externships until the student’s eligibility is first determined in accordance with the provisions described above, under Eligibility to Apply.
Note: ICTY applications are considered on a rolling basis. Students are encouraged to apply as soon as possible; however, certain time periods are optimal for initiating the application process:- For fall semester externships, the optimal time for applying is between December 30 and February 1.
- For spring semester externships, the optimal time for applying is between April 30 and June 1.
- For summer semester externships, the optimal time for applying is between September 30 and November 1.
Note: HREP externship applications must be received by that organization between March and the last day of May for an externship commencing in late August of the same year. Thus, interested students should contact the Office of Career Services by no later than April 1 in order to initiate the application process.