As summer approaches, it’s time to consider a great use of a week or two to acquire a higher level of expertise on a particular subject matter, meet and learn from experts in the field, and become acquainted with others from around the world who also have the same particular interest in a specific topic – summer school programmes.
Years ago, I attended a fantastic Summer School on International Criminal Law, offered by Leiden University, at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies (the Hague). The small student body included a couple of university professors (whose work I still follow), practicing lawyers, and graduate students in law and related disciplines. The instructors included well-regarded leading scholars in the field of ICL, including William Schabas and Michael Scharf.
Below is a list of some summer schools to consider. (I was inspired to create this list because of a call to contribute to a list compiled by Con Law Files. I responded to the call for help, but also decided that to best serve those looking for summer school opportunities, I should also create my own list focused specifically on human rights and legal studies that I could personally update.) Suggestions for additions to this list are welcome and appreciated. (And, I will continue to pass along relevant information to Con Law Files.)
Continental Europe
Salzburg Law School
4 – 16 August 2013
Summer School on International Criminal Law
Leiden University
Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, The Hague
24 June – 5 July 2013
Venice Academy of Human Rights
European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation
8-19 July 2013
Summer Course on Refugee Law (French)
International Institute of Human Rights
Strasbourg, France
17-28 June 2013
Erasmus Intensive Programme “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”
Utrecht University
Venue: Motovun, Croatia
14 – 26 July 2013
Central European University
Budapest
15-23 July 2013
Constitution-Building in Africa
Central European University
Budapest
24-29 June 2013
Strategic Human Rights Litigation
Central European University
Budapest
15 – 19 July 2013
Mental Disability Law in Practice
Central European University
Budapest
1 – 12 July 2013
Multiple Summer School Programmes
Academy of European Law, Florence
7 – 28 June 2013: Human Rights Law
1 – 12 July 2013: The Law of the European Union
27 June – 6 July 2013
Tilburg Statelessness Summer School
The Netherlands
5-9 August 2013
Helsinki Summer Seminar on International Law
Helsinki University, Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights (ECI)
19-30 August 2013
Bologna Symposium on Conflict Prevention, Resolution, and Reconciliation
International Peace and Security Institute and The Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
Bologna, Italy
15 June – 13 July 2013
The Hague Symposium on Post-Conflict Transitions and International Justice
International Peace and Security Institute
The Hague, The Netherlands
20 July – 17 August 2013
Summer School on Human Rights, Minorities and Diversity Management
Institute for Minority Rights
Bozen/Bolzano, Italy
24 June – 5 July 2013
Summer School on Human Rights and Transitional Justice
Leiden University
Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, The Hague
8-12 July 2013
International Summer School Sarajevo, “Institutional Reform in the light of European integrations in countries of South East Europe”
Sarajevo
17-27 July 2013
Immigration and Asylum Law and Policy of the European Union
Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
Brussels
1 – 12 July 2013
_
UK and Ireland
Transitional Justice Institute Summer School
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland
Belfast
17-21 June 2013
International Summer School in Forced Migration
University of Oxford
1-19 July 2013
International Human Rights Law
University of Oxford
7 July – 3 August 2013
Law, Multiculturalism and Intercultural Human Rights
SOAS, University of London
1-19 July 2013
Rights of the Child Summer School
Nottingham University
24 – 28 June 2013
Middlesex University/NUI Galway
Date unknown/information pending
Multiple Summer School Programmes
Galway Irish Centre for Human Rights
– International Criminal Court Summer School
– Cinema, Human Rights and Advocacy Summer School
– Human Rights, Migration and Globalisation Summer School
_
North America
Program of Advanced Studies on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, American University
Washington, DC
28 May – 14 June 2013
Ottawa International Humanitarian Law
Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa and the Canadian Red Cross
Ottawa, Canada
2 -7 June 2013
International Program for Development Evaluation Training
Ottawa, Canada
10 June – 5 July 2013
OPHI Summer School on Multidimensional Poverty Analysis
Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative
Washington, DC
8-19 July 2013
Summer Course on Refugee and Forced Migration Issues
Centre for Refugee Studies, York University
Toronto, Canada
13-19 May 2013
Good Governance and Social Accountability Tools
Coady International Institute, St. Francis Xavier University
Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada
27 – 31 May 2013
International Summer Course on the Rights of the Child
Université de Moncton
Moncton, New-Brunswich, Canada
12-19 July 2013
International Law & Justice Log 
Kristin,
There is a new summer course on the right of the child at the Université de Moncton. Please check it out and add it to your list
Thank you, Christian. I’ve updated the list. Cheers!
Well done, thank you! I will look at courses that I can do via Distance Learning as it will be winter here downunder in New Zealand / Aotearoa.
As a barefoot travelling legal midwife I am particularly interested in Human Rights in Childbirth (HRIC)
and am putting on one and two day workshops on HRIC – see http://www.mandalalaw.com and love to colloborate with others in this field.
My other areas of interest are Healthcare generally and in Refugee Rights globally.
If I can do anything for you please feel free to be in touch.
Paul Golden
http://www.linkedin.com/in/goldenpaul/
Thank you, Paul. I have yet to come across Distance Learning summer schools. Perhaps this is the next frontier or I am missing them. Please let us know if you find anything of interest.
I can personally recommend the residential summer school (which provides teaching in international and comparative human rights law, with a particular theme, in July of each year) at the International Institute of Human Rights, Strasbourg, France. The IIHR was founded by the Frenchman Rene Cassin with his portion of the Nobel Prize money that he and Eleanor Roosevelt shared for their participation in drafting the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. I studied at the IIHR for two summers in the early ‘1990s. The human rights ethos, the passion and drive of the students I met (there were 500 students from around 80 countries, I think) and the inspiring lectures I attended that were given by some of the world’s leading human rights experts still influence my work today. This year marks the 44th year of the international and comparative human rights summer course. This year the particular theme of the course is religion. Information on the course can be obtained here: http://www.iidh.org/actualite-57-44th-annual-study-session-in-international-and-comparative-law-of-human-rights.html
(I think you might need to understand some French, but the main lectures are given in a number of languages)
Kind regards,
Parosha
Thanks for sharing your experience and evaluation, Parosha. This is very useful information.
You seem yo be missing this one: http://www.wcl.american.edu/humright/hracademy/summer.cfm
Thank you, Juan. I have updated the list accordingly.
[…] Eine ausführliche Liste mit Summer Schools for Human Rights and Legal Studies, die alle 2013 stattfinden, findet sich hier. […]
May I simply say what a relief to uncover someone that actually knows whast they are talking about online.
You certainly know how to bring a problem to light and make it important.
Moree and more people must look at this and understand this side of the story.
It’s surprising you are not more popular since you surely have the gift.