HUMAN RIGHTS IN CONTEXT-PLUS (HRIC+)
Getting Started
A Guide for Students, Faculty, and Community Partners
Introduction
Human Rights in Context-Plus (HRIC+) is an open educational, research, and community-engagement network that connects students, faculty members, researchers, professionals, and community organizations interested in understanding rights within their historical, social, political, economic, legal, cultural, and institutional contexts.
Unlike traditional programs that require participants to relocate or enroll in a specific institution, HRIC+ is designed to allow participants to remain embedded in their own communities while engaging in meaningful learning, research, public scholarship, and experiential learning opportunities.
This guide explains how students, faculty members, and community partners can begin participating in HRIC+.
For Students
Step 1: Identify an Area of Interest
Participation begins with curiosity. Students are encouraged to identify an issue, community, institution, organization, policy area, historical question, or rights-related challenge that they would like to explore.
Examples include:
- Migration and refugee rights
• Housing and homelessness
• Public health
• Environmental justice
• Criminal justice
• Indigenous rights
• Women’s rights
• Labor rights
• Religious freedom
• Access to education
• Technology and human rights
• Community development
• Historical investigations of rights and governance
Students are not required to have a fully developed project before contacting a faculty member or community partner.
Step 2: Identify a Faculty Supervisor
Most credit-bearing projects require a faculty member willing to supervise the student’s work.
Possible supervisors may include faculty working in:
- Human rights
• Law
• Political science
• Sociology
• Anthropology
• History
• Religious studies
• Public health
• Environmental studies
• Education
• Social work
• Journalism
• Area studies
• Other related fields
Students should discuss their interests with potential supervisors and explore whether an independent study, internship, directed research project, honors project, capstone project, or thesis-related project may be appropriate.
Step 3: Identify a Community Partner (If Applicable)
Many projects benefit from collaboration with community organizations.
Possible partners may include:
- Nonprofit organizations
• Community groups
• Advocacy organizations
• Legal aid clinics
• Public agencies
• Educational organizations
• Health organizations
• Humanitarian organizations
• Community-development initiatives
Community engagement is encouraged but not required.
Research-only projects are equally welcome.
Step 4: Develop a Project Plan
The student and supervising faculty member should work together to define:
- Project goals
• Learning objectives
• Activities
• Workload expectations
• Deliverables
• Evaluation criteria
• Project timeline
The HRIC+ Independent Study, Internship, and Directed Research Agreement may be used as a planning and documentation tool.
Step 5: Complete the Project
Projects may include:
- Academic research
• Literature reviews
• Archival investigations
• Community engagement
• Policy analysis
• Systems mapping
• Data collection
• Interviews
• Public scholarship
• Educational resource development
• Internship experiences
The specific structure of the project should reflect the student’s interests, institutional requirements, and available opportunities.
For Faculty Members
Faculty participation is essential to the success of HRIC+.
Faculty members may support the initiative by:
- Supervising independent studies
• Advising research projects
• Mentoring students
• Supervising internships
• Serving on thesis and dissertation committees
• Collaborating on public scholarship initiatives
• Connecting students with community organizations
Faculty supervisors retain full authority over academic standards, evaluation procedures, grading, and institutional requirements associated with their courses or programs.
HRIC+ is intended to support, not replace, existing academic structures.
Faculty are encouraged to adapt HRIC+ resources to the needs of their students, disciplines, and institutions.
For Community Partners
Community organizations play an important role in helping students connect academic learning with lived experience.
Organizations may participate by:
- Hosting interns
• Providing project opportunities
• Identifying community needs
• Supporting research initiatives
• Offering mentorship
• Collaborating on educational projects
• Participating in public scholarship efforts
Participation does not require formal affiliation with HRIC+.
Organizations may choose to support a single project, host a student for a semester, collaborate on research, or participate in ongoing partnerships.
Possible Project Outcomes
Projects may result in:
- Research papers
• Journal article drafts
• Research notes
• Literature reviews
• Systems analyses
• Policy briefs
• Internship reports
• Community assessments
• Educational resources
• Datasets
• Digital projects
• Presentations
• Thesis chapters
• Public scholarship contributions
The final outcome should reflect the project’s objectives and the requirements established by the supervising faculty member and institution.
Contributing to Public Scholarship
Participants are encouraged, though not required, to contribute completed work to broader public scholarship initiatives associated with HRIC+.
Possible contributions include:
- Educational materials
• Research summaries
• Book reviews
• Systems maps
• Resource guides
• Public essays
• Research notes
• Project reports
Participation in publication or archiving activities remains voluntary and subject to institutional, ethical, and legal requirements.
A Collaborative Learning Network
HRIC+ is built on the belief that meaningful learning occurs when research, reflection, and lived experience inform one another. The initiative seeks to create opportunities for participants to investigate important questions, contribute to public understanding, engage with communities, and develop practical and intellectual skills that extend beyond the classroom.
Whether you are a student beginning your first independent project, a faculty member mentoring emerging scholars, or a community organization working to address local challenges, HRIC+ provides a flexible framework for connecting learning, research, and engagement within a broader community of inquiry and practice.