Human Rights Lab

About the Lab

The Human Rights Lab at Albion College engages students and community members in generating solutions to human rights and social justice problems through research, policy, and advocacy.

Three students standing together in front of a lake in Dayton

Our Projects

The Human Rights Lab at Albion College bridges the gap between theory and practice, showing how research and advocacy can be used to reduce inequality and increase access to rights and justice. The Lab prioritizes experiential learning and community building and links the local with the global.

The Human Rights Lab is a program of the Gerald R. Ford Institute for Leadership in Public Policy and Service in the School of Public Purpose and Professional Advancement.

Advocacy Toolkit

We offer tools and strategies for defending human rights in our own communities and organizing with others for collaborative, human rights-inspired change. Created with college students for college students, our online toolkit offers practical ideas for building more inclusive spaces, preventing bias, challenging hate, and increasing access to rights and justice.

Community Partnerships

Albion students and community partners work together to explore the connections between human rights ideas and human rights practice and how local and global norms shape each other. Lab members and their community partners research, write, and advocate for equitable, rights-based policy practices locally.

Human Rights Education

The human rights education project promotes human rights through co-curricular programming. Human Rights Lab students host events, design factsheets, create educational curriculum and train campus peers in the the best practices of human rights advocacy and social change. 

Human Rights Certificate

All students at Albion College can pursue a certificate in human rights to complement their major program of study. Students can get credentialed in community engagement or advocacy strategies and tactics by signing up for an Innovation Badge through the Gerald R. Ford Institute for Public Service. 

Our Team

Our members research, write, and advocate for equitable, rights-based policy practices.

Niyati Kellenberg Callewaert
Kara Anderson
Orion Hower
Caitlyn Cummings
Sheridan Leinbach

Others should care about human rights because they are built on a foundation of dignity, equality, respect, and autonomy.

Niyati Kellenberg Callewaert
Senior Researcher

I knew joining the lab would allow me to grow my human rights knowledge, share that knowledge with others, and contribute to making a difference in this vast and diverse world.

Kara Anderson
Researcher

Human rights are the first step we must take to get to that better world. I have seen and experienced breaches of human rights and I know how it feels to be treated as less than.

Orion Hower
Researcher

By joining the Human Rights Lab I hope to further my knowledge, share that knowledge with others and work with communities to bring change.

Egshiglan Batjargal
Researcher

I want to do my part to educate, navigate and contribute to the fulfilment of human rights.

Isaac Byrd
Researcher

Human rights apply to everyone in every society and its important people are aware of human rights issues in order to stand up for justice.

Caitlin Cummings
Senior Researcher

I’m passionate about teaching others about their human rights and the responsibility their governments have to protect and uphold them.

Sheridan Leinbach
Researcher