2023-2024 Crowley Scholars Application

Overview

The Crowley Scholars Program provides Fordham Law School students with a unique opportunity to combine the academic study of international human rights with the practical participation in a two week overseas human rights fact-finding study conducted at the end of the spring semester.

Crowley Scholars participate in all aspects of the Crowley Program in International Human Rights. Scholars take the basic international human rights law course in the Fall semester, and enroll in a special Crowley International Human Rights Seminar in the Spring. The Crowley Seminar examines a specific human rights issue in that year’s chosen focus country. In the two weeks following the end of Spring semester exams, Crowley Scholars and faculty participate in a two-week overseas fact-finding study which results in a report written by the Crowley Fellow and Leitner Center faculty. Past Crowley Program reports can be reviewed on the Crowley Program webpage.

Students participate in all aspects of the project, including substantive and logistical preparation for the two-week fact-finding study.  During the fieldwork, Scholars interview government officials, academics, community leaders, judges, lawyers, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders. After the fieldwork, Scholars assist the Crowley Fellow in preparing the report that documents findings and provides recommendations.

Project Subject Matter

The subject of the 2023–2024 Crowley Project will be decided in the summer of 2023 by Leitner Center faculty.

Past projects have investigated refugee rights in Thailand and Myanmar, mental health and human rights in Cambodia, women’s housing rights in Tanzania, land rights in Nepal, domestic violence in New Zealand, the feminization of HIV/AIDS in Malawi, women, customary law, and constitutionalism in South Africa, educational access and segregation of Roma in Romania, access to health care in Kenya, social and cultural rights in Bolivia, civil rights in Malaysia, women’s inheritance rights in Ghana, criminal defendants’ rights in Mexico, the rule of law in Hong Kong, and torture and extra-judicial killings in Turkey. For more information, visit the Crowley Program webpage.

Eligibility

Fordham Law School 1L students (Day or Evening) or 2L Evening students may apply to the Crowley Scholars. Students are designated as Crowley Scholars during their 2L year (for Day students) or 2L/3L year (for Evening students).

Application to or acceptance in the International Human Rights Clinic does not prejudice a student’s candidacy for the Crowley Scholars Program.

Terms and Conditions

The Crowley Program requires a serious commitment of time and energy during both semesters of the year and over the summer.  Potential applicants should think carefully about their other obligations (academic and otherwise) before deciding to apply.

Specifically, Crowley Scholars must agree to undertake the following responsibilities:

Enrollment requirements

Participation in Crowley Project:

Crowley Scholars are also strongly encouraged to enroll in additional human rights courses and to undertake human rights-related internships, writing projects, and independent studies.

Deadline 

The application deadline for the 2023-2024 Crowley Scholars Program is April 25, 2023.

Application

Applicants should submit one complete application with all documents in a single PDF file, consisting of the following:

  1. Cover letter: A one- to two-page letter stating your interest in the Crowley Scholars Program, relevant past experience and background, and your summer plans, and what you hope to gain from the experience.
  2. Résumé or CV
  3. References: Contact information for two references.
  4. Transcripts:
    • Undergraduate transcript (official or unofficial)
    • Letter authorizing the Registrar to release your law school transcript to the Crowley Scholars Program Selection Committee.  The letter should be captioned, “Authorization of Transcript Release,” and should state, “I, [your name], give my permission for the Office of the Registrar of the Fordham University School of Law to release my academic transcript  to the Crowley Scholars Program Selection Committee in connection with my application to the Crowley Scholars Program.”  The letter should be signed and dated by you and include your Fordham ID number and dates of attendance at Fordham Law School.
  5. Writing sample: You may submit a paper from your legal writing class, an unedited scholarly paper from your undergraduate studies, or another substantial piece of writing that has only been edited by you.

Please email complete applications to LeitnerCenter@law.fordham.edu.

Interviews

A small number of applicants will be selected for interviews in late spring or early summer.

Evaluation and selection

Six to eight students are selected as Crowley Scholars each year. Applications are evaluated by a committee of Leitner Center faculty and staff.

Applications will be evaluated based on the student’s demonstrated interest in international human rights (prior coursework and academic study, internships and jobs, planned work, experience abroad or in international communities); maturity, discipline, and organizational skills; academic performance. 

Further information

Please contact leitnercenter@law.fordham.edu with any further questions.

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Leitner Center for International Law and Justice
Fordham University School of Law
150 West 62nd Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10023 USA

Email: LeitnerCenter@law.fordham.edu
Telephone: 212.636.6862
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Faculty and Staff
Akosua K. Nyamekye
Program Assistant

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