NYU Human Rights Faculty & Staff Directory

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Isra Ali
Clinical Assistant Professor
Media, Culture, & Communication, NYU Steinhardt
Isra Ali is a feminist media scholar. Her current research interests are concerned with the ways that feminism is mobilized in the public discourse on the war on terror, and Read More
Isra AliClinical Assistant Professor

Isra Ali is a feminist media scholar. Her current research interests are concerned with the ways that feminism is mobilized in the public discourse on the war on terror, and how this impacts the project of enacting transnational/cross-cultural feminist alliances with women in the “Muslim world.”

Webpage | Media, Culture, & Communication, NYU Steinhardt

Philip Alston
John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law
Center for Human Rights & Global Justice, NYU Law
Philip Alston is the John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law and a leading global scholar on human rights. He has conducted fact-finding in dozens of countries and has served on Read More
Philip AlstonJohn Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law

Philip Alston is the John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law and a leading global scholar on human rights. He has conducted fact-finding in dozens of countries and has served on numerous UN bodies. From 2004 to 2010, he was UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, and since 2014 he has served as UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. He is Co-Chair and Faculty Director of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice.

Webpage | Center for Human Rights & Global Justice, NYU Law

Piper Anderson
Part-Time Faculty
NYU Gallatin
As a community arts practitioner, writer, and educator Piper Anderson has dedicated her life to using the arts and education to advocate for social justice. In 2001, realizing the destructive Read More
Piper AndersonPart-Time Faculty

As a community arts practitioner, writer, and educator Piper Anderson has dedicated her life to using the arts and education to advocate for social justice. In 2001, realizing the destructive impact of prisons and policing on her community, a 21-year-old Anderson became Blackout Arts Collective’s Lyrics on Lockdown National Tour Coordinator and directed the cultural campaign that reached more than twenty-five US communities creatively catalyzing a dialogue about the urgent need for criminal justice reform. Lyrics on Lockdown is now a course at NYU, taught by Anderson, where the mission has become to inspire the next generation of leaders to be advocates and practitioners for justice. Over the last fifteen years, Anderson has cultivated her “arts for social transformation” practice working in communities internationally. Her work integrates the arts, education, and a range of healing practices. She serves as Director of Education and Artist Development for Young Audiences New York, where she designs innovative arts education programs that enrich and enliven the learning experience for young people, preparing them to be engaged 21st century citizens. She holds a bachelor’s degree from The New School, where she was a Riggio Writing Democracy Fellow, and a Master’s in Applied Theatre from CUNY.

Webpage | NYU Gallatin

Joyce Apsel
Clinical Professor
NYU College of Arts & Sciences; NYU Liberal Studies
Joyce Apsel is a historian and lawyer who teaches courses on comparative genocide, human rights and humanitarianism, and peace studies. She also conducts in class workshops introducing students and public Read More
Joyce ApselClinical Professor

Joyce Apsel is a historian and lawyer who teaches courses on comparative genocide, human rights and humanitarianism, and peace studies. She also conducts in class workshops introducing students and public audiences to genocide and human rights topics.  For the last decade as President of the Institute for the Study of Genocide, she has directed outreach education projects and edited publications such as Darfur: Genocide before our Eyes distributed to classrooms for public education.

Webpage | NYU College of Arts & Sciences; NYU Liberal Studies

Ashely B. Armstrong
Acting Assistant Professor
NYU Law
Ashley teaches the first-year Lawyering course, and her scholarship focuses on refugee and human rights law. Prior to joining the faculty, Ashley taught the Human Rights Fact-Finding Practicum and led Read More
Ashely B. ArmstrongActing Assistant Professor

Ashley teaches the first-year Lawyering course, and her scholarship focuses on refugee and human rights law.

Prior to joining the faculty, Ashley taught the Human Rights Fact-Finding Practicum and led the Human Rights Institute at Georgetown University Law Center as the Dash-Muse Teaching Fellow. Previously, she served as Chief Operating Officer at the National Whistleblower Center and taught Whistleblower Law at Northeastern Law School. 

Webpage | NYU Law

Paul M. Barrett
Deputy Director, Stern Center for Business & Human Rights; Adjunct Professor
Center for Business & Human Rights, NYU Stern; NYU Law
Paul Barrett joined the Center as deputy director in September 2017 after spending more than three decades as a journalist and author focusing on the intersection of business, law, and Read More
Paul M. BarrettDeputy Director, Stern Center for Business & Human Rights; Adjunct Professor

Paul Barrett joined the Center as deputy director in September 2017 after spending more than three decades as a journalist and author focusing on the intersection of business, law, and society. Most recently, Paul worked for 12 years for Bloomberg Businessweek magazine, where he served at different times as the editor of an award-winning investigative team and a writer covering topics such as energy and the environment, military procurement, and the civilian firearm industry.

Webpage | Center for Business & Human Rights, NYU Stern; NYU Law

Ira Belkin
Executive Director, U.S.-Asia Law Institute; Adjunct Professor
U.S.-Asia Law Institute, NYU Law
Ira Belkin writes and teaches extensively on law and rights issues in China, and oversees U.S.-Asia Law Institute’s mission to promote the rule of law and human rights in Asia. Read More
Ira BelkinExecutive Director, U.S.-Asia Law Institute; Adjunct Professor

Ira Belkin writes and teaches extensively on law and rights issues in China, and oversees U.S.-Asia Law Institute’s mission to promote the rule of law and human rights in Asia. Previously, as a program officer at Ford Foundation, he helped Chinese institutions strengthen the rule of law in China and enhance the protection of citizens’ rights.

Webpage | U.S.-Asia Law Institute, NYU Law

Enrico Bertini
Assistant Professor
NYU Tandon School of Engineering
Enrico Bertini focuses on the study of effective data visualization methods and techniques to explore and make sense of large and often high- dimensional data. He also studies how to Read More
Enrico BertiniAssistant Professor

Enrico Bertini focuses on the study of effective data visualization methods and techniques to explore and make sense of large and often high- dimensional data. He also studies how to communicate complex ideas effectively through visual data presentation. His research has been applied to several application domains including: biochemistry, cybersecurity, development, healthcare, climate science, human rights.

Webpage | NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Rezarta Bilali
Assistant Professor
Psychology & Social Innovation, NYU Steinhardt
Rezarta’s research focuses on understanding psychological underpinnings of mass violence, and devising and examining interventions (e.g., media-based interventions) to promote peaceful relations in the aftermath of violence. Dr. Bilali has Read More
Rezarta BilaliAssistant Professor

Rezarta’s research focuses on understanding psychological underpinnings of mass violence, and devising and examining interventions (e.g., media-based interventions) to promote peaceful relations in the aftermath of violence. Dr. Bilali has conducted studies in numerous countries including Bangladesh, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Turkey, and the U.S.

Webpage | Psychology & Social Innovation, NYU Steinhardt

Dana Burde
Associate Professor; Director of International Education
Applied Statistics, Social Science, & Humanities, NYU Steinhardt
Dana Burde focuses her research on the effects of conflict on education, the efforts of humanitarian organizations to mitigate these effects, and the relationship between education and political violence or Read More
Dana BurdeAssociate Professor; Director of International Education

Dana Burde focuses her research on the effects of conflict on education, the efforts of humanitarian organizations to mitigate these effects, and the relationship between education and political violence or peace. She is particularly interested in research that can be used to inform policy and that has the potential to help state and non-state actors create positive social change.

Webpage | Applied Statistics, Social Science, & Humanities, NYU Steinhardt

Pamela Calla
Clinical Associate Professor
Center for Latin American Studies, NYU College of Arts & Sciences
Dr. Pamela Calla, an anthropologist, is Clinical Associate Professor at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University and director of the Observatory on Racism of Read More
Pamela CallaClinical Associate Professor

Dr. Pamela Calla, an anthropologist, is Clinical Associate Professor at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University and director of the Observatory on Racism of the Universidad de la Cordillera in La Paz, Bolivia. Currently she also co-coordinates the “Network of Observatories on Racism in the Americas”, an initiative launched by the Universidad de la Cordillera and the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas. She is the author of works on race, racism, gender, sexism, ethnicity, interculturality and state formation in Bolivia and coeditor of Antropología del Estado: Dominación y prácticas contestatarias en America Latina. 

Webpage | Center for Latin American Studies, NYU College of Arts & Sciences

Theresa Castillo
Program Director
HealthRight International, NYU College of Global Public Health
Dr. Castillo has been working globally in the fields of gender, social justice, and health equity for nearly 20 years. Her expertise includes cultural rights, adolescent health, sexual & reproductive Read More
Theresa CastilloProgram Director

Dr. Castillo has been working globally in the fields of gender, social justice, and health equity for nearly 20 years. Her expertise includes cultural rights, adolescent health, sexual & reproductive health, violence prevention, and community development among vulnerable populations. Dr. Castillo has served on several health equity committees, peer-review journals, and presented globally, with publications on gender integration and health disparities. 

Webpage | HealthRight International, NYU College of Global Public Health

Jerome Cohen
Professor; Faculty Director U.S.-Asia Law Institute
U.S.-Asia Law Institute, NYU Law
Jerome Cohen is a leading American expert on Chinese law and government, and focuses his research on criminal justice reform, human rights, and the role of international law relating to Read More
Jerome CohenProfessor; Faculty Director U.S.-Asia Law Institute

Jerome Cohen is a leading American expert on Chinese law and government, and focuses his research on criminal justice reform, human rights, and the role of international law relating to China and Taiwan. He is Faculty Director of the U.S.-Asia Law Institute and an Adjunct Senior Fellow for Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Webpage | U.S.-Asia Law Institute, NYU Law

Belinda Cooper
Adjunct Professor
Center for Global Affairs, NYU School of Professional Studies
Belinda Cooper is the editor of War Crimes: The Legacy of Nuremberg, which explores the interconnections between the Nuremberg tribunal and today’s international criminal tribunals. Cooper teaches and lectures on Read More
Belinda CooperAdjunct Professor

Belinda Cooper is the editor of War Crimes: The Legacy of Nuremberg, which explores the interconnections between the Nuremberg tribunal and today’s international criminal tribunals. Cooper teaches and lectures on human rights and international law, including issues in the “war on terror.” She was director of the project on Turkey: Democratization, Human Rights and Security at the World Policy Institute.

Webpage | Center for Global Affairs, NYU School of Professional Studies

Lauren Crain
Director of Research and Learning
Scholars at Risk
Lauren Crain is the Director of Research and Learning at Scholars at Risk, where she develops and manages public programming, workshops, trainings, publications and other activities, including the biannual SAR Read More
Lauren CrainDirector of Research and Learning

Lauren Crain is the Director of Research and Learning at Scholars at Risk, where she develops and manages public programming, workshops, trainings, publications and other activities, including the biannual SAR Global Congress. She also coordinates the SAR Working Group on Promoting Higher Education Values, which works with the higher education sector to develop proactive strategies for promoting academic freedom, accountability, social responsibility and other related core higher education values on campus. Prior to joining SAR, she was the Program Coordinator for the Aspen Institute’s Justice and Society Program, and a Consultant for the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW), where she also served as Co-Chair of their Emerging Leaders Network, a skills-building and networking group for entry and mid-level nonprofit professionals. She holds an MA in Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University and a BA in Politics from New York University.

Webpage | Scholars at Risk

Omar A. Dauhajre
Assistant Director
Center for Latin American Studies, NYU College of Arts & Sciences
Omar A. Dauhajre is a Puerto Rican writer/editor, historian, and musician. Over the last decade, he has worked in the nonprofit sector in Boston and New York both in academia Read More
Omar A. DauhajreAssistant Director

Omar A. Dauhajre is a Puerto Rican writer/editor, historian, and musician. Over the last decade, he has worked in the nonprofit sector in Boston and New York both in academia and in community organizations. He is Assistant Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

Webpage | Center for Latin American Studies, NYU College of Arts & Sciences

Sukti Dhital
Deputy Director
Robert L. Bernstein Institute for Human Rights, NYU Law
Sukti Dhital is a human rights lawyer with significant experience in the field of economic and social rights. Previously she was the Executive Director and Co- founder of Nazdeek, a Read More
Sukti DhitalDeputy Director

Sukti Dhital is a human rights lawyer with significant experience in the field of economic and social rights. Previously she was the Executive Director and Co- founder of Nazdeek, a legal empowerment organization in India. She is a frequent speaker on issues concerning gender equality, economic and social rights, and legal empowerment.

Webpage | Robert L. Bernstein Institute for Human Rights, NYU Law

R. Luke DuBois
Co-Director; Associate Professor
Music & Performing Arts Professions, NYU Steinhardt; NYU Tandon School of Engineering; ITP, NYU Tisch
R. Luke DuBois is an artist, composer, and software engineer, who explores the temporal, verbal, and visual structures of cultural and personal ephemera. He has taught worldwide on interactive sound Read More
R. Luke DuBoisCo-Director; Associate Professor

R. Luke DuBois is an artist, composer, and software engineer, who explores the temporal, verbal, and visual structures of cultural and personal ephemera. He has taught worldwide on interactive sound and video performance, and has contributed to a number of software packages for creative computing, including Max/MSP/Jitter and P5.js. He co-directs NYU’s programs in Integrated Digital Media and the NYU Ability Project.

Webpage | Music & Performing Arts Professions, NYU Steinhardt; NYU Tandon School of Engineering; ITP, NYU Tisch

Stephen Duncombe
Professor
NYU Gallatin; Media, Culture, & Communication, NYU Steinhardt
Stephen Duncombe teaches and writes on the history of mass and alternative media and the intersection of culture and politics. A life-long political activist, he is presently the co-founder and Read More
Stephen DuncombeProfessor

Stephen Duncombe teaches and writes on the history of mass and alternative media and the intersection of culture and politics. A life-long political activist, he is presently the co-founder and co-director of the Center for Artistic Activism, a research and training institute that helps activists create more like artists and artists strategize more like activists.

Webpage | NYU Gallatin; Media, Culture, & Communication, NYU Steinhardt

Miriam Eckenfels-Garcia
Associate Director
NYU Law
Miriam Eckenfels-Garcia is an Associate Director at NYU’s Public Interest Law Center, where she runs the intensive pro bono research program, which provides research support to domestic and international non-profits Read More
Miriam Eckenfels-GarciaAssociate Director

Miriam Eckenfels-Garcia is an Associate Director at NYU’s Public Interest Law Center, where she runs the intensive pro bono research program, which provides research support to domestic and international non-profits working in the areas of human rights, international law and development. Prior to joining PILC, Miriam was a senior legal counsel to the Palau National Congress, where she advised the members of Congress on human rights issues and Palau’s obligations under international law.

Webpage | NYU Law

David Elcott
Henry and Marilyn Taub Professor of Practice in Public Service and Leadership
NYU Wagner
David Elcott has spent the last twenty-five years at the intersection of community building, the search for a theory of cross-boundary engagement, and interfaith and ethnic organizing and activism. Over Read More
David ElcottHenry and Marilyn Taub Professor of Practice in Public Service and Leadership

David Elcott has spent the last twenty-five years at the intersection of community building, the search for a theory of cross-boundary engagement, and interfaith and ethnic organizing and activism. Over the past years, Dr. Elcott has worked to build a robust training program of community organizing and advocacy campaigns housed in Wagner and attended by students from across the university. He has mediated conflicts between and among religious communities in the U.S. and around the world and trained civil society organizers across the US and around the world.

Webpage | NYU Wagner

Erica Foldy
Associate Professor of Public and Nonprofit Management; Director of Public and Nonprofit Management and Policy Program
NYU Wagner
Erica Foldy focuses her research on what enables and inhibits collaboration and learning across potential divisions like race and gender. She is interested in how our identities, frames and learning Read More
Erica FoldyAssociate Professor of Public and Nonprofit Management; Director of Public and Nonprofit Management and Policy Program

Erica Foldy focuses her research on what enables and inhibits collaboration and learning across potential divisions like race and gender. She is interested in how our identities, frames and learning behaviors affect our ability to connect with others. Her work embeds these influences in broader organizational and social contexts by exploring leadership, safety climate and power dynamics.

Webpage | NYU Wagner

John Gershman
Clinical Professor
NYU Wagner
John Gershman focuses his research and teaching on the intersections between property rights and human rights in natural resource management in Ghana and the Philippines and the organizational and political Read More
John GershmanClinical Professor

John Gershman focuses his research and teaching on the intersections between property rights and human rights in natural resource management in Ghana and the Philippines and the organizational and political challenges facing advocates of rights-based approaches to development. He has worked in a number of rights- oriented NGOs prior to coming to NYU, including Food First and Partners in Health.

Webpage | NYU Wagner

Anne Marie Goetz
Clinical Professor
Center for Global Affairs, NYU School of Professional Studies
Anne Marie Goetz is a political scientist who specializes in research on development policies in fragile states to promote the interests of marginalized social groups, particularly poor women. She served Read More
Anne Marie GoetzClinical Professor

Anne Marie Goetz is a political scientist who specializes in research on development policies in fragile states to promote the interests of marginalized social groups, particularly poor women. She served at the United Nations between 2005 – 2014 where she spearheaded initiatives to promote women’s empowerment in the UN’s peace and security work and to improve the UN’s capacity to detect and prevent sexual violence in conflict.

Webpage | Center for Global Affairs, NYU School of Professional Studies

April Gu
Associate Director
Center for Business & Human Rights, NYU Stern
April Gu runs the Center for Business and Human Rights’ operations, and heads the Center’s integration into the broader university, resource stewardship, and implements cutting-edge research and programming. She also Read More
April GuAssociate Director

April Gu runs the Center for Business and Human Rights’ operations, and heads the Center’s integration into the broader university, resource stewardship, and implements cutting-edge research and programming. She also teaches courses on law, business and society, and social impact consulting. Previously, she practiced law in the areas of finance and energy, and was a Fulbright Research Scholar.

Webpage | Center for Business & Human Rights, NYU Stern

Sally Guttmacher
Professor Emerita; Senior Technical Advisor
HealthRight International, Nutrition & Food Studies, NYU College of Global Public Health; NYU Steinhardt
Professor Guttmacher’s research interests include policy and prevention of chronic and infectious diseases; poverty and public health; women’s health and evaluation. Much of her research in the past severalyears has Read More
Sally GuttmacherProfessor Emerita; Senior Technical Advisor

Professor Guttmacher’s research interests include policy and prevention of chronic and infectious diseases; poverty and public health; women’s health and evaluation. Much of her research in the past severalyears has been in the Cape Town Metro area of South Africa.

Webpage | HealthRight International, Nutrition & Food Studies, NYU Steinhardt; NYU College of Global Public Health

Ellie Happel
Haiti Project Director; Staff Attorney
Center for Human Rights & Global Justice, NYU Law
Ellie Happel directs the Global Justice Clinic’s Haiti Project, Preventing Violations and Advancing Human Rights in Haiti’s Emerging Mining Sector. As of the summer of 2017, Ellie is also a Read More
Ellie HappelHaiti Project Director; Staff Attorney

Ellie Happel directs the Global Justice Clinic’s Haiti Project, Preventing Violations and Advancing Human Rights in Haiti’s Emerging Mining Sector. As of the summer of 2017, Ellie is also a Staff Attorney with the Global Justice Clinic, where she is working with students to advocate for the rights of the Haitian immigrant community in New York. Prior to law school, Ellie worked in environmental justice and public health in Nicaragua, Bolivia, Peru, and Washington, D.C.

Webpage | Center for Human Rights & Global Justice, NYU Law

Mary Holland
Director, Graduate Lawyering Program
NYU Law
Mary Holland is Director of the Graduate Legal Skills Program at New York University School of Law. Educated at Harvard and Columbia Universities, Holland has worked in international public and Read More
Mary HollandDirector, Graduate Lawyering Program

Mary Holland is Director of the Graduate Legal Skills Program at New York University School of Law. Educated at Harvard and Columbia Universities, Holland has worked in international public and private law. Prior to joining NYU, Holland worked worked at a major U.S. human rights advocacy organization as Director of its European Program. She has also taught international law courses at Columbia Law School and has served as a consultant to the Aspen Institute Justice and Society Program.

Webpage | NYU Law

Sharon Hom
Executive Director, China and International Human Rights Law Research Program; Adjunct Professor
Human Rights in China; NYU Law
Sharon Hom focuses her research on China’s compliance with international norms and obligations and regulation of the Internet in China. She is also the Executive Director of Human Rights in Read More
Sharon HomExecutive Director, China and International Human Rights Law Research Program; Adjunct Professor

Sharon Hom focuses her research on China’s compliance with international norms and obligations and regulation of the Internet in China. She is also the Executive Director of Human Rights in China, and leads the organization’s advocacy and strategic policy engagement with NGOs, governments, and multi-stakeholder initiatives.

Webpage | Human Rights in China; NYU Law

Natasha Iskander
Associate Professor
NYU Wagner
Natasha conducts research on labor migration and economic development, on labor mobilization and its relationship to workforce development, and on processes of institutional innovation and organizational learning. Her current project investigates Read More
Natasha IskanderAssociate Professor

Natasha conducts research on labor migration and economic development, on labor mobilization and its relationship to workforce development, and on processes of institutional innovation and organizational learning. Her current project investigates how tacit skill moves across national borders through international migration, and the resource it represents for economic development.

Webpage | NYU Wagner

Kirk A. James
Clinical Assistant Professor
NYU Silver School of Social Work
Kirk James’s primary research and publications focus on deconstructing issues of mass incarceration – specifically as it pertains to trauma, cognitive development, culpability, and the examination of systems that foster Read More
Kirk A. JamesClinical Assistant Professor

Kirk James’s primary research and publications focus on deconstructing issues of mass incarceration – specifically as it pertains to trauma, cognitive development, culpability, and the examination of systems that foster and perpetuate racial injustice.

Webpage | NYU Silver School of Social Work

Maryam Jamshidi
Acting Assistant Professor
NYU Law
Maryam Jamshidi is a lawyer and writer with over ten years of experience working on issues relating to the Middle East and North Africa. She has written various academic articles Read More
Maryam JamshidiActing Assistant Professor

Maryam Jamshidi is a lawyer and writer with over ten years of experience working on issues relating to the Middle East and North Africa. She has written various academic articles and published a book on transitional justice and the Arab world. Her current scholarship examines civil claims brought by private individuals against third-parties for providing material support to terrorism, and how these claims replicate many of the shortfalls of the legal “War on Terror.”

Webpage | NYU Law

Vera Jelinek
Divisional Dean and Director of CGA
Center for Global Affairs, NYU School of Professional Studies
Vera Jelinek’s mission to create a community of global citizens has spanned over three decades at NYU. She launched the M.S. in Global Affairs program and the Center for Global Read More
Vera JelinekDivisional Dean and Director of CGA

Vera Jelinek’s mission to create a community of global citizens has spanned over three decades at NYU. She launched the M.S. in Global Affairs program and the Center for Global Affairs at SPS in 2004. In addition to hosting over 300 graduate students, the Center offers noncredit programming and presents public events on critical global issues with experts in the field.

Webpage | Center for Global Affairs, NYU School of Professional Studies

Allen Keller
Doctor; Associate Professor
NYU Gallatin; Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture & NYU Center for Health & Human Rights, NYU School of Medicine
Allen is a general internist and Associate Professor, NYU School of Medicine. He has dedicated his career to evaluating and caring for victims of human rights abuses and promoting the Read More
Allen KellerDoctor; Associate Professor

Allen is a general internist and Associate Professor, NYU School of Medicine. He has dedicated his career to evaluating and caring for victims of human rights abuses and promoting the interrelationship between health and human rights. He co-founded the Program for Survivors of Torture.  Allen’s current scholarly/advocacy work includes documenting the health consequences of immigration detention, and accountability for U.S. health professional complicity in torture.  He co-chairs the Bellevue Bioethics Committee and teaches seminars on global Bioethics and Health & Human Rights at NYU Gallatin.

Webpage | NYU Gallatin; Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture & NYU Center for Health & Human Rights, NYU School of Medicine

Elisabeth King
Associate Professor
Applied Statistics, Social Science, & Humanities, NYU Steinhardt
Elisabeth King is a political scientist working on issues related to conflict, peacebuilding, and development in sub-Saharan Africa. Her recent projects examine how education, youth programs, and community-driven development interventions Read More
Elisabeth KingAssociate Professor

Elisabeth King is a political scientist working on issues related to conflict, peacebuilding, and development in sub-Saharan Africa. Her recent projects examine how education, youth programs, and community-driven development interventions work, or don’t work, for people in the global South.

Webpage | Applied Statistics, Social Science, & Humanities, NYU Steinhardt

Carolyn Kissane
Academic Director; Clinical Associate Professor
Center for Global Affairs, NYU School of Professional Studies
Carolyn Kissane teaches graduate level courses examining the geopolitics of energy, comparative energy politics, energy, environment and resource security, a regional course focusing on Central Asia. She is the Coordinator Read More
Carolyn KissaneAcademic Director; Clinical Associate Professor

Carolyn Kissane teaches graduate level courses examining the geopolitics of energy, comparative energy politics, energy, environment and resource security, a regional course focusing on Central Asia. She is the Coordinator of the Energy and Environment concentration at the Center, a faculty adviser to the Energy Policy International Club, and hosts the Fueling our Future series.

Webpage | Center for Global Affairs, NYU School of Professional Studies

Peter Lucas
Adjunct Professor
Center for Experimental Humanities & Center for Latin American Studies, NYU College of Arts & Sciences; NYU Tisch
Peter Lucas focuses his research and teaching on human rights and media, documentary practice, the poetics of witnessing, human rights education, and human rights in Latin America. In 2012, he Read More
Peter LucasAdjunct Professor

Peter Lucas focuses his research and teaching on human rights and media, documentary practice, the poetics of witnessing, human rights education, and human rights in Latin America. In 2012, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for his film projects in Brazil. And more recently, he was the creative producer for Hooligan Sparrow, the opening night film at the 2017 Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York.

Webpage | Center for Experimental Humanities & Center for Latin American Studies, NYU College of Arts & Sciences; NYU Tisch

Ritty Lukose
Associate Professor
NYU Gallatin
Ritty Lukose’s teaching and research interests explore the relations between culture, politics, and economy as they manifest themselves in discourses and practices of gender across the varied terrain of globalization, Read More
Ritty LukoseAssociate Professor

Ritty Lukose’s teaching and research interests explore the relations between culture, politics, and economy as they manifest themselves in discourses and practices of gender across the varied terrain of globalization, especially as they impact contemporary South Asia. With a background in anthropology, she is currently interested in the relationship between Western, global and non-Western feminisms. Professor Lukose’s research has been funded by the American Institute of Indian Studies, the Fulbright Program, the Spencer Foundation, and the National Academy of Education, and she has published several book chapters and articles on this research in journals such as Cultural Anthropology, Social History, Social Analysis, and Anthropology, and Education Quarterly. Her book, Liberalization’s Children: Gender, Youth and Consumer Citizenship in Globalizing India, was published by Duke University Press in 2009 and co-published in India by Orient Blackswan in 2010. A co-edited book, South Asian Feminisms was published by Duke University Press (2012) and Zubaan, a leading feminist press in India. She teaches courses on globalization, India/South Asia, sex/gender and feminisms within global contexts, and ethnography.

Webpage | NYU Gallatin

Damon McCoy
Assistant Professor
NYU Tandon School of Engineering
Damon McCoy focuses his research on empirically measuring the security and privacy of technology systems and their intersections with society. Currently, his primary focus is on online payment systems, economics Read More
Damon McCoyAssistant Professor

Damon McCoy focuses his research on empirically measuring the security and privacy of technology systems and their intersections with society. Currently, his primary focus is on online payment systems, economics of cybercrime, automotive systems, privacy enhancing technologies and censorship resistance.

Webpage | NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Alexis Merdjanoff
Clinical Assistant Professor
NYU College of Global Public Health
Dr. Alexis Merdjanoff is a scholar working at the intersection of public health and sociology.  Her work primarily explores how social inequalities shape the impact of disaster on health, recovery, Read More
Alexis MerdjanoffClinical Assistant Professor

Dr. Alexis Merdjanoff is a scholar working at the intersection of public health and sociology.  Her work primarily explores how social inequalities shape the impact of disaster on health, recovery, and resilience, particularly for vulnerable populations.  She aims to reveal important contextual factors that can propel affected residents on different paths of post-disaster recovery.  Her current research considers how exposure to traumatic events influences health over the life course. 

Webpage | NYU College of Global Public Health

Sally Merry
Faculty Director, CHRGJ; Professor
Department of Anthropology, NYU College of Arts & Sciences;Center for Human Rights & Global Justice, NYU Law
Professor Merry’s research on human rights examines the process by which human rights ideas are interpreted in vernacular terms that are relevant to everyday life in communities around the world. Read More
Sally MerryFaculty Director, CHRGJ; Professor

Professor Merry’s research on human rights examines the process by which human rights ideas are interpreted in vernacular terms that are relevant to everyday life in communities around the world. Her specialty is the anthropology of law, and she has done research on courts and disputing in the USA, on law and American colonialism in Hawai’i, on gender violence and human rights, and on the role of new information technologies for human rights monitoring.

Webpage | Department of Anthropology, NYU College of Arts & Sciences; Center for Human Rights & Global Justice, NYU Law

Andy Moss
Entrepreneur-in-Residence
NYU Entrepreneurial Institute
Andy Moss is the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Entrepreneurial Institute, and Director of the Blackstone LaunchPad at NYU. He founded Lean Launch Ventures, a tech accelerator, invested, advised and trained other Read More
Andy MossEntrepreneur-in-Residence

Andy Moss is the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Entrepreneurial Institute, and Director of the Blackstone LaunchPad at NYU. He founded Lean Launch Ventures, a tech accelerator, invested, advised and trained other entrepreneurs, has founded and sold a technology startup, and is a member of the New York CTO club.

Webpage | NYU Entrepreneurial Institute

Peter Navario
Clinical Assistant Professor; Executive Director, HealthRight International
HealthRight International, NYU College of Global Public Health
Peter Navario has extensive field experience establishing, monitoring, and evaluating HIV/AIDS treatment programs and health system capacity building across sub-Saharan Africa.  As Executive Director of HealthRight International, he partners with Read More
Peter NavarioClinical Assistant Professor; Executive Director, HealthRight International

Peter Navario has extensive field experience establishing, monitoring, and evaluating HIV/AIDS treatment programs and health system capacity building across sub-Saharan Africa.  As Executive Director of HealthRight International, he partners with NYU on global health programming and research, training opportunities for future public health leaders, and thought leadership.

Webpage | HealthRight International, NYU College of Global Public Health

Vasuki Nesiah
Associate Professor
NYU Gallatin
Vasuki Nesiah is a legal scholar with a focus on public international law. Her main areas of research include the law and politics of international human rights and humanitarianism, with Read More
Vasuki NesiahAssociate Professor

Vasuki Nesiah is a legal scholar with a focus on public international law. Her main areas of research include the law and politics of international human rights and humanitarianism, with a particular focus on transitional justice. She has published widely on the history and politics of human rights, humanitarianism, international criminal law, international feminisms and colonial legal history.

Webpage | NYU Gallatin

Mae Nguyen
Research Scholar
U.S.-Asia Law Institute, NYU Law
Trang (“Mae”) Nguyen (Nguyễn Thu Trang) is an affiliated researcher at New York University School of Law, U.S.-Asia Law Institute, and a visiting scholar at University of California Berkeley School Read More
Mae NguyenResearch Scholar

Trang (“Mae”) Nguyen (Nguyễn Thu Trang) is an affiliated researcher at New York University School of Law, U.S.-Asia Law Institute, and a visiting scholar at University of California Berkeley School of Law. Her research focuses on comparative Vietnamese and Chinese legal systems, including Vietnam and China’s local experiments, criminal justice and procedures, land and maritime border negotiations, and environmental litigation. Mae’s academic work has been published in the New York University Law Review and by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Mae earned a J.D. degree from New York University School of Law, where she was a Mitchell Jacobson Law & Leadership Fellow and executive editor of the New York University Law Review. She is fluent in Vietnamese.

Webpage | U.S.-Asia Law Institute, NYU Law

Sonia M. Ospina
Professor
NYU Wagner
Sonia M. Ospina is a sociologist by training, with research and teaching interests in the participatory, inclusive and collaborative dynamics of democratic governance. She has produced research on social change Read More
Sonia M. OspinaProfessor

Sonia M. Ospina is a sociologist by training, with research and teaching interests in the participatory, inclusive and collaborative dynamics of democratic governance. She has produced research on social change leadership, social innovation and accountability, both in communities and in public systems.

Webpage | NYU Wagner

Marianne Petit
Associate Professor; Academic Director
ITP, NYU Tisch
Marianne currently teaches courses in digital media, animation, paper arts, and storytelling. She is a co-founder/co-director of the Ability Project, an interdisciplinary research space dedicated to the intersection between disability and Read More
Marianne PetitAssociate Professor; Academic Director

Marianne currently teaches courses in digital media, animation, paper arts, and storytelling. She is a co-founder/co-director of the Ability Project, an interdisciplinary research space dedicated to the intersection between disability and technology, and a collaboration of ITP, the Department of Occupational Therapy (Steinhardt) and the Integrated Digital Media Program (Tandon).

Webpage | ITP, NYU Tisch

Benedetta Piantella
Teacher
NYU Tandon
Benedetta was born and raised in Parma, Italy. She is an artist and designer turned humanitarian technologist, after helping organize emergency response efforts during the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 Read More
Benedetta PiantellaTeacher

Benedetta was born and raised in Parma, Italy. She is an artist and designer turned humanitarian technologist, after helping organize emergency response efforts during the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 in Sri Lanka. She co-founded GROUND Lab® and more recently T4D Lab®, engineering R&D companies focused on producing sustainable solutions to humanitarian, social, environmental challenges worldwide. She has built partnerships with organizations such as the UN, UNICEF, The Millennium Villages Project and Universities such as NYU, Columbia and Princeton.

Webpage | NYU Tandon

Deborah Popowski
Executive Director
Center for Human Rights & Global Justice, NYU Law
Deborah Popowski research interests include institutional vulnerability to capture by the national security state; accountability ethics; the role of media and the arts in shifting attitudes towards human rights; and Read More
Deborah PopowskiExecutive Director

Deborah Popowski research interests include institutional vulnerability to capture by the national security state; accountability ethics; the role of media and the arts in shifting attitudes towards human rights; and the incorporation of testimony and performance into legal pedagogy. Previously she taught human rights as a lecturer and clinical instructor at Harvard Law School.

Webpage | Center for Human Rights & Global Justice, NYU Law

Kate Porterfield
Clinical Instructor
Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, NYU School of Medicine
Dr. Porterfield provides care to individuals and families who have survived torture and refugee trauma. She has served as an expert in criminal and human rights cases involving torture and Read More
Kate PorterfieldClinical Instructor

Dr. Porterfield provides care to individuals and families who have survived torture and refugee trauma. She has served as an expert in criminal and human rights cases involving torture and war trauma and has consulted on international cases involving human rights violations.  Dr. Porterfield chaired the APA’s Task Force on the Psychosocial Effects of War on Children and Families Who Are Refugees From Armed Conflict Residing in the United States.

Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, NYU School of Medicine

Michael Posner
Jerome Kohlberg Professor of Ethics and Finance; Director, Center for Business and Human Rights
Center for Business & Human Rights, NYU Stern
Michael Posner is the Center’s Director and the Jerome Kohlberg Professor of Ethics and Finance at NYU Stern. From September 2009 until March 2013, he served in the Obama Administration Read More
Michael PosnerJerome Kohlberg Professor of Ethics and Finance; Director, Center for Business and Human Rights

Michael Posner is the Center’s Director and the Jerome Kohlberg Professor of Ethics and Finance at NYU Stern. From September 2009 until March 2013, he served in the Obama Administration as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the U.S. State Department. From 1978 to 2009, he was the Executive Director and the President of Human Rights First, a U.S.-based human rights advocacy organization.

Webpage | Center for Business & Human Rights, NYU Stern

Joanna Pozen
Assistant Professor; Director, Health and Human Rights Certificate Program
NYU College of Global Public Health
Joanna Pozen is an international public health lawyer and human rights specialist. She leads the new Health and Human Rights Certificate program, and jointly serves as the Program Director of Read More
Joanna PozenAssistant Professor; Director, Health and Human Rights Certificate Program

Joanna Pozen is an international public health lawyer and human rights specialist. She leads the new Health and Human Rights Certificate program, and jointly serves as the Program Director of the Health and Human Rights Initiative at HealthRight International. Her research addresses how international human rights law can improve health outcomes relating to women’s health, mental health, and indigenous communities affected by extractive industries.

Webpage | NYU College of Global Public Health

Nikki Reisch
Legal Director
Center for Human Rights & Global Justice, NYU Law
Nikki Reisch’s work focuses on social and economic rights, with an emphasis on corporate accountability, economic inequality and environmental justice. Prior to studying law, she worked as an advocate with Read More
Nikki ReischLegal Director

Nikki Reisch’s work focuses on social and economic rights, with an emphasis on corporate accountability, economic inequality and environmental justice. Prior to studying law, she worked as an advocate with non- governmental organizations monitoring the effects of international financial and development institutions on communities in the Global South.

Webpage | Center for Human Rights & Global Justice, NYU Law

Lyel Resner
Adjunct Faculty/Entrepreneur-in-Residence
NYU Stern
Lyel is an entrepreneur, technologist, educator, speaker, and consultant. He specializes in launching and scaling innovative products and services, social impact strategy and assessment, and impact investing and startup advisory. Read More
Lyel ResnerAdjunct Faculty/Entrepreneur-in-Residence

Lyel is an entrepreneur, technologist, educator, speaker, and consultant. He specializes in launching and scaling innovative products and services, social impact strategy and assessment, and impact investing and startup advisory. He has worked with Google, the ACLU, Girls Who Code, and The Rockefeller Foundation. He is the Co-founder of Swayable (YCombinator W18), which uses data science to create more persuasive media for clients working in the public interest. He is a Fellow at the MIT Civic Data Lab, and an Adjunct Professor of Social Innovation/ Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Berkeley Center for Innovation at NYU.

Previously, Lyel was the Head of PreCollege and Social Impact at The Flatiron School, New York’s leading school for web and mobile development that has worked with the White House and The City of New York on groundbreaking economic mobility initiatives. Under Lyel’s leadership, Flatiron Precollege grew to 13 cities and achieved 10x year-over-year revenue growth. Flatiron School was recently acquired by WeWork.

Lyel is a frequent speaker on social innovation, and has given talks at Google, MIT, SXSW, the US State Department, The Mexico Foundation for Science, among others. Lyel sits on the boards of the Centre for Social Innovation, The Bronx Academy for Software Engineering, and Sourcemap.

He holds degrees in Physics and Political Science from MIT, where he was a Burchard Scholar, and an advanced degree in Business, Media + Technology, and Education from NYU where he was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. He was named a World Economic Forum Global Shaper in 2013.

NYU Stern

Margaret Satterthwaite
Professor of Clinical Law; Faculty Director
Center for Human Rights & Global Justice and Robert L. Bernstein Institute for Human Rights, NYU Law
Margaret Satterthwaite’s research interests include the use of data and data visualization for human rights advocacy, methodological innovation in human rights, and the well-being and mental health of human rights Read More
Margaret SatterthwaiteProfessor of Clinical Law; Faculty Director

Margaret Satterthwaite’s research interests include the use of data and data visualization for human rights advocacy, methodological innovation in human rights, and the well-being and mental health of human rights workers. She has worked for a variety of human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights First, and the Commission Nationale de Verité et de Justice (Haitian Truth and Justice Commission), and has authored or co-authored more than a dozen human rights reports.

Webpage | Center for Human Rights & Global Justice and Robert L. Bernstein Institute for Human Rights, NYU Law

Jason M. Schultz
Professor of Clinical Law
NYU Law
Jason Schultz is a professor of clinical law and director of NYU School of Law’s Technology Law and Policy Clinic. In his clinical projects, research, and writing, he addresses the Read More
Jason M. SchultzProfessor of Clinical Law

Jason Schultz is a professor of clinical law and director of NYU School of Law’s Technology Law and Policy Clinic. In his clinical projects, research, and writing, he addresses the ongoing challenges of balancing intellectual property and privacy law with the public interest in free expression, access to knowledge, and innovation. At the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Schultz co-directed the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic. He had previously been a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, one of the world’s leading digital rights groups, where he founded the Patent Busting Project. With Samuelson Clinic co-director Jennifer Urban, he invented the Defensive Patent License, a tool for deescalating patent wars. After receiving his JD from Berkeley in 2000, Schultz was a clerk for Judge D. Lowell Jensen of the US District Court for the Northern District of California and an intellectual property associate at Fish & Richardson. He is a graduate of Duke University with degrees in public policy studies and women’s studies.

Webpage | NYU Law

Clay Shirky
Associate Professor; Global Network Professor
ITP, NYU Tisch; NYU Journalism
Clay Shirky is an American writer, consultant and teacher on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies and journalism. He has a joint appointment at NYU at the Arthur Read More
Clay ShirkyAssociate Professor; Global Network Professor

Clay Shirky is an American writer, consultant and teacher on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies and journalism. He has a joint appointment at NYU at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU Tisch. His courses address, among other things, the interrelated effects of the topology of social networks and technological networks, how our networks shape culture and vice versa.

Webpage | ITP, NYU Tisch; NYU Journalism

Rebecca Silver
Assistant Director
NYU Entrepreneurial Institute
Rebecca serves as the Assistant Director of the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute, where she leads operations and major programs, and supports entrepreneurs focused on socio-environmental challenges. Rebecca is also adjunct faculty Read More
Rebecca SilverAssistant Director

Rebecca serves as the Assistant Director of the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute, where she leads operations and major programs, and supports entrepreneurs focused on socio-environmental challenges. Rebecca is also adjunct faculty at both the School of Visual Arts and Parsons School for Design, teaching entrepreneurship, design and sustainability.

Webpage | NYU Entrepreneurial Institute

Hawthorne Smith
Clinical Associate Professor; Clinical Director, Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture
Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, NYU School of Medicine
Hawthorne Smith is a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director of the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture. He is also an Associate Clinical Professor at the NYU School of Medicine Read More
Hawthorne SmithClinical Associate Professor; Clinical Director, Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture

Hawthorne Smith is a licensed psychologist and Clinical Director of the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture. He is also an Associate Clinical Professor at the NYU School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Smith provides forensic evaluations, human rights consultations, and mitigation services on capital cases for private legal firms and public entities such as the US Department of Defense and the US Office of the Federal Defender.

Webpage | Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, NYU School of Medicine

Vincent M. Southerland
Executive Director
Center on Race, Inequality, & the Law, NYU Law
Vincent Southerland has dedicated his career to advancing racial justice and civil rights. He comes to NYU Law after serving as an Assistant Federal Public Defender, Senior Counsel with the Read More
Vincent M. SoutherlandExecutive Director

Vincent Southerland has dedicated his career to advancing racial justice and civil rights. He comes to NYU Law after serving as an Assistant Federal Public Defender, Senior Counsel with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a Staff Attorney at The Bronx Defenders, a Prettyman Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center, and a law clerk to two federal judges.

Webpage | Center on Race, Inequality, & the Law, NYU Law

Carol Anne Spreen
Associate Professor
Applied Statistics, Social Science, & Humanities, NYU Steinhardt
Carol Anne Spreen’s scholarship brings together interdisciplinary and comparative approaches to examining education policy and practice. Her research centers on political and socio-cultural studies of educational change, particularly the influences Read More
Carol Anne SpreenAssociate Professor

Carol Anne Spreen’s scholarship brings together interdisciplinary and comparative approaches to examining education policy and practice. Her research centers on political and socio-cultural studies of educational change, particularly the influences of globalization and corporate privatization on teaching and learning.

Webpage | Applied Statistics, Social Science, & Humanities, NYU Steinhardt 

Allison P. Squires
Associate Professor
NYU Meyers College of Nursing
Dr. Squires’ research focuses on health workforce capacity building around the world. The patient focus of her work centers on the studying the intersections of how language preference influences patient Read More
Allison P. SquiresAssociate Professor

Dr. Squires’ research focuses on health workforce capacity building around the world. The patient focus of her work centers on the studying the intersections of how language preference influences patient outcomes, health services delivery, and patient-provider relationships. Her research methods expertise is in cross-language research.

Webpage | NYU Meyers College of Nursing

Jennifer Trahan
Clinical Professor
Center for Global Affairs, NYU School of Professional Studies
Jennifer teaches: International Law; Human Rights; International Justice; Transitional Justice; U.S. Use of Force & the “Global War on Terror,” a field intensive on Justice in the Former Yugoslavia, and Read More
Jennifer TrahanClinical Professor

Jennifer teaches: International Law; Human Rights; International Justice; Transitional Justice; U.S. Use of Force & the “Global War on Terror,” a field intensive on Justice in the Former Yugoslavia, and a field intensive to Rwanda. She has served as counsel and of counsel to the International Justice Program of Human Rights Watch; Iraq Prosecutions Consultant to the International Center of Transitional Justice; and worked on cases before the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Webpage | Center for Global Affairs, NYU School of Professional Studies

Shawn Van Every
Adjunct Assistant Professor; Teacher; Academic Director
ITP, NYU Tisch
Shawn is a researcher, professor and consultant. His focus is on emerging technologies related to media creation, distribution and interaction. His projects generally involve development of tools that help to Read More
Shawn Van EveryAdjunct Assistant Professor; Teacher; Academic Director

Shawn is a researcher, professor and consultant. His focus is on emerging technologies related to media creation, distribution and interaction. His projects generally involve development of tools that help to make low cost media making, distribution and interactivity possible.

Webpage | ITP, NYU Tisch

Rachel Wechsler
Acting Assistant Professor
NYU Law
Rachel Wechsler is an Acting Assistant Professor of Lawyering. She is in the final stages of her doctorate in Criminology at the University of Oxford, which focuses on sex trafficking Read More
Rachel WechslerActing Assistant Professor

Rachel Wechsler is an Acting Assistant Professor of Lawyering. She is in the final stages of her doctorate in Criminology at the University of Oxford, which focuses on sex trafficking victims’ experiences with the criminal justice system through the lens of human rights. Prior to commencing her doctoral studies, she practiced as a litigator at Latham & Watkins LLP in New York, where she chaired the Pro Bono Asylum Program.

Webpage | NYU Law