One of the integral components of IHRE is an internship at a Johannesburg civil society organization, where participants undertake substantive work under the guidance of an in-house mentor, for approximately 10 hours a week, on Thursdays and Fridays. The IHRE Program strongly encourages students to participate in an internship through the Engagement in Human Rights course, when possible. Therefore, most, but not all, students will conduct a 10-hour per week internship as part of the IHRE Program. Please note that no academic credit is given for the internship; rather, it accompanies the four-credit core seminar Engagement in Human Rights.

The core seminar, which meets three times each week, focuses on both the scholarly implications of the internship as well as practical matters arising from internships. Class time will be devoted to literature addressing themes common to many of the internships; student presentations that unite their theoretical studies with their practical work; and individual capstone projects, typically a piece of writing.  Students will also be encouraged to keep weekly journals on their internship experiences

In general, the work undertaken at an IHRE host organization includes research, advocacy, training, editing, event planning, and other matters related to the human rights work carried out by the host organization. 2007 host organizations include Probono, the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, Oxfam, Khulumani, Womensnet and the Center for the Study of Violence and Reconstruction (CSVR).  

The IHRE team strongly encourages students to participate in the internship component of the IHRE program, as hands-on experience is a valuable learning tool. Students who do not wish to participate will forego the Core Seminar Engagement in Human Rights and may substitute one of the following:

• Students may choose to take an additional two of the IHRE half-semester elective courses offered in the curriculum (for a total of six); or
• Students may work with the Wits IHRE Academic Director to enroll in a Wits undergraduate course within the Faculty of Humanities. Please keep in mind that course options are limited.