Scholars in Prison (2026W)

This program is part of the Global Experiential Education Program (GEEP) and is informed by ORICE values. GEEP aims to strengthen the bridge between classroom learning (theory) and application (practice) to address pressing global issues, in this community-based praxis initiative. Students who participate in GEEP can participate in experiential education projects designed and led by global community partners.

 

Details at a Glance

First Round Application Deadline: September 13th, 2026 (11:59PM)

• Program Type: Co-curricular (Not-for-credit)
• Engagement Type: Scholars at Risk Research & Advocacy Engagementship (two participation streams)
• Engagement Location: 2026W In-person, UBC-Based
• Duration: 7 months starting October 2026
• Eligibility: Open to UBC-V Undergraduate (60+ credits) & Graduate students (more details below)

---

Program Description

Background

This co-curricular engagementship is a collaboration between the UBC Human Rights Collective (HRC), housed within the Office of Regional and International Community Engagement (ORICE), and the international Scholars at Risk (SAR) Network.

Scholars at Risk is an international network of institutions and individuals dedicated to protecting scholars and promoting academic freedom. Through SAR’s Scholars in Prison initiative, students contribute to research-informed advocacy supporting scholars who have been wrongfully imprisoned because of their academic work or peaceful expression.

This engagementship is guided by ORICE and Dr. Jenny Peterson (Department of Political Science and Academic Advisor to the UBC Human Rights Collective), in collaboration with the Scholars at Risk Network. Students across both project streams participate in a shared learning community under this team leadership. Students in the embedded Psychology Research & Knowledge Mobilization Stream will also receive additional academic mentorship from Dr. Sunaina Assanand (Department of Psychology) during the second semester as they develop their applied research deliverables.

Students will develop practical skills in collaborative research, policy analysis, advocacy, critical reflection, and community-engaged scholarship while contributing to meaningful work that supports academic freedom and human rights internationally.

Organization Details

Scholars at Risk (SAR) is an international network of institutions and individuals whose mission is to protect scholars and promote academic freedom. SAR provides advisory services for scholars and hosts, campaigns for imprisoned or silenced scholars in their home countries, monitors attacks on higher education communities worldwide, and leads in deploying new tools and strategies for promoting academic freedom. SAR also offers safety to scholars facing grave threats by arranging temporary academic positions at member universities and colleges so scholars’ ideas are not lost and they can keep working until conditions improve in their home countries.

The UBC Human Rights Collective (HRC) housed under ORICE has partnered with Scholars at Risk (SAR) for many years on various collaborative projects to support SAR’s learning and advocacy goals, including academic courses, co-curricular research projects, directed studies, and student advocacy seminars. In the Spring of 2022, UBC HRC hosted the first Canadian Student Advocacy Days to bring together students who participated in SAR Student Advocacy Seminars and other SAR-related student-focused learning and advocacy activities.

Current Project: Two Participation Streams

Students will participate in one of two complementary project streams.

Most students will join the Scholars in Prison Advocacy Stream, working directly on the case of an individual wrongfully imprisoned scholar.

A smaller embedded team of three to four undergraduate Psychology students will participate in the Psychology Research & Knowledge Mobilization Stream. Rather than focusing on a single scholar, this team will undertake a collaborative applied research project that contributes knowledge and practical resources intended to strengthen advocacy efforts across the Scholars at Risk Network more broadly.

Although the two streams have different second-semester deliverables, all students participate together throughout the year in a shared learning community. Weekly seminars, workshops, discussions, and collaborative meetings provide common learning in human rights, academic freedom, research ethics, advocacy, and community-engaged practice while fostering collaboration across the entire cohort.

This year, the program strengthens its Canadian advocacy focus by building upon work completed by previous student cohorts, including the development of a Canadian advocacy handbook. All students, regardless of project stream, will collaborate in planning and hosting a Student Forum on Academic Freedom and Democracy in February 2027. The forum will bring together students, scholars, practitioners, and community organizations from Canada and internationally to strengthen networks of collaboration, solidarity, and advocacy around academic freedom and the protection of scholars at risk.

Together, these initiatives deepen students’ understanding of Canadian advocacy pathways while contributing practical resources that will support future human rights advocacy.

Students need to plan to be available on campus for the first half of reading week for this event.

Participation Stream 1: Scholars in Prison Advocacy Stream

Students in this stream will focus their efforts on an individual imprisoned scholar identified through Scholars at Risk.

Students will spend the first semester developing a nuanced understanding of their assigned scholar, including the political, legal, historical, and human rights contexts surrounding their detention.

Initial research activities include documenting previous advocacy efforts undertaken by governments, academic institutions, civil society organizations, and other organizations engaged in the case, as well as developing media monitoring protocols that contribute to SAR’s ongoing monitoring and reporting.

Building upon this research, students will work with Scholars at Risk, Dr. Jenny Peterson, and ORICE staff to design and implement an evidence-informed advocacy initiative. Previous student projects have included submissions to the Canadian government’s Subcommittee on International Human Rights, formal petitions, public awareness campaigns, webinars, film screenings, letter-writing initiatives, and collaborative advocacy projects with students at other universities.

Students will also engage in monitoring and evaluating the impact of their advocacy activities throughout the project.

Participation Stream 2: Psychology Research & Knowledge Mobilization Stream

Students in the embedded Psychology stream will participate fully in the shared learning community while contributing to a collaborative applied research project that supports advocacy across multiple Scholars at Risk cases.

Rather than advocating for an individual imprisoned scholar, this team will develop a research-informed knowledge resource intended to strengthen future advocacy efforts on behalf of wrongfully imprisoned scholars more broadly. The specific focus of the project will be developed collaboratively with Scholars at Risk, ORICE, Dr. Jenny Peterson, and Dr. Sunaina Assanand before the beginning of the second semester.

During the second semester, students in this stream will receive additional academic mentorship from Dr. Sunaina Assanand while remaining fully integrated within the broader Scholars at Risk cohort.

Critical Learning

Throughout both semesters, students will engage critically with questions of power, positionality, ethics, representation, and solidarity within international human rights practice.

Students will explore critical perspectives on international human rights, including debates surrounding Western-centred approaches to human rights, the ways in which colonial histories and contemporary power relations shape advocacy, and approaches that foreground reciprocity, partnership, context, and locally grounded forms of knowledge and action.

Reflection is an integral component of the engagementship and encourages students to critically examine both the possibilities and limitations of international advocacy while considering their own roles and responsibilities as emerging practitioners.

Deliverables

Shared Cohort Deliverables 

• Participation in weekly seminars and collaborative learning
• Critical reflection activities
• Planning, implementation, and hosting of the Student Forum on Academic Freedom and Democracy
• Contributions to shared program knowledge mobilization activities

Scholars in Prison Advocacy Stream

• Human rights monitoring
• Advocacy mapping
• Media monitoring protocols
• Evidence-informed advocacy initiative
• Monitoring and evaluation of advocacy activities
• Contributions to scholar case files maintained by Scholars at Risk

Psychology Research & Knowledge Mobilization Stream

• Collaborative applied research project
• Literature review and evidence synthesis
• Research-informed knowledge mobilization resource for Scholars at Risk
• Presentation of findings to project partners

Learn more about previous students’ experiences working with SIP on page 19 of ORICE’s 2025/2026 Annual Report.

---

Project Timeline

Between October 2026 to April 2027, the selected team of students will spend 3-5 hours weekly working collaboratively to complete the project. Students will be required to participate in weekly scheduled in-person meetings (on the UBC Vancouver Campus) to ensure collaboration and accountability goals are defined and met. However, the remainder of the allotted time will be self-directed or in small work teams as per agreements with teammates.

---

More Information

---