Through our publication and advocacy efforts, Humanitas hopes to help the UVA student body become more tuned into ongoing human rights discourses. We value open discourse that allows for diversity of opinion, and we are concerned with facilitating dialogue, rather than promoting a single narrative. We understand that human rights topics are often complex, multifaceted, and sensitive, and we encourage our members to remember these aspects in their writing, editing, and outreach efforts.

The term “Human Rights” brings to mind many concepts, concepts which span the disciplines of philosophy, history, law, and more. In light of this complexity, we encourage our writers to go beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries and incorporate investigative strategies from a number of disciplines. We believe that human rights research can come from any source, from any background, and need not refer to a single kind of disciplinary investigation. We encourage writers to incorporate their diverse interests into their research so that our publication can contain a variety of viewpoints and styles.

We understand that many topics in human rights are sensitive subjects, and discussing them requires tact, empathy, professionalism, and most importantly, thorough research. We strive to maintain a respectful and responsible environment in both our publication and our advocacy efforts, one where we consider how our initiatives might affect those to whom the topic is highly relevant. We encourage our members to think critically about how they approach human rights conversations and consider the biases they may bring to the table, so that they can start to build the humility and empathy necessary to approach human rights work.

It is never too late to join the fight for human rights! At Humanitas, we value passion and dedication to human rights, and that can come at any stage of one’s academic and extracurricular journey. The journey to becoming a lifelong proponent of human rights begins with a single step, and we are always pleased and humbled to be that first step for many of our members. We want our publication to reflect all kinds of perspectives, and many of our writers select topics that are highly relevant to themselves or their families. This kind of personal perspective is important in human rights research and advocacy, and we encourage members to include these experiences in the work they do with Humanitas.