By Ann Nordby
Morgan Coleman is clear about her career goals. She wants to become a U.S. Foreign Service officer who takes a human rights approach to every interaction.
Although still a student, she is already well on her way to achieving the career she envisions.
Coleman is studying human rights at the University of Minnesota. She’s just begun her second year in the Master of Human Rights program, which is jointly offered by the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and the College of Liberal Arts (CLA).
Coleman received a fellowship from the Charles B Rangel International Affairs Program, which is designed to prepare students for Foreign Service careers, to support her graduate education. Among the many grad schools she considered, Coleman said she knew quickly that the University of Minnesota’s program offered her exactly what she was looking for.
Unique program
The U of M’s unique human rights program combines the Humphrey School’s expertise in global policy, leadership, social policy, and policy analysis with the research and teaching expertise in CLA’s Human Rights Program.
"I wanted to be able to fully invest in a human rights education," Coleman said. "The conversations with Humphrey School staff and faculty before coming here—frankly, there was no competition. They were genuinely interested in what I wanted to do."
Coming from a small private college, "I knew the value of building good relationships, and I wanted the same thing in grad school."
As a Rangel Fellow, Coleman already interned with the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee before coming to campus. She spent this past summer as an intern at the U.S. embassy in Quito, Ecuador.
The MHR curriculum includes practical skills such as memorandum writing, to summarize a situation and the legal implications arising from it. It includes a grounding in traditional diplomatic skills. But its strength is its interdisciplinary approach to human rights.
For example, Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives in Human Rights is a required course that brings together graduate students from different majors to discuss history, the arts, law, and social sciences, and their implications for human rights. Coleman sees the mix of students in some classes as a benefit; it’s the start of a network of professionals in development, public policy, and planners that will be valuable throughout her career.
Hands-on training in diplomacy
Coleman participated in the International Strategic Crisis Negotiation Exercise (ISCNE), a role-playing exercise developed by the U.S. Army War College that’s hosted annually at the Humphrey School. During the two-day exercise, participants form teams to address an international crisis scenario.
Each team represents a group, such as a country or non-state actor, which is involved in the crisis. Humphrey School students are joined on their teams by subject matter experts, including experienced diplomats and University of Minnesota faculty.
Coleman’s team represented a territory that is not recognized by the United States, which meant wrestling with complicated diplomatic questions.
"When statehood inherently makes you more effective, how does that work? We leveraged our relationships with other state actors to move conversations ahead. It was intense and it happened very fast."
Coleman said the exercise was an “amazing” experience. "It was so impactful and educational. … It's like debate and Model UN combined, but MORE."
Prioritizing human rights
Both her fellow students and faculty members bring their energy and experience to campus, Coleman said, and mentioned her academic advisor, Professor Eric Schwartz as a great resource. Schwartz served in a number of high-profile foreign policy positions, including assistant secretary of state, United Nations special envoy, and a National Security Council director; so Coleman consulted with him before choosing which countries to bid for in her Foreign Service internship.
Coleman has formed friendships with others in her MHR cohort. She studies and socializes mostly with a few fellow "human rights nerds." She joked that "we are extremely fun at parties because we constantly talk about things like global conflict."
Joking aside, Coleman says the MHR is the perfect program for her to immerse herself in the knowledge she will need to be an effective advocate for human rights around the world.
"The human rights perspective in foreign policy is sometimes an afterthought," she said. "But as an incoming Foreign Service officer, I will have human rights in the front of my mind all the time. In the MHR, I'm looking at where the intersections exist between U.S. foreign policy and human rights. But I'm also getting the hard skills I will need."
