Home Nonprofit & Education Education Students take the lead with annual human rights report at URI

Students take the lead with annual human rights report at URI

By

Veer Mudambi

-

12/12/2025

UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND released their third annual Global Rights Project report Friday. /COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND

PROVIDENCE – University of Rhode Island’s Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies released its third annual Global Rights Project report Friday, sharing research findings that global human rights are facing a downward trend. “We see this as a function of both rising atrocities and a lack of demand for human rights in public opinion surveys,” said Skip

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PROVIDENCE - University of Rhode Island's Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies released its third annual Global Rights Project report Friday, sharing research findings that global human rights are facing a downward trend. “We see this as a function of both rising atrocities and a lack of demand for human rights in public opinion surveys,” said Skip Mark, assistant professor of political science at URI and one of the lead researchers on the project. “Public demand for equal treatment is good for society.” One fact that was representative of the overall troubling findings was that in the United States, nearly two-thirds of surveyed Americans could not fully define “human rights” when asked, with one-quarter either incorrectly defining the term or giving unserious or uncertain responses. The work itself is similar to projects carried out at the Gladstein Family Institute of Human Rights at the University of Connecticut or the Human Rights Institute at Binghamton University in New York, but what sets URI’s report apart is who works on it. “Our model is centering students in everything we do,” said Skip Mark, one of the leading researchers. Traditionally, professors choose the topic, lead the research and invite students on board to help. However, the GRIP report includes projects suggested and conducted by students. “One of the things that is unique is students are equal players in this, not just hired to research where their opinion is secondary,” Mark said. A school like Cornell University has more than 20 paid students, said Roya Izadi, assistant professor of political science at URI and another leading researcher, but they just do the data collection and leave at the end of the semester. Here the students are full collaborating authors on the report, and they’re in the majority. “Faculty wise there’s three of us,” she said. “In this report, we’ve had 10 students.” Lack of funding made paying students difficult but having them be authors and present their own findings provides alternative compensation. Four of URI’s undergraduate and master's students are now co-authored on research papers, a very rare occurrence, Izadi said. “I didn’t co-author until I graduated with a [doctorate] They get ownership of the work – obviously we give them guidance but it’s them coming up with these ideas.” Presenting reports and research is usually the realm of professors and grad students, but Mark and Izadi disagree. “We think anyone who did the research should have exposure. If they go on to grad school, they will be prepared. We’re trying to give them some of the skills that we didn’t have,” Mark said. Students as young as the sophomore class have been involved in the GRIP report. In the summer, Mark and Izadi try to find paid research internships for them – which is funded from the donations to the center. The Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies is currently under review for a National Science Foundation grant, and they plan to apply for others, Izadi said. “We’re trying to create something new that is uniquely URI as well as give us a niche and a specialty that will benefit our students,” Mark said. Veer Mudambi is the special projects editor at the Providence Business News. He can be reached at mudambi@pbn.com.