Access to Justice in Southeast Asia and Beyond scholarship recipients share their insights
Four students spent four weeks in Indonesia to study human rights issues.
For four weeks this past summer four students from San Diego State University had an opportunity to study at the Faculty of Law at the University of Jember (UNEJ) in Indonesia through an SDSU Center for Human Rights scholarship. Students attended daily lectures, engaged in experiential field excursions, and attended a three-day Human Rights Conference organized annually by the UNEJ (and partners), hosted at the University of Airlangga in Surabaya.
The cohort from SDSU included ISCOR and political science students Jasmin Zeis-Khalil, Meleana Love Suarez, Lorena Ford, and Kinen Christopher, along with CAL alumni Skaidra Pulley and Sarah Davisson (fellows with the UNEJ Centre for Human Rights, Multiculturalism and Migration).
Scholars from various disciplines across the country shared research on a wide range of issues like land rights, religious politics, and gender rights and how law plays a role in access to justice. Students gained exposure to challenges that many groups face through field visits to Indigenous communities and NGOs who support LGBTQ+ and migrant worker rights.
Grace Cheng, director of the SDSU Center for Human Rights, gave lectures on "Indigenous Rights in International Frameworks" and "Extractivism and Environmental Rights" during the course. She also gave a plenary presentation on "Human Rights Challenges in the Political Economy of Extractivism" at the Human Rights Conference.
"Indonesia is the fourth largest country in the world and a critical source of many of the materials used in a wide range of products that we use daily, so the course offers an excellent opportunity to learn about the human rights impact of that economy as well as about other aspects of this fascinating and diverse country," Cheng said.
At the end of the program at UNEJ, students gave presentations on the human rights issues addressed during the experience.
“I realized from all the ceremonies and religions I visited and saw, that at the end of the day we are all people,” Love Suarez said. “People who need love, people who need to be told they are enough. That’s why I say this program not only taught me, but showed me how I want to continue that love and spark to one day go back to Asia.”
The next program takes place in August 2026 at UNEJ and includes participation at the 2026 Human Rights Conference. Students in any major are invited to apply — details are forthcoming. Reach out to Grace Cheng at [email protected] for details.