Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law

Research Assistants & Dean's Fellows

The Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law offers students diverse opportunities to spend a summer, semester or year conducting research, supporting our programs, and exploring critical human rights issues while earning academic credit with a distinguished group of peers.聽聽聽聽 聽

Meet Our 2021聽Research Assistants

Joe Mitchell
Joe Mitchell

joe mitchell

Joe Mitchell is a summer research assistant with the Center's Impact Litigation Project.聽 He is a 2L J.D./M.A. candidate at AUWCL, where he focuses on international law and civil conflict.聽聽While at AUWCL, as part of his work with the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG), Mr. Mitchell participated in writing a draft peace agreement for the Syrian civil war.聽 Also with PILPG, he collaborated in drafting a handbook to provide strategies for clients who are engaged in peace negotiations regarding the inclusion of justice and accountability mechanisms.聽 He holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree in philosophy from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Paulina Lucio Maymon
Paulina Lucio Maymon

paulina lucio maymon

Paulina Lucio Maymon was a research assistant at the Center. Her research interests focus on international human rights, gender issues, intersectionality, and criminal justice. Prior to joining Washington College of Law, Paulina worked as a research associate at the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide and served as a paralegal for the Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program. She worked on post-conviction litigation of death penalty cases in the United States and Tanzania and conducted research on the application of the death penalty around the globe. As a Fulbright scholar, she earned a Master of Public Administration from Cornell University, where she served as Managing Editor of the Cornell Policy Review. She graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in International Relations from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. 聽

Thea Montejo
Thea Montejo

Thea Cabrera montejo

Thea Cabrera Montejo聽is a 2L at 猫咪社区app University Washington College of Law. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in Sociology.聽 Thea is a first-generation immigrant, college student, and law student with roots in Southern California and Cebu, Philippines.聽 She is currently a member of the Justice Initiative, a year-long pilot project spearheaded by Harvard Law School鈥檚 Systemic Justice Project and Howard University School of Law鈥檚 Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center.聽 At AUWCL, Thea is a staff member of the Human Rights Brief and currently serves on the Center's Student Advisory Board.聽 Thea is interested in the legal strategies and tactics used to stand in solidarity with people who have been disenfranchised by legal systems.

Courtney Veneri
Courtney Veneri

courtney veneri

Courtney Veneri is a research assistant with the Impact Litigation Project. She is a 2L J.D./M.A. candidate at AUWCL. While at AUWCL, Ms. Veneri was selected to participate in the聽Kovler Project Against Torture, and served in the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition and the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. She also spent a year with the National Immigrant Women's Advocacy Project.聽Prior to law school she spent four years working with Middle Way House, a domestic violence and rape crisis center. After聽graduation, she joined the Peace Corps, serving from 2017-2019 in Botswana. She holds a B.A. in International Human Rights Law and Journalism, with a minor in French from Indiana University.聽

Ira Papagjika
Ira Papgjika

Ira Papagjika

Ira Papagjika聽is a research assistant with the Center.聽 She is an LL.M. student in International Legal Studies Program at AUWCL. From 2019-2020, she was a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow聽at AUWCL and engaged with the Center for Human Rights聽in several different activities. She is a lawyer with over 13 years experience spent serving in the Public Administration of Albania, most recently holding the position of deputy commissioner within the Office of the Albanian Ombudsman. In 2017, she was awarded a fellowship from the European Fund for the Balkans and graduated from an intensive program on European Law and Economics from Riga Graduate School of Law. She holds an M.A. double degree in Democracy and Human Rights from Sarajevo and Bologna University and a law degree from University of Tirana, Albania.

Meet Our Former Research Assistants

Nia Langley
Nia Langley

nia langley

Nia Langley is a summer research assistant with the Center, supporting the work of the International Code of Conduct Association. She is a 2L J.D./M.A. candidate at AUWCL. While at AUWCL, Ms. Langley was selected to participate as a researcher for the Public International Law & Policy Group, focusing on tribunal mechanisms in Sudan. She also serves as the Director of Community Service and Social Advocacy for AUWCL's Black Law Student Association. Prior to law school, she worked as an intern with White Schneider PC in Lansing, Michigan. For several years, Ms. Langley has run her own visual content business, consulting with organizations and individuals on issues related to social media and communications outreach. She holds a B.A. in English and Professional Writing, with a minor in Political Science from Oakwood University.聽

Stephanie Herrmann
Stephanie Herrmann

Stephanie Herrmann

Stephanie Herrmann is a research assistant with the Anti-Torture Initiative.聽 She is a 3L at AUWCL with an interest in human rights.聽聽She is a member of the Moot Court Honor Society and participated in the Center鈥檚 Kovler Project Against Torture.聽聽聽She holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and an MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies from the London School of Economics (LSE).聽聽Prior to law school, Ms. Herrmann served as the Inaugural Research Fellow at the Perry World House and as a Graduate Humanitarian Consultant at LSE.聽聽聽

Effie Acevedo Guasp
Effie Acevedo Guasp

Effie Acevedo Guasp

Effie Acevedo Guasp was a research assistant with the Initiative聽on Transparency and Election Monitoring, supporting research on the Inter-猫咪社区app Human Rights System.聽聽She is currently pursuing an LL.M. in Advocacy at AUWCL and earned her J.D. from the University of Puerto Rico.聽聽She previously worked as a judicial law clerk at the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Puerto Rico and earned a B.A. in Economics and Journalism from the University of Puerto Rico, R铆o Piedras 猫咪社区app.聽聽Ms. Acevedo Guasp is fluent in Spanish.聽

Madison Bingle
Madison Bingle

Madison Bingle

Madison Bingle聽was a research assistant with the Initiative on Land Tenure and Indigenous Rights and works as part of a team supporting the UN Special Rapporteur to the human rights of situations in Myanmar.聽聽She is a second-year dual degree candidate in law and international affairs (J.D./LL.M.) at AU鈥檚 School of International Service and Washington College of Law, with an interest in human rights and humanitarian law.聽聽Ms. Bingle is a Deputy Editor with the聽Human Rights Briefand is a member of the Center鈥檚 2020 Student Advisory Board.聽聽Prior to law school, she served as a Fulbright Fellow in Vietnam and聽worked for an NGO that provides resources to victims of war.聽聽She holds a B.A. in Sociology and History from Coker University.聽

Jasmine Dohemann
Jasmine Dohemann

Jasmine Dohemann

Jasmine Dohemann was a research assistant with the Impact Litigation Project, supporting an initiative with the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.聽聽She is a 3L at AUWCL with an interest in criminal law.聽聽She is a Technical Editor for the聽猫咪社区app University Business Law Review聽and participates in AUWCL鈥檚 Criminal Justice Clinic.聽聽She has also served as a Project Fellow with the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project and is involved with the Asian Pacific 猫咪社区app Law Student Association.聽聽Ms. Dohemann received her B.A. in International Studies with a concentration in Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Peace, and Security from the University of Washington.聽聽She speaks Mandarin and Shanghainese.聽

Khatia Mikadze
Khatia Mikadze

Khatia Mikadze

Khatia Mikadze was a research assistant with the Impact Litigation Project, supporting an initiative with the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.聽聽She is a 3L at AUWCL from Tbilisi, Georgia. She serves as a Co-Director of AUWCL鈥檚 International Refugee Assistance Project聽chapter and is a member of the Student Public Interest Board and the Diversity Committee of the聽猫咪社区app University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & Law.聽聽She has extensive experience working to advance the rights of refugees and immigrants.聽聽She is passionate about salsa dance and her native comfort food, cheesy bread "Khachapuri" from Georgia.

Ted North
Ted North

Ted north

Ted North was a research assistant with the Impact Litigation Project, supporting an initiative involving the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, among others.聽聽He is a part time 4L at AUWCL, where he serves as a staffer with the聽Health Law and Policy Brief聽and the聽National Security Law Brief.聽聽He previously worked with the Center鈥檚 Impact Litigation Project to support an initiative with the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture and has interned with the 猫咪社区app District Court for the District of New Jersey.聽聽Mr. North earned his B.A. in History from the Virginia Military Institute and is currently a paralegal for a government contractor based in Northern Virginia.聽

Lena Raxter
Lena Raxter

Lena Raxter

Lena Raxter was a research assistant with the Impact Litigation Project, supporting a research initiative on pandemics and international law.聽聽She is a 2L at AUWCL with an interest in working in the international law field.聽聽Born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ms. Raxter attended the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, where she graduated with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in International Relations.聽聽She previously worked with the United Nations MY World 2030 Campaign, which helped implement the UN鈥檚 sustainable development goals by mobilizing civil society.聽

Idrienne Walker
Idrienne Walker

idrienne walker

Idrienne Walker was a research assistant with the Project for Transgender Incarcerated Survivors.聽聽She is a 3L at AUWCL with an interest in tax and antitrust litigation.聽聽Born and raised in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Ms. Walker received a B.S. in Economics from Drexel University in Philadelphia, where she played field hockey at the Division I level.聽聽She has a passion for human rights and social justice reform.聽聽Her hobbies include teaching field hockey, playing sports, and learning about the Tudor time period in England.聽聽She previously served as a judicial extern with the 猫咪社区app District Court for the District of Columbia and as a legal intern with the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.聽

Jaclyn Lahr
Jaclyn Lahr

jaclyn lahr

Jaclyn was a research assistant with the Impact Litigation Project and a 2L at the 猫咪社区app University Washington College of Law. She decided to pursue a law degree in order to advocate for survivors of violence and exploitation and prevent such abuses, both in the U.S. and abroad. This past semester she participated in the Kovler Project Against Torture, assisting the UN Committee Against Torture with research regarding state party compliance with the UN Convention Against Torture. Prior to law school she worked as a paralegal with the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project, which provides pro bono civil legal representation to survivors of domestic violence and at-risk youth. Jaclyn is currently a junior staff member on the 猫咪社区app University Law Review, a mentor with the Equal Justice Foundation at WCL, and the Director of Communications of the International Law Student Association.聽