Hamilton Scholar Helps Bring Human Rights Lab to Campus
Antton De Arbeloa, a sophomore Scholar at Hamilton College, combined his interests in government, law and human rights to help create a human rights lab workshop for the school. Over a five-month period, Antton worked on the preliminary elements of the project with a research team consisting of his Posse mentor, Professor of Government Sharon Rivera, and other Hamilton students, including three members of his Posse.
“I immediately chose to become involved in the initiative when my mentor presented the opportunity,” says Antton.
His initial work involved researching human rights labs at other colleges. When the team found that lab projects are more prevalent at large universities than liberal arts colleges, they were driven to restructure the concept as a workshop. They also brought in outside collaborators including Natalia Arno, president of the Free Russia Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for those repressed by current Russian leadership.
“Hamilton students will go on to accomplish great things, but they need to be more connected to what’s going on in the world, and that is our hope with this project,” Antton says. “We want to get people thinking about the broader scope of things.”
“I know this experience will be useful for my future.”
The resulting human rights workshop has now been incorporated into Professor Rivera’s course on comparative politics.
Antton has also served as a research assistant to Professor Mackenzie Cooley, an assistant professor of history. Working on the Digital Humanities Initiative at Hamilton, he is helping to establish a database of King Phillip II’s Relaciones Geográficas surveys of New Spain in the late 16th century. Antton’s research is an exploration of loss, including impact on the environmental and indigenous culture.
“I’m proud of the skills that Hamilton has given me and of my research efforts with the Digital Humanities Initiative and the human rights lab,” Antton says. “I plan on going to law school and I know this experience will be useful for my future.”
