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Center Fellows
2012-2013 Carr Center Fellows |
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Rupert Elderkin is a Fellow with the Carr Center Program on Transitional Justice. Prior to coming for the fellowship, Rupert worked for six years as a lawyer with the Office of the Prosecutor at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. During that time, he was a member of the trial team in the Popovic et al., Tolimir and Mladic cases, investigating and prosecuting Bosnian Serb military and police officials charged with crimes including the killings of over 7,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys and forced removal of over 25,000 civilians from Srebrenica. He gained extensive experience in the application of international criminal law as well spending much of his time working on the continuing investigation of the crimes committed during the 1990s Balkan wars. This investigative work involved liaising with national authorities, locating and accessing sources of documentary evidence, and identifying and interviewing suspects, survivors and other witnesses. Rupert has also worked as a lawyer in private practice in the United Kingdom and in Belgium. As an undergraduate, he studied philosophy, politics and economics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford University, then studied law in London. During his fellowship he hopes to focus on areas including: (1) the impact of international criminal trials on states in transition; (2) lessons which may be learned from such trials in order to improve responses to mass atrocities; and (3) improving public understanding of the purpose and challenges of international prosecutions.
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Siddharth Kara is a Fellow with the Carr Center Program on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery, and also a Fellow on Forced Labor with the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health. Kara is one of the world's foremost experts on contemporary slavery and co-teaches the first human trafficking course at the Harvard Kennedy School. Kara is best known for his award-winning book, "Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery," the first of three books he is writing on the subjects of human trafficking and contemporary slavery. "Sex Trafficking" was named co-winner of the prestigious 2010 Frederick Douglass Award at Yale University for the best non-fiction book on slavery. The Award is generally regarded as the top prize in the field of slavery scholarship, and Kara's is the first book on modern slavery to receive the award. Kara's second book on slavery, "Bonded Labor: Inside the System of Slavery in South Asia" was released in October, 2012. In addition to his books, Kara is also the author of several academic and law journal articles. Kara first encountered the horrors of slavery in a Bosnian refugee camp in 1995. Subsequently, he has traveled to more than twenty-five countries across six continents to research these crimes, interviewing over one thousand former and current slaves of all kinds, witnessing firsthand the sale of humans into slavery, and confronting some of those who trafficked and exploited them. Most of Kara’s research has been self-funded, but he has also received research support from charitable foundations such as Humanity United and Google.org. Kara currently advises the United Nations, the U.S. Government, and several other governments on anti-trafficking research, policy and law. Kara is a regular contributor to the CNN Freedom Project, and his ongoing research into slavery and human trafficking around the world has been covered by CNN, the BBC, CNBC, and National Geographic. Previously, Kara was an investment banker at Merrill Lynch, then ran his own finance and M&A consulting firm. He holds a Law degree from England, MBA from Columbia University, and BA from Duke University.
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Lise Balk King recently received her Master in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School where she focused on leadership development and social entrepreneurship. She has over twenty years' experience in media and communications, specializing in their applications as tools for political advocacy, education and social change. Her work has spanned the roles of producer, publisher, advocate, consultant, event organizer, writer, editor, filmmaker and photographer. Ms. King’s work first focused on using major media and corporate engagement for mainstream advocacy and education, focusing on environmental issues and social justice. After completing work on MTV's first major documentary project, DECADE, which won an Emmy and a Peabody Award, she initiated and co-produced a short series of environmental action pieces for MTV News. Other clients included IBM, the Sociodade Culturale Arte Brasil for NHK Japan, Warner Brothers/ABC TV, ECO (the Earth Communications Office), Friends of Animals International (with NBC), and Body Glove surf gear for a national theatrically-released Earth Day campaign. Lise relocated to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1992, where her focus shifted to indigenous human and civil rights, political and social advocacy, community education and economic development. She transitioned into independent media and grass roots education. She co-founded Native Voice Media, The Native Voice, an independent national Native American newspaper, and The Native Voice Film Festival. The Native Voice is best known nationally for its Get Out The Native Vote work, and was credited by Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) as being instrumental in his successful re-election campaign in 2002. In 2004, The Native Voice created the first national GOTV product specifically created for Native American voters. The Native Voice worked to engage Native voters in policy debates, helped recruit Indians to run for public office, and developed special editions for mass distribution at the 2004 and 2008 elections. Ms. King also served intermittently as traveling press on the Obama presidential campaign. Ms. King has two children, ages 10 and 18, who are enrolled members of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. As a non-native with decades of experience living and working in Indian Country, Ms. King has become known as a “bridge-builder,” providing leadership in cross-cultural communication and advocacy. Ms. King has worked on projects for a number of non-profit organizations, tribes, governments and businesses, including the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, South Dakota Alliance for the Mentally Ill's Native American Advocacy Project, Houghton Mifflin Publishing, the Grameen Foundation, the National Indian Gaming Association, the Bureau of Indian Education, the South Dakota Governor’s Office, SD Public Television, and the National Congress of American Indians.
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Luka Kuol, is a fellow at Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. Luka’s research focuses on the challenges of nation and state building of the new state of South Sudan in the context of transitional justice. South Sudan as the newest state is litmus test of how to make use of the wealth of knowledge and experiences in building a viable state that is founded on solid values of social trust and democratic governance. He served as the Co-chair of Abyei Joint Oversight Committee (AJOC) that provides political and administrative oversight of Abyei area, a contested oil-rich area between South Sudan and Sudan, on behalf of President Salva Kiir Mayardit of the Republic of South Sudan. He is the Executive Director of Kush Inc., a non-profit organization that supports building bridges between the international community and local African initiatives. He served as national minister of Cabinet Affairs of the Government of Sudan and as a minister of Presidential Affairs in the Office of the President of the Government of Southern Sudan. He also worked as a Senior Economist for the World Bank in South Sudan. He received his Doctor of Philosophy from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex in UK. He also earned a Master of Arts in Economics and a Master of Business Administration from Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He is a recognized expert on the affairs of South Sudan and Sudan, conflicts and civil wars, poverty, diversity and constitution making, vulnerability, famine, civil wars, and state building. He has written scholarly articles published in international journals such as the Journal of Eastern African Studies, the Journal of African Affairs, the Journal of Disasters, the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Bulletin, the Oxford Journal of Forced Migration, and the Journal of Civil Wars. He contributed with chapters in various books such as New Sudan in Making, Frontiers of Unity and New Famines. He writes regular opinion to the New Nation Newspaper, Sudan Tribune and Al-Masiir Arabic Newspaper in South Sudan.
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Sharmila L. Murthy is a joint Fellow in the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation Program at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and the Sustainability Science Program at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government. Her research focuses on the intersection of human rights, poverty, and the environment. She has written on the relationship between land security and the challenges of realizing the human right to water and sanitation in the slums of Mumbai, India; on the history and meaning of the human right to water and sanitation and its relationship to the controversy over privatization; on the human right to water in the Negev in Israel; on Iraq’s constitutional mandate to ensure the just distribution of water; and more broadly on water governance in the Middle East. She also serves as the Lead Investigator for the Water Sector in an interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral research project on “Innovation and Access to Technologies for Sustainable Development.” Her faculty hosts are Professors Mathias Risse and William Clark. Sharmila received her JD from Harvard Law School, her Master in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, and Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources from Cornell University. She clerked for the Honorable Martha Craig Daughtrey on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She was a Fulbright Scholar in India and the recipient of the New Advocate of the Year award by the Tennessee Alliance of Legal Services. Previously, Sharmila practiced law with a focus on economic, social and cultural rights, first as a Skadden Fellow with the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, and then as an associate at Lieff Cabraser Heimann and Bernstein, LLP. She also worked for an environmental consulting firm and in India on public health and microfinance projects. She has served in leadership roles with numerous civic and non-profit organizations, including the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. She is a former Fellow of the Impact Center's Women's Leadership Program. Currently, she serves as the Co-Chair of the Steering Committee of the American Constitution Society Boston Lawyer Chapter, and is a member of the Emerging Leaders in Environmental and Energy Policy Network, which is a joint project of the Atlantic Council and the Ecologic Institute.
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Michael Semple works on reconciliation in Afghanistan and the Taliban Movement. He combines academic research with participation in the public debate and track two diplomacy. Michael is a leading expert on the Taliban, the Pashtun tribes and Afghan politics. He has worked in Afghanistan since 1989, most recently as Deputy to the EU Special Representative for Afghanistan, and has interacted with leading figures in the succession of Afghan regimes, and the different armed movements which have campaigned against them. He is recognized internationally as a key proponent of political approaches to dealing with the conflict in Afghanistan, including “talking to the Taliban”. His experience as development worker, political officer and conflict negotiator give him an unparalleled network into most elements of Afghan and Pakistani society. Michael's understanding of Afghan political history and current Afghan political strategies, combined with an international community insiders perspective and access to politicians on all sides of the debate give him a unique ability to advise on the development of a realistic political strategy for a more stable and prosperous Afghan future.
Michael Semple has been a recipient of the Anna Lindh Research Fellowship
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Felisa Tibbitts, is the Founder and Senior Advisor of Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) which she directed from 1999-2010. She is also Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Visiting Professor at the UN University for Peace. Her professional career has been devoted to supporting educational activities that promote a culture of human rights and prevent human rights abuses. Since 1992, she has worked with numerous government and international agencies in developing curriculum and policies that support the integration of human rights into teaching and training. These organizations include the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNICEF, UNESCO, UNDP, OSCE, the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States and numerous non-governmental organizations, such as Amnesty International. She has engaged in adult trainings in over 20 countries and has published articles, book chapters, and manuals addressing such topics as HRE in schools and the empowerment model of HRE. She received her A.B. from Harvard College, her M.P.P. from the Kennedy School of Government, her Ed.M./Certificate of Advanced Studies from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and her D.Phil from the Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg (Germany).
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Leonardo Vivas, is a Fellow the Carr Center and coordinates the Latin America Program. He is a sociologist from Central University in Venezuela, with an M.Phil from University of Sussex, UK, and a Ph.D from Nanterre Université in Paris. He currently teaches Latin American Politics at UMass-Lowell. He founded and for several years has led Latin Roots, an organization devoted to Latino Culture and Education in Massachusetts. Leonardo has been a fellow and associate researcher at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. At Tufts University he taught a course about the Chavez Era in Venezuela. In Venezuela he was Director of Industry in the Development Ministry and founder of several nonprofit organizations. Professor Vivas has published two books about Venezuela's political crises and co-edited another about grass roots management. He writes for the media both in the Boston area and in Venezuela.
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Sharon Weinblum is a postdoctoral Fulbright scholar and a Belgian American Education Foundation fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy where she is part of the Program on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery. Sharon’s research focuses on Israeli politics and combines different approaches including discourse theory, critical theories of security, and political theory. Her PhD dissertation, The Management of Security and Democracy in Political Discourse: An Analysis of the Competing Discursive Articulations of the Security-Democracy Nexus in the Israeli Parliament, analyzed the competing narratives on the tension between security and democracy in parliamentary debates. Her current work focuses on migrant workers and asylum seekers in Israel. She is particularly interested in the way these groups are articulated in public discourse (including that of political actors, NGOs, the Supreme Court or the media) and in how this affects public policies.
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Mark Williams is a Fellow with the Human Right to Water and Sanitation program. He received his J.D. from the University of California at Hastings in 1990. He has practiced law for nearly twenty years internationally and in the United States. Over the past few years, Mark focused his research and travel on understanding solutions for improving global access to clean drinking water and sanitation. He co-authored an article with Professor Barbara Cosens of the University of Idaho College of Law that is entitled Resilience and Water Governance: Adaptive Governance in the Columbia River Basin, submitted for publication in the Ecology and Society Journal. He traveled to Ecuador to study the “rights of nature” and “right to water” constitutional amendments, and to Haiti to learn about small-scale water projects. Mark also attended numerous conferences, including “Implementing the Human Right to Water in the West,” held at Willamette College of Law in 2010, the 2011 California Water Law Symposium, and the 2011 American Bar Association Annual Water Law Conference. These experiences inspired a passion for the emerging human rights to water and sanitation and led him to join the Carr Center in 2011 as a Fellow in the Human Right to Water Program.
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