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University of Washington receives Humphrey Fellowship grant on the rights of Indigenous peoples

January 2, 2024

Bronze W North Campus

University of Washington Continuum College and the Canadian Studies Center, in collaboration with the Native American Law Center, have been awarded a grant to host the 2024 “Distinguished Humphrey Fellowship Program on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.” Since 2016, the Distinguished Humphrey Fellowship Program (DHFP) has provided 14 short-term professional development opportunities to Fellows from over 75 countries, as part of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship. This is the second DHFP hosted by the University of Washington and the first of its kind to spotlight indigenous rights. Other DHFP host institutions include Duke University, George Washington University, Harvard University, Indiana University, and the University of Maryland.

“The Institute of International Education is pleased to work with the University of Washington in administering the first Distinguished Humphrey Fellowship program on the Rights of Indigenous People,” said Peter K. Morgan, Director of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship at the Institute of International Education. “UW brings deep scholarly and community resources, along with strong administrative know-how, to this topic of critical global importance. The DHFP will provide an opportunity for Humphrey Fellows to share expertise from their home nations with practitioners and elders from the Pacific Northwest and the wider U.S.”

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Sandra Janusch

Sandra Janusch, Associate Vice Provost, Continuum College, is the Principal Investigator (PI) on the grant responsible for the design and implementation of the program. Janush oversees a division at Continuum that includes Professional and Continuing Education certificate programs, UW Youth and Teen Programs, UW in the High School, the Osher Institute of Lifelong Learning, as well as International and English Language Programs. Janusch served as the principal investigator for the DHFP on Media in the 21st Century, 2021-2023.

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Nadine Fabbi

Nadine Fabbi, Interim Director, Canadian Studies, serves as co-PI with Janusch and Faculty Co-Director Monte Mills, Charles I. Stone Professor of Law and Director of the Native American Law Center. Fabbi has worked in the field of education for over 25 years teaching, lecturing, leading research programs, and building networks of scholars in Indigenous and Arctic studies. Fabbi has published 12 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on policy and spatial activism by Inuit Indigenous organizations in Canada as well as developed numerous educational materials in the field. She is currently working on a chapter for Handbook of the Politics of the Arctic forthcoming this fall by Elgar Press.

Monte Mills headshot

Monte Mills

Monte Mills’ research and writing focuses on the intersection of Federal Indian Law, Tribal sovereignty, and natural resources as well as race and racism in the law and legal education. He has published several law review articles and serves as a co-author on two textbooks: American Indian Law, Cases and Commentary and Native American Natural Resources Law as well as A Third Way: Decolonizing the Laws of Indigenous Cultural Protection, which was published by Cambridge University Press in July 2020.

Janusch and Fabbi were awarded the full $120,000 to provide the training in May 2024, which will be followed by professional development engagements with organizations across the United States. The training will introduce Fellows to the legal frameworks applicable to Indigenous Peoples, the development and implementation of Indian law, and the U.S. and Canadian policies on consultation. The training will include two regional case studies: the Columbia River Treaty Modernization and Indigenous fisheries management in the Salish Sea region.

The Humphrey Fellowship Program is a Fulbright exchange activity funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by the Institute of International Education. To date, the Distinguished Fellows have represented 76 countries worldwide. Program participants are senior foreign professionals working on critical global issues; in this case, the rights of indigenous peoples.   Humphrey Fellows advance the public good and are well-positioned to influence decision-making and policy within their professional focus areas in their home countries and regions. The program’s goal is to facilitate leadership development, multilateral collaboration, and cooperation on shared global challenges.

U.S. Embassies in eligible countries will nominate approximately 20 Fellows from around the world to participate in the program. The program begins with an orientation in Seattle, WA, followed by the one-week executive-level seminar at the University of Washington. This is followed by a strategic networking experience with relevant international and civil society organizations. The program concludes in Washington, D.C., with a policy roundtable discussion with officials at the U.S. Department of State.