Global Campus of Human Rights

EMA 2021/2022 students at the Global Campus Headquarters in Venice Lido, Italy.

The European Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation (EMA) - organised by the Global Campus of Human Rights - is a one-year, full-time academic programme in the field of human rights and democratisation.

EMA is a multidisciplinary programme that reflects the indivisible links between human rights, democracy, peace and development. The programme offers an action and policy-oriented approach to learning about international relations, law, political sciences, philosophy, history and anthropology of human rights. Students have the opportunity to be taught by leading academics representing the 42 EMA participating universities, experts and representatives of international organisations (including the European Union, the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe-OSCE) and NGOs while studying in a multicultural environment. EMA students, upon completion of all course components, are expected to gain both academic and practical skills: on the one hand, the ability to conduct independent and interdisciplinary academic research in relation to human rights and democratisation issues; on the other hand, skills which are relevant to human rights practitioners such as reporting, fact-finding and project management.

The Global Campus of Human Rights is an inter-disciplinary centre of excellence supported by the EU, aiming at pursuing the continued promotion of human rights and democratisation through education, specialised training, and research cooperation worldwide through a network of regional partners. Its main headquarters are based in Venice, Italy and the regional partner’s headquarters are based in Argentina, Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lebanon, South Africa, and Thailand. This large network, whose overall composition includes 100 prestigious universities, is the largest university network in the world specialised on human rights and democracy issues. Its partners are renowned worldwide for their leading role in education, research and advocacy in human rights and democratisation.

EMA Ceremony 2020/2021

One of the key features of EMA is the impressive range of high-level academics, experts and officials from a variety of institutions and organisations who teach in the programme, provide thesis supervision, and share with students their insights into human rights practice and challenges.

First Semester

About 70 academics from the participating universities and experts from international IGOs and NGOs contribute to the EMA teaching programme.

Second Semester

In their second semester destinations, students are supervised and supported by the EMA National Directors and other faculty members of the 42 participating universities. 

Here you can find the list of EMA Universities and Directors.

The 2021 EMA Career Day organised by the EMAlumni Association.

The EMAlumni Association represents Europe’s leading body of human rights practitioners. It has been established to bring together alumni of the EMA Programme towards supporting one another’s professional and personal development, and enhance opportunities to contribute at local, national and global levels.

EMA 2021/2022 students

EMA is open to a maximum of 90 candidates from EU and non-EU countries.

Candidates must meet the following admission requirements:

• Hold a university degree of a high standard in a field relevant to human rights, including disciplines in Law, Social Sciences and Humanities, and must have a minimum of 180 ECTS (Bachelor/General Degree).
• Have certified knowledge of English at least at level B2. Accepted certificates are IELTS (min. score 6), TOEFL (min. 80 for the IBT) and Cambridge exams (min. score 160-179), obtained no more than 3 years before the start of the programme.

Applicants completing the degree entry requirements subsequently to the application deadline are requested to provide a current transcript of exams. Eventual admission into the programme is conditional upon receipt of documentation of the completed degree (by 31 August).

Applications will be assessed against the following selection criteria:

• Academic ability and background (i.e. university final grade, relevance of the degree and thesis subject);
• Relevant additional academic work, courses or publications
• Relevant practical experience
• Motivation

The call for applications for the academic year 2022/2023 is now open. Applications are accepted and processed on an ongoing basis.

Deadline for non-EU and scholarship applicants: 14 February 2022.

Deadline for EU self-funded applicants: 19 April 2022.

In order to apply you should enter your application online at this link: https://apply.gchumanrights.org

For any problem concerning your submission, please contact the EMA Secretariat

The tuition fee for the academic year 2022/2023 is 5700.00€, payable in two instalments.

Tuition fees cover all EMA courses, both in the first and second semester; reading materials for the first semester; tutoring; access to Global Campus' specialised library; lunch on class and exam days; individual access to our e-learning platform; use of available IT facilities (including wireless area and computer room), and the field trip (subject to final budgetary approval).

The tuition fee does not cover accommodation and subsistence, travel costs to and from partner universities and visa expenses.

Successful applicants will receive a letter of admission and will be requested to pay the fees upon acceptance of the offer. Payments can be made via bank transfer in one of the following ways:

• Full amount within 2-4 weeks from the date of the letter of admission
• Two installments: the first within 2-4 weeks from the date of the letter of admission and the second at a specified later date.

The Global Campus of Human Rights does not provide full scholarships. Only a very limited number of students may be granted modest financial support in the form of a partial contribution towards living expenses and/or a full or partial tuition waiver. Candidates may apply for financial assistance by 14 February 2022, by motivating their request in the application form. The Global Campus of Human Rights reserves the right to determine the amount of each contribution and the awarding criteria.

The Global Campus Headquarters in Venice Lido, Italy.

The first semester takes place at the Global Campus of Human Rights Headquarters in Venice Lido, Italy, at the graceful Benedictine Monastery of San Nicolò,

During the EMA second semester students relocate to one of the 42 participating universities to follow courses in an area of specialisation of their own choice and to undertake personal supervised research finalised in the writing of their master‘s thesis. Students are allocated to their second semester university taking into account both the student's and the university's interest, the suitability of the thesis topic for the respective department and the quality of the thesis proposal. 

Our campus (Monastery of San Nicolò) is located in Venice Lido, Riviera San Nicolò 26. Finding an apartment on Lido is the best option if you want to live at walking or bike-riding distance from the school. The island is quite small and the monastery is reachable with (max.) a 30-minute bus ride. You can also consider expanding your search to Venice centre: the closest or best-connected neighbourhoods are Sant’Elena, Giardini and Castello. If you choose to live in Venice, please be aware that you will have to take the waterbus (vaporetto) every day.

The process of finding an apartment of a room can often be difficult. We recommend you start the research well ahead of time.

The responsibility for finding accommodation rests with students. However, the EMA Secretariat provides some assistance in this regard, by sharing information and details about available apartments together with other useful links for independent house hunting. These housing opportunities are by no means managed or guaranteed by the EMA Secretariat, however at this link you can find a list of websites for apartment search and house hunting tips and recommendations.

Summer School participants at 2021 Venice Biennale Cinema.

17th Summer School in Cinema, Human Rights and Advocacy

The Summer School in Cinema, Human Rights and Advocacy is a training initiative, jointly developed by the Global Campus of Human Rights and Picture People, which will take place from 29 August to 7 September 2022 at the Global Campus Headquarters in Venice Lido, Italy.

The Programme

The Summer School offers an exciting programme of lectures, workshops, working groups, tutorials, film screenings and discussions combining human rights expertise, media studies and video advocacy strategies.

As part of the programme participants are required to watch and analyse a selection of human rights related screenings at the 79th Venice International Film Festival. Whenever possible, filmmakers and producers present at the Film Festival are invited to discuss their work with the Summer School participants. Participants will be provided with a Cinema category accreditation pass to the Film Festival giving access to a selection of screenings.

This year’s programme is focusing on the rights of children and young people in the broader framework of human rights protection and promotion.

The Faculty

Nick Danziger and Claudia Modonesi, Picture People’s directors, will run the 10-day programme with the contribution of experts in the fields of human rights, advocacy, film studies, film production and impact, and psychology.

Scholarships are offered to professionals and students whose field of expertise and research focuses on children rights and are, or wish to become, leaders in their community and worldwide to promote and protect the rights of the child through the connections between human rights, films, digital media and video advocacy.

Application deadline for scholarship applicants: 30 April 2022
Application deadline for self-funded applicants: 30 May 2022

For more information, contact the Global Campus at chra@gchumanrights.org or visit https://gchumanrights.org/chra.