Shea Smith ‘22

Shea Smith ’22 is a rising senior studying political science and global affairs with a concentration in civil and human rights. Smith is interested in international efforts toward environmental protection, and she is passionate about the defense of human rights at the international level. Through the Kellogg Institute’s Notre Dame Reparations Design and Compliance Lab, Smith has had the opportunity to explore this second interest, as she has assisted Professor Aníbal Pérez-Liñán with research regarding the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights since the spring of 2020.

This summer, Smith is working with Kaya Responsible Travel on an 8-week remote internship in Ecuador with a human rights NGO, Idea Dignidad. In her internship, Smith will be working with Idea Dignidad on the development of didactic resources for the NGO’s virtual classroom and website. The virtual classroom and its resources are used to educate individuals on the fundamentals of human rights, human dignity, discrimination, and gender violence, among other key concepts that underlie the work of Idea Dignidad.