International Race and Rights Lab
An initiative of professor Zoltán Búzás, the International Race and Rights Lab has a unique focus, approaching the right to racial equality from an international perspective. While many research labs emphasize international human rights and omit race, or center on domestic racial problems and overlook the international realm, IRRL stands out as bridging the international and the racial. Our hope is for the lab to become a leading venue for the international study of race and rights, building a community of students and scholars who share such an interest.
Personnel
Zoltán Búzás is an Associate Professor of Global Affairs at the Keough School, and a Klau Institute Faculty Fellow. He holds a PhD in political science from the Ohio State University. His expertise includes international relations, human rights, race and international politics, and international law and norms. Búzás’s book, Evading International Norms: Race and Rights in the Shadow of Legality, examines how states violate human rights norms in the shadow of technical legality—a process Búzás calls norm evasion.
Timothy Bukata is a graduate student at the University of Chicago's Committee on International Relations. He graduated from Notre Dame in 2023 with a Bachelor's Degree in History and Political Science. Bukata wrote his senior thesis on the foreign policy of Ross Perot, and plans to continue to pursue his research interests, the Cold War and American foreign policy.
Nourhan Fahmy is an Egyptian researcher and journalist who focuses on legal and judicial issues, currently a master of global affairs student at the Keough School. As a Bassem Sabry Democracy Fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy in Washington, DC, she conducted research on Egyptian judicial affairs. Previously, Nourhan worked for Egypt-based news outlets including Daily News Egypt, Aswat Masriya, and Mada Masr. She also worked as a researcher and archivist for the Law and Society Research Unit at the American University in Cairo (AUC). Nourhan holds a bachelor’s degree (with honors) from AUC in political science and economics and a law degree from Cairo University.
Katherine Gottemoller is a Political Science and Psychology student interested in how civil and human rights are understood and addressed in global contexts. At Notre Dame, she is a fellow in the God and Good Life philosophy course, member of Student Government, and Vice President of Voices of Faith gospel choir. Katherine plans to continue developing her interest in civil and human rights through further research in public policy.
Thomas Musgrave is a political science student interested in public policy, international peace, and human rights advocacy. As a project director with the Notre Dame Student Policy Network, Thomas leads a team of undergraduates in research and advocacy of fair housing legislation in Indiana. Last Fall, he spent a semester in Washington D.C., where he worked with a top congressional lobbying firm on housing, immigration, and labor issues. Thomas hopes to pursue a career in public service and law, and is passionate about finding public policy solutions to protect civil and human rights.
Matthew Ruff is a political science and global affairs student interested in human rights, social justice, and public policy. At Notre Dame, he is involved in multiple student government intiatives promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. He plans to continue finding opportunities to engage in advocacy work.
Lia De Valenzuela is a psychology and global affairs student from Colombia interested in international studies through the lens of peace, trauma reconciliation, and human rights. She is involved in research on campus as a Kellogg International Scholar, holds the role of Academic Commissioner for the Latino Honor Society, and is a student in the Sheedy Family Program in Economy, Society, and Enterprise. After graduation, Lia looks forward to continuing to conduct research and making a difference in the lives of under-resourced communities in Colombia.
Previous research assistants
Abby Lamm is a political science and global affairs student interested in civil and human rights. As a member of Student Government, she assisted with several policy initiatives and demonstrated her leadership skills. She recently traveled to Poland to study international law through the Holocaust. Abby plans to continue her studies of international law next spring as part of the Rome International Scholars program which includes an internship and research in fields of her interest.
Yoon Seo Lee, a senior at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea, majoring in sustainability studies. She is interested in various topics such as sustainable development, human rights, and global affairs. Her diverse experiences in several different countries, such as having lived in South Korea, China, and the U.S., have driven her interest in international relations and international politics. Lee plans on further developing her interests through various research and opportunities.
Mya Salinas, a rising senior at the University of Wisconsin, who studyied at Notre Dame under the Summer Research Opportunities Program. Mya studies psychology, international studies and legal studies. She is interested in international law, human rights and mitigating their impact on the global community. After graduating in May of 2023 she plans on furthering her education and hopes to pursue a master’s degree in international affairs with concentrations on public diplomacy and human rights.
Projects
Race, Rights, and Great Power Politics
This project examines criticisms of the US over civil rights, and more recently Black Lives Matter, coming from China, the Soviet Union, and later Russia. The lab will will read and code a large sample of articles in the most prominent state-controlled Chinese newspapers published in English, and assemble a case study on the Soviet Union’s (and Russia’s) criticisms of the US on civil rights. This paper will offer a theoretical account that elevates the role of race in great power politics and contributes to our empirical knowledge through an analysis of Chinese and Soviet/Russian criticism of the US civil rights record.
Race and Reputation in International Politics
This project examines whether concerns about appearing racist matter in international politics and foreign policy. It hypothesizes that concerns about appearing racist shape US foreign policy by (1) leading to rhetorical reputation management that aims to burnish the country’s racial reputation as anti-racist or at least non-racist; and (2) by providing incentives to refrain from behaviors seen as racist by the relevant audience. The lab will conduct in-depth archival research of US nuclear policy in Asia during the Cold War to assess the extent to which these hypotheses are empirically supported.
Balanced or Biased? French Courts and Roma Evictions
Many evictions of Roma from French shantytowns involve conflicts between the human rights of the Roma on the one hand and the property rights or collective interests of the majority population. How do French courts solve these conflicts of rights and interests? Do the rulings reflect balanced compromises or the biases of judges? What is the impact of evictions on the Roma? The project aims to address these questions based on interviews with legal experts and Roma dwellers of shantytown, as well as analyses of French court rulings on Roma. We hope these unique data will generate important theoretical and policy-relevant insights.