Student awarded Humanity in Action Fellowship
A passion for using education to foster tolerance and respect throughout the world has earned Sudip Bhandari ’14 a Humanity in Action Fellowship.
Humanity in Action is an international organization that brings young international professionals and students together together to promote human rights, diversity, and active citizenship. The highly selective fellowship aims to facilitate a collective exploration of the social and political roots of discrimination, as well as to create a forum where potential solutions can be considered and discussed.
Bhandari was one of 40 students around the country selected for the fellowship from a pool of 605 applicants.
His work founding and directing the Anne Frank Project Nepal has given him insight into the process of promoting tolerance and respect through education. Bhandari created the Anne Frank Project to inform Nepalese students about the events of the Holocaust and World War II, a section of world history that is often left out of the nation’s curriculum. His notable work with the project will serve him well during his fellowship, as Humanity in Action includes a component that focuses on the relevance of the Holocaust in modern-day Europe.
“For the past four years, Humanity in Action has been on my radar,” says Bhandari, who first heard about the fellowship from fellow Ole Subhash Ghimire ’10, who completed the program four years ago. “I really like its model, which includes three parts: educating fellows, building a network, and inspiring action. “
Through the Humanity in Action Fellowship, Bhandari will be spending the summer in Warsaw, Poland, where he will attend workshops and seminars, visit concentration camps, write reports, and work on a research project.
“I am excited to learn about Polish politics, culture, and its history of human rights and resistance to intolerance,” says Bhandari, who also received an internship grant from the St. Olaf Piper Center for Vocation and Career to support his work. “Such understanding will serve as a case study that I can use as I develop and advance my Anne Frank Project Nepal initiative in my home country. I think the most rewarding aspect of the fellowship will be the network of passionate advocates of human rights fellows I will be interacting with during the program.”