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HRANT DINK SCHOLAR RESEARCHES THE EFFECTS OF MASS
ATROCITIES ON WOMEN
Hrant Dink was an Armenian Turkish journalist known for
advocating for Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and
human and minority rights in Turkey, who was
assassinated in 2007. The Hrant Dink Human Rights
Scholar Award, named in his honor, promotes research
on human rights and the consequences of inhumanity
that derives from deep ethnic, national, racial, gender,
and religious divides. Every year, the Hrant Dink
Scholarship gives a student the opportunity to conduct
research for HRP on urgent and emergent human rights
emergencies, including the commission of mass
atrocity crimes.
Mumtaaz Mahammud Hirsi, a psychology student with
minors in African American studies and public health, was
the 2024-2025 Hrant Dink Scholar. A member of the
Human Rights Program’s Undergraduate Working Group,
Mumtaaz is driven by a passion for addressing global
human rights challenges and developing a
comprehensive understanding of how we can learn from
Mumtaaz Mahammud Hirsi
genocides of the past.
Mumtaaz focused her research on The Psychological and Physical Effects of Mass Atrocities on
Women. Hirsi presented her research at the Spring 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium.
CELEBRATING OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO HUMAN RIGHTS
The Outstanding Service to Human Rights Award recognizes a graduating undergraduate
student who has demonstrated a commitment to human rights through work on a human rights
cause, service to others, raising awareness of a human rights issue, and/or promoting human
rights programming and community-building on campus. The award is now in its second year.
The spring 2025 recipient, Isabella Minahan, a global studies
and Spanish major in the College of Liberal Arts, has
demonstrated her commitment to human rights through
significant work on the Minnesota Oral History Project, a
collection of interviews from Minnesota human rights activists.
Minahan’s contributions include recording and transcribing
interviews, completing background research on interview
subjects, providing technical support, and more. These stories
serve as a powerful resource for current and future human rights
defenders, and will continue to inspire human rights leaders. As
the Arvonne Fraser Fellow at Global Rights for Women in 2024,
Isabella helped secure a grant and organized an event on
campus on Professional Pathways for Pursuing Gender Justice,
moderating a panel discussion with gender justice advocates.
Isabella MinahanMinahan traces her early motivation to pursue human rights to her father, an immigrant from
Ireland. “I feel as though he has imparted to me an ability to view the world through a more
globalized lens, and growing up with him sparked a personal interest in the immigrant
experience in the US,” she says. In addition, her personal experiences as a queer woman
inspire her to advocate for the community’s protections and rights.