Human rights in action: Oxford consortium equips Sonoma State students to exercise their agency

Some journeys begin with uncertainty and become defining experiences that reshape how we understand the world, our place within it, and the role we choose to play.

For a select group of Sonoma State students, that quest leads to the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights, an immersive program in applied human rights work across local, national, and global contexts. Each year, the consortium hosts two distinct workshops: one at Sonoma State and the other at Oxford University in England. Through real-world case studies, students examine contemporary human rights issues and their broader implications for global conflict, humanitarian aid, peacebuilding, and community action. Designed to mirror the interdisciplinary networks that drive human rights initiatives, the workshops connect students with peers, scholars, practitioners, grassroots organizations, and internationally renowned experts.

Sonoma State is the only U.S. university to host an annual Oxford consortium workshop. Held over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend in January, it brings together 40 students and their faculty mentors from partner institutions across the world. This year's workshop focused on "Human Rights, Immigration, and Community Action," with 10 Sonoma State students participating alongside their international peers.

During Sonoma State’s spring break, a smaller cohort travels to Oxford University for the England-based workshop. The weeklong program brings together 50 students from partner institutions to examine a timely human rights theme. This year, participants explored “Human Rights in War and Climate Emergency.” 

Across both workshops, thoughtfully assembled cohorts of students from diverse disciplines and cultures bring academic backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives that foster discussion and deepen their understanding of complex human rights challenges. 

Although the workshops center on a different theme, each emphasize applying human rights principles to current challenges through collaborative, hands-on learning. Students build practical toolboxes for rigorous human rights work by strengthening their qualitative and quantitative research skills while developing their ability to organize and lead – preparing them for advocacy, academic study, and future careers. The workshops also reinforce Sonoma State’s broader commitment to cross-disciplinary human rights education, including the new Human Rights Studies minor. 

Sonoma State became the first California State University campus to partner with the Oxford consortium in 2022. Since then, efforts led by Troi Carleton, PhD, Dean of the College of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts and an Oxford consortium advisory board member, have brought Cal State LA, Cal Poly Pomona, and Fresno State into the consortium. 

Today, SSU is the largest CSU participant and one of the Oxford consortium’s most committed institutional partners. In just four years, Sonoma State has sponsored more than 65 students through the program, ranking third overall in student participation among all partner institutions, including universities with much longer histories of involvement.

Participation numbers speak to the program’s reach, but its even deeper influence is evident in how students begin to recognize the value of what they bring to the experience.

Michael DaSilva, a psychology major with a minor in human rights and 2026 England-based Oxford consortium student fellow, said his time in the program challenged assumptions shared by many in his cohort.

“None of us arrived with Ivy League pedigrees, wealth, or a sense of entitlement,” DaSilva said. “We came with lived experience, resilience, and a desire to make a difference.”

Carleton said the College of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts (HSSA) remains committed to supporting the program because of stories like DaSilva’s. “The impact on Sonoma State students is immeasurable, and we’re fortunate to have strong institutional support through our internal partnership with the Center for Academic Access & Student Enrichment (CAASE)."

Oxford consortium student fellows continue their learning through Social Science 320, a required Applied Community Leadership course taken concurrently with their participation. Taught by Lindsey Bell-Kerr, lecturer at SSU and academic director of the Sonoma-based Oxford consortium workshop, the semester-long course helps students integrate what they’ve learned into practice beyond the workshop.

Bell-Kerr recalled being moved by one returning student, a migrant from Latin America, whose personal narrative took shape through the combined experience of the Oxford consortium workshop and of SSCI-320.

“Through OCHR, she connected with a local migrant organizing group,” Bell-Kerr said. “By the end of the semester, she was speaking publicly in support of migrant justice.”

Carleton said the partnership between the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights and Sonoma State reflects the university’s commitment to cultivating student leaders through civic engagement and social justice. As dean, she has worked to expand opportunities that connect students with communities, organizations, and issues shaping the future of human rights work. 

"This isn’t a field trip," Carleton said. “This is truly a workshop.”

Central to the consortium is the idea that students become equipped as not only change-makers, but also what the program calls “silence-breakers.”

"How do we break that silence?" Carleton said. "What makes someone a silence-breaker?"

For Carleton, that means confronting the kinds of problems that, as she puts it, "everybody knows about, but nobody does anything about.”  

A common thread emerges across student experiences: Many described the consortium as a catalyst for transforming personal experience into insight and purpose, with some of its most meaningful lessons continuing to unfold long after the workshops concluded.

HT Townes, a Hutchins Liberal Studies major and 2025 England-based Oxford consortium student fellow, nearly let the opportunity slip away in a moment of apprehension.

“The morning of the Oxford interview, I almost didn’t go. I kept thinking, ‘I’m not going to get this.’ But I went – and if this program hadn’t existed, I don’t think I’d be the person I am today,” Townes said. 

Throughout the week, the 2025 Oxford cohort researched a specific human rights issue, developed strategies to address it, and presented its findings before peers and experts. Their work culminated in a presentation on Bayer Farm in Roseland, Calif. – a LandPaths-supported community farm that uses agriculture, community organizing, and equitable access to green space to advance food security and immigrant inclusion.

Among the students presenting was Edgar Muñoz Corona, a geography graduate and 2025 England-based Oxford consortium student fellow, who said participating in the workshop reframed his understanding of his identity.

“To be at Oxford coming from a marginalized community – and also being a migrant myself, since I was born in Mexico – it was really eye-opening,” Muñoz Corona said.

The learning extends beyond workshop sessions into the shared experience of living in residence halls and working together in Oxford. Outside the classroom, students have time and space to unpack the day’s discussions, synthesize what they’ve learned, and build lasting relationships with peers committed to human rights work. 

What stayed with Warren Rhodes, an anthropology major and 2025 England-based Oxford consortium student fellow, was the sense of belonging he felt throughout the week.

“I thought it was going to be just our Sonoma State cohort staying in our own group. But students and faculty from other schools kept reaching out to make sure nobody was left out,” Rhodes said. 

That sense of connection encouraged a willingness among students to embrace chance and new possibilities.

"The consortium opened me up to taking risks, and to not always getting things perfectly but still trying anyway," said Dorian Rivera, an applied anthropology and human development major with minors in education and health, culture, and social justice, and student fellow in the 2026 Sonoma-based Oxford consortium cohort.

As students reflected on their experiences, many described leaving the workshops with a clearer vision of their future, both professionally and in service to others.

Nathan Callahan, an economics and political science graduate and 2025 England-based Oxford consortium student fellow, said he plans to work with communities experiencing violence or living with its aftermath.

 “Understanding how people make decisions in those contexts can help prevent cycles of conflict from repeating,” he said. 

Preserving access ensures that financial circumstances do not stand between students and the Oxford consortium program. Support from HSSA, CAASE, and philanthropy allows Sonoma State to cover the full cost of participation – including airfare, ground transportation, housing, and nearly all meals while in England – so students can fully engage in the experience without worrying how they will afford it. 

Carleton added that continued investment across the CSU system is essential to the program’s long-term sustainability, helping create opportunities for future cohorts.

Yet access alone does not quiet the hesitation that comes with saying yes to an opportunity this big. Imposter syndrome is a recurring theme when students recap how far the program has taken them.

“I've heard students say, ‘I didn’t even think I’d be here at Sonoma State, let alone be in this program – and now I have this opportunity beyond this,’” Carleton said.

Across cohorts, she has watched initial reservations give way to confidence, with the program serving as a source of reassurance along the way.

“A student will enter this experience with trepidation and then leave as a leader,” Carleton said. “To me, that’s just the story that gets told over and over again.”

When that self-doubt surfaces, her message to students is clear: Remember why you were nominated in the first place.

“We believe in you. We see you,” she tells them. “You’ve got it, and we want to help you get there.”

Following the workshops and the accompanying leadership course, student fellows present their research at the Social Action Student Symposium (SASSy) where they reflect on how the consortium continues to shape their scholarship, civic engagement, and professional aspirations.

“Students don’t walk away as different people,” Carleton said. “They walk away having discovered what was already there.”