Nizar’s Story
Cardinal Quarter offers you the opportunity to participate in a full-time, quarter-long public service experience designed to integrate your academic learning with field-based experience. You can pursue prearranged placements or self-designed opportunities in both domestic and international settings. Nearly 500 opportunities are offered each year through more than 30 campus partners involved in the Cardinal Quarter initiative.
As a Cardinal Quarter participant, you will engage in pre-field preparatory programs, cohort activities, advising sessions with faculty members, and reflection activities during and after the service experience. You will also receive a stipend award, which may be adjusted based on demonstrated financial need or for students traveling internationally or to high cost-of-living locations.
Ways You Can Help
Stanford Refugee Research Project
The Stanford Refugee Research Project is a project funded by President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Dean Lloyd Minor (Medicine) to examine the role of Stanford in the refugee crisis, particularly in the Middle East.
The Stanford Refugee Research Project will partner with the Syrian Youth Empowerment, an organization, to match Stanford students (undergrad, grad) with high-schoolers within Syria who need academic support and mentorship through the process of applying to universities outside of Syria. Stanford students, through SYE, will provide a one-year commitment and provide mentorship through essay writing, financial aid, etc.
This opportunity calls for Stanford students to engage directly with high-school students who wouldn't otherwise have the mentorship they need to go overseas and pursue a university education. These students are particularly vulnerable, living in a war-torn country.
Join the Handa Center Student Community
The Handa Center is pleased to offer several paid summer fellowship opportunities for students interested in human rights and international justice, in collaboration with campus partners such as the Stanford Global Studies Division and the Haas Center for Public Service. Placements ensure students have meaningful, applied research and work opportunities to inform their studies and future career pathways.
The most flexible of our summer opportunities, Human Rights Fellowships are awarded to highly motivated students aiming to make a valuable contribution in partnership with a relevant organization in the U.S. or abroad.
How It Affects You
Gil Bana (Freshman at Stanford)
“It really pains me to witness the refugee crisis because my own family has had to flee Syria. And what makes it worse is that not only are hundreds of families being displaced, but people continue to shame the influx of refugees. It’s like they don’t understand that my people would much rather stay in Syria but they literally would die if they did. Just the lack of compassion in general.”