Kathryn Sikkink (born 1955) is an author,

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

academic, and scholar of international relations working primarily through the theoretical strain of

constructivism Constructivism may refer to: Art and architecture * Constructivism (art), an early 20th-century artistic movement that extols art as a practice for social purposes * Constructivist architecture, an architectural movement in Russia in the 1920s a ...

. She is currently at professor at

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Academic career

Kathryn Sikkink started her studies at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

studying International Relations. She graduated in 1980 summa cum laude. She went on to receive her master's in political science, international relations from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1983. Sikkink briefly studied at the Institute for Latin American and Iberian Studies at Columbia University in 1984 where she earned a Certificate of Latin American and Iberian Studies. Staying at Columbia, she earned her Ph.D. in political science, international relations with distinction. Prior to her career at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, Sikkink previously served as a Regents Professor and the McKnight Presidential Chair of Political Science at the

. Currently she is the Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights Policy and the Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at the

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...

at the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

. Sikkink studies international norms and institutions, transnational advocacy networks, the impact of human rights law and policies, and transitional justice. In 2008, Sikkink received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

. In 2012, she won the

Robert F. Kennedy Book Award Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (formerly the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, or RFK Center) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit human rights advocacy organization. It was named after United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy ...

for her book on international human rights titled ''The Justice Cascade'', which discusses the origins and effects of human rights trials on geopolitics and global justice. She was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 2013. She is also the recipient of the Grawemeyer World Order Award for her book (with

Margaret Keck Margaret Keck (born January 12, 1949) is an American political scientist and Brazilianist, currently an Academy Professor and professor emeritus of political science at Johns Hopkins University. Keck studies the Politics of Brazil, environment ...

) ''Activists Beyond Borders'' (1998). In 2017, Sikkink released the essay ''Evidence for Hope: Making Human Rights Work in the 21st Century'', where she states that human rights institutions have been successful in their goals, despite their flaws and limitations, and will continue to deliver in the next years.What Are Human Rights Good For?
- Mark Goodale, Boston Review, 19 July 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sikkink, Kathryn University of Minnesota faculty Living people 1955 births Radcliffe fellows Columbia University alumni Members of the American Philosophical Society University of Minnesota alumni Harvard Kennedy School faculty