Tara J. Melish 1

TARA J. MELISH

525 John Lord O’Brian Hall, SUNY Buffalo Law School, Buffalo NY 14260 tmelish@buffalo.edu

CURRENT TEACHING AND PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENTS

SUNY Buffalo Law School, State University of New York

Professor of Law, Aug. 2016–present

Director, Human Rights Center, 2009–present

Associate Professor of Law, 2009–2016 (spring)

Courses: Public International Law; International Human Rights Law; Comparative Economic, Social and

Cultural Rights: Theory and Practice; International Human Rights Research; Human Rights Lawyering:

Advocacy, Impact and Influence in Washington, D.C. (bridge course)

Global School on Socio-Economic Rights—Åbo Akademi University, Finland

Faculty. 2008–present

Advanced Course on the Justiciability of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Theory and Practice

(taught annually for last eight years to human rights professionals from 20+ countries)

Disability Rights International

Legal Advisor (pro bono), 2007-present

Advise and draft strategic litigation initiatives before the inter-American human rights system involving

rights abuses in Guatemala, Mexico and Paraguay; advise treaty ratification campaigns.

EDUCATION

Yale Law School, J.D. 2000

Activities: Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal, Editor-in-Chief

Yale Journal of International Law, Book Reviews Editor; Editor

Honors: Ambrose Gherini Prize for Best Paper in the Field of International Law

Brown University, B.A., magna cum laude, Comparative Studies in Society and Development, 1996

Honors: Honors Thesis selected for publication as one of four best in all fields at Brown

1996 Development Studies Prize (best work in Department)

1996 World Hunger Program Research Award (best work in Program)

1996 Community Leadership Award (Brown University)

Starr Public Service Fellowship (Brown University)

Rotary “Service Above Self” Fellowship (four-year recipient)

Phi Beta Kappa

Foreign Study: Bolivia (Fall 1994); Kenya (Spring 1995) (School for International Training)

PAST TEACHING EXPERIENCE

University of Notre Dame Law School

Visiting Assistant Professor of Law. Spring 2009

Courses: Comparative Regional Human Rights Systems; Comparative Social Rights Jurisprudence

George Washington University School of Law

Professorial Lecturer in Law. Fall 2008

Courses: Human Rights Lawyering

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Oxford University

Professorial Lecturer in Law, Summer 2008

Courses: Human Rights Advocacy and Dissemination

University of Georgia School of Law

Visiting Assistant Professor of Law. Spring 2008

Courses: Constitutional Law II and Torts.

University of Virginia School of Law

Visiting Professor. Fall 2006

Courses: International Litigation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (short course).

St. Thomas University School of Law

Visiting Assistant Professor of Law (J.D. Program). Spring/Fall 2002, Spring 2003

Courses: Constitutional Law I, Constitutional Law II, and Criminal Law.

Visiting Faculty (LL.M Program in Intercultural Human Rights): Spring 2002 to Fall 2006

Courses: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; The African System of Human Rights Protection

PUBLICATIONS:

BOOKS & EDITED VOLUMES

ENFORCING RIGHTS INDIVISIBILITY: BEYOND THE “SEPARATE BUT EQUAL” PARADIGM (under

contract with Pennsylvania University Press, forthcoming 2019) (~250 pp.)

Special Symposium Issue on Implementing Truth and Reconciliation: Comparative Lessons for Korea,

19 BUFFALO HUMAN RIGHTS LAW REV. (2012-2013) (primary editor of book-length special issue,

with M. Nathan & E. Meidinger) (315 pp.)

PROTECTING ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS IN THE INTER-AMERICAN HUMAN RIGHTS

SYSTEM: A MANUAL ON PRESENTING CLAIMS (Yale Law School & CDES, 2002) (473 pp.)

—Reviewed in 25 HUMAN RIGHTS QUARTERLY 1154 (2003) (describing book as “bold” and

“meticulous,” with “richly-documented arguments and analysis”)

—Spanish edition, LA PROTECCIÓN DE LOS DERECHOS ECONÓMICOS, SOCIALES Y CULTURALES EN EL

SISTEMA INTERAMERICANO DE DERECHOS HUMANOS: MANUAL PARA LA PRESENTACIÓN DE

CASOS (Yale Law School & CDES, 2003) (526 pp.)

HUMAN RIGHTS TO FOOD IN GUATEMALA: FROM RHETORIC TO REALITY (Wayland Press, 1998)

(206 pp.)

JOURNAL ARTICLES & BOOK CHAPTERS

An Historical Introduction to the Convention, in THE U.N. CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS

WITH DISABILITIES: AN ARTICLE-BY-ARTICLE COMMENTARY, eds. Ilias Bantekas, Michael Stein

& Dimitris Anastasiou (Oxford Univ. Press, forthcoming 2018)

Putting “Human Rights” Back into the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights:

Shifting Frames and Embedding Participation Rights, in BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS:

BEYOND THE END OF THE BEGINNING, ed. César Rodríguez-Garavito (Cambridge Univ. Press,

2017), 21 pp.

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An Eye Toward Effective Enforcement: A Technical-Comparative Approach to the CRPD Drafting

Negotiations, in HUMAN RIGHTS & DISABILITY ADVOCACY, M. Sabatello & M. Schultz eds.

(Penn. Press 2013), pp. 70-96

Truth Commission Impact: A Participation-Based Implementation Agenda, 19 BUFFALO HUMAN

RIGHTS LAW REVIEW (2012-13), pp. 273-315

Implementing Truth and Reconciliation: Comparative Lessons for the Republic of Korea, 19

BUFFALO HUMAN RIGHTS LAW REVIEW (2012-13), pp. 1-71

Justice Jackson’s 1946 Nuremberg Reflections at Buffalo: An Introduction, 60 BUFFALO LAW

REVIEW (2012) (with Fred Konefsky), pp. 255-282

Protect, Respect, Remedy and Participate: ‘New Governance’ Lessons for the Ruggie Framework, in

THE U.N. GUIDING PRINCIPLES ON BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS: FOUNDATIONS AND

IMPLEMENTATION, ed. Radu Mares (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2011) (with Errol Meidinger),

pp. 303-336

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Beyond Progressivity, in SOCIAL RIGHTS

JURISPRUDENCE: EMERGING TRENDS IN COMPARATIVE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, ed. M.

Langford (Cambridge University Press, Spanish ed. 2011) (substantially updated version from

first 2008 edition), 65 pp.

Maximum Feasible Participation of the Poor: New Governance, New Accountability, and a 21st

Century War on the Sources of Poverty, 13 YALE HUMAN RIGHTS & DEVELOPMENT LAW

JOURNAL (2010), pp. 1-134

From Paradox to Subsidiarity: The United States and Human Rights Treaty Bodies,

34 YALE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (2009), pp. 389-462

From Paradox to Subsidiarity: The United States and Human Rights Treaty Bodies, in THE SWORD

AND THE SCALES: THE UNITED STATES AND INTERNATIONAL COURTS AND TRIBUNALS, ed. Cesare

Romano (Cambridge University Press, 2009) (modified version of YJIL article), pp. 210-296

Introductory Note to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and

Cultural Rights, 48 INTERNATIONAL LEGAL MATERIALS (2009), pp. 256-261

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Beyond Progressivity, in SOCIAL RIGHTS

JURISPRUDENCE: EMERGING TRENDS IN COMPARATIVE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, Malcolm

Langford ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2008), pp. 372-408

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Defending Social Rights through Case-based

Petitions, in SOCIAL RIGHTS JURISPRUDENCE: EMERGING TRENDS IN COMPARATIVE AND

INTERNATIONAL LAW, Malcolm Langford ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2008), pp. 339-371

Hacia La Protección Efectiva de los Derechos Sociales: La Jurisprudencia de la Corte

Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, en LOS DERECHOS ECONÓMICOS, SOCIALES Y

CULTURALES EN LAS AMERICAS (United Nations OHCHR & ECLAC, 2008), 27 pp.

The U.N. Disability Convention: Historic Process, Strong Prospects and Why the U.S. Should Ratify,

14(2) HUM. RTS. BRIEF (2007), pp. 37-47

—reprinted in DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION (Amicus Books, 2009)

—reprinted in U.N. CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES:

SIGNIFICANCE AND RELEVANCE (Amicus Books, 2009)

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Rethinking the “Less as More” Thesis: Supranational Litigation of Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights in the Americas, 39 NYU JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW & POLITICS (2006),

pp. 171-343

—excerpted in HUMAN RIGHTS (Henkin, Cleveland, Helfer, Neuman, Orentlicher eds. 2009)

Counter-Rejoinder. Justice vs. Justiciability? Normative Neutrality and Technical Precision, The Role

of the Lawyer in Supranational Social Rights Litigation, 39 NYU JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL

LAW & POLITICS 385 (2006), pp. 385-415

“Positive” Obligations in the Inter-American Human Rights System, 15 INTERIGHTS BULL. (2006)

(with Ana Aliverti), pp. 120-122.

A Pyrrhic Victory for Peru’s Pensioners: Pensions, Property and the Perversion of Progressivity, I

CEJIL REVISTA (2005), pp. 51-66

El Litigio Supranacional de los Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales: Avances y Retrocesos

en el Sistema Interamericano, in LOS DERECHOS ECONÓMICOS, SOCIALES Y CULTURALES (2005),

pp. 173-219

SHORT PIECES

Preface, in DISABILITY RIGHTS CASES IN NEPAL (2014) (with Daniela Ikawa)

IN PROGRESS

Book Review – Beyond Human Rights: The Legal Status of the Individual in International Law by

Anne Peters, American Journal of International Law (invited for 2018)

“Human Rights Assessment Standards”

“From Monuments to Ladders: The Limits of Social Rights Typologies”

“Reclaiming Narratives: Framing Social Rights in the United States”

“Three Tales of the International Human Rights Movement”

“Participatory Instrumentalism: How Human Rights Law Succeeds”

“Constructing Regional Rights Norms: Interpretive Principles in the Inter-American Human Rights

System”

PROFESSIONAL RESEARCH AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award. 2005–2006 recipient of research and

writing grant from the MacArthur Foundation: “Ensuring Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in

Resource-Limited, Technologically Changing Contexts.”

Robert L. Bernstein Fellowship, Yale Law School. 2004–2005. To pursue litigation and research in the

field of economic, social and cultural rights at the Center for Justice and International Law.

Fulbright Scholarship, 1996–1997. To work on border-area food security issues in Central America.

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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Disability Rights International (DRI)

United Nations Representative (2005-2007); Legal Advisor (2007-present). Represent DRI policy

positions in the drafting negotiations of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,

through proposal drafting, State-by-State lobbying, and article-by-article oral interventions. Advise DRI on

litigation and lobbying initiatives, both internationally and domestically.

Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), Washington D.C.

Legal Advisor (2004–2011); Staff Attorney / Bernstein Fellow (2003–2004).

Litigate cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of

Human Rights, represent victims, petition for precautionary and provisional measures.

George Washington University School of Law

Visiting Scholar (2006–2007; Fall 2008). Complete research and writing projects, while providing external

support to variety of non-profit, public-interest entities, including the Norwegian Research Council, the

Irish Participation and the Practice of Rights Project, the U.S. Human Rights Network and its members,

the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, and the Consumer Rights Organization of Chile.

United Nations Secretariat, Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Associate Social Affairs Officer (2004-2005). Prepare direct support materials, including session reports,

summaries, and background papers on comparative disability law and human rights standards, for the UN

Ad Hoc Committee charged with drafting the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Honorable James R. Browning, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, San Francisco

Law Clerk (2000-2001).

Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights, Yale Law School

Student Director (1998-1999). Organize events, panels and debates on current issues in international law.

Land Claims Court of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa

Court Clerk (May–July 1998). Assist Court in researching claims of unjust land dispossession under

apartheid laws.

Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, South Africa (July–Aug 1998)

Research Associate (July–Aug 1998). Prepare report on 1998 National Poverty Hearings, in which over

10,000 poor South Africans testified publicly on the socio-economic legacy of apartheid, complementing

mandate of Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Institute of Nutrition for Central America and Panama (INCAP), Guatemala

Research Associate (1996–1997). Work in human rights education, community organizing, and

development project consultation with local border communities of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras

in regional border-integration initiative. Conducted research on basic food rights, monitoring government

fulfillment of state obligations under national, regional and international law.

World Hunger Program, Brown University, Providence, R.I.

Researcher (1995–1996). Investigate local food security issues in Central America and among Central

American immigrants in R.I.

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ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS, EXPERTS WORKSHOPS, TRAININGS, FIELD MISSIONS

“Solidarity: Sustaining the Struggle for Human Rights in a Fractured World,” Panel Moderator: Culture

and Change, Robert L. Bernstein Human Rights Symposium, Yale Law School, April 13, 2018

“The Cost of Global Human Rights Activism,” Invited Speaker, Community Conversations – Human

Rights and Activisms: Global and Local Struggles, UB School of Social Work, March 15, 2018

“Recientes Desarrollos en la Jurisprudencia de la Corte Interamericana en materia de justiciabilidad de los

DESCA,” Panel en parallelo al 167 Período de Sesiones de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos

Humanos, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia, March 2, 2018 (en español)

“Economic and Social Rights,” Invited Speaker, Sir Nigel Rodley Human Rights Conference, Urban

Morgan Institute for Human Rights, University of Cincinnati College of Law, October 29, 2017

“Counterterrorism, Electoral Politics, and Human Rights,” Invited Chair, Alison Des Forges International

Symposium, University at Buffalo, April 27, 2017

“A CEDAW Ordinance for Buffalo,” Invited Speaker, Women’s Bar Association of Western New York,

Legislative Committee, April 6, 2017

“A CEDAW Ordinance for Buffalo,” Invited Speaker, Erie County Bar Association, Human Rights

Committee, April 5, 2017

“On Indivisibility and Social Rights Enforcement: Beyond the ‘Separate but Equal’ Paradigm,” University

of Cincinnati, March 29, 2017

“Step Up and Take Action for Gender Equality: Getting a Gender Equality Ordinance in Buffalo,”

University at Buffalo School of Law, February 23, 2017

“Honor, Systems of Masculinity, and Violence against Women: Responses and Solutions – Legal Systems

and Interventions,” Invited panelist, UB Gender Institute, University at Buffalo, October 28, 2016

“NGOs and Human Rights,” Invited panelist, Dr. Claude Welch Retirement Celebration: Human Rights

1939-2016, University at Buffalo, April 29, 2016

“The Future of Economic and Social Rights,” Invited panelist, Boston College of Law, April 19-20, 2016

“Human Rights Cities,” Moderator, American Society of International Law, Annual Meeting, Washington

D.C., April 1, 2016.

“Sixth Consultation on the Situation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: United States and Canada,”

Invited panelist, ESCR Unit, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Washington D.C.,

January 27, 2016

“Framing the Issue: Persuasive Advocacy, Knowing Your Audience, Speaking Your Values,”

Speaker/Trainer, Open Buffalo Emerging Leaders Program, Buffalo State, December 3& 8, 2015

“Winning the Human Right to Health Care: Lessons from Grassroots Campaigns,” Moderator, Buffalo

City Hall, November 10, 2015

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“Engaging with the Inter-American Human Rights System for U.S. Advocacy,” Invited Panelist for all-day,

CLE-credit event at Skadden Arps, New York City, co-sponsored by Columbia Law School’s Human

Rights Institute, the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), Robert F. Kennedy Partners for

Human Rights, International Justice Resource Center, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and

the University of Pennsylvania Transnational Legal Clinic, June 12, 2015.

Testimony to the New York Wage Board, Buffalo City Hall, New York, June 5, 2015. Provided testimony to New York Wage Board, empaneled by NY Governor Andrew Cuomo to

recommend a new minimum wage for fast-food workers in New York.

“Constructing Regional Rights Norms: Interpretive Principles in the Inter-American Human Rights

System,” presented to the Latin American Conference of Judges, SUNY Buffalo Law School, June 1,

2015.

“In(di)visibility Strategy and Social Rights Enforcement,” presented in Paper Session: “Revealing the

Invisibility of Economic and Social Rights in Diverse Contexts,” Law & Society Association Annual

Meeting, Seattle, Washington, May 29, 2015

“Economic and Social Rights: The Role of the Treaty Bodies,” Discussant, Law & Society Association

Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington, May 29, 2015

Field Mission to Mexico City to Investigate Closed Psychiatric Institutions, May 19-22, 2015.

“In(di)visibility Strategy and Social Rights Enforcement,” Syracuse University School of Law, Faculty

Workshop, April 30, 2015.

Testimony before the Legislative Committee of the Buffalo Common Council on the Creation of an Office of

Public Advocate, City Hall, Buffalo, NY, April 21, 2015

“Bringing the Women’s Human Rights Treaty to Buffalo: Implementing CEDAW Locally,” Introductory

Remarks and Moderator, SUNY Buffalo Law School, April 16, 2015

Hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding Precautionary Measures against

the State of Guatemala, Of Counsel, October 29, 2014.

“U.S. Drone Policy in the Mid-East: The Legal, Political and Moral Implications,” Moderator, SUNY

Buffalo Law School, Sept. 25, 2014

“In(di)visibility Strategy and Social Rights Enforcement,” American Society of International Law Midwest

Interest Group Workshop, University of Minnesota, Sept. 5, 2014

Experts Workshop, “Implementing the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: A South-

Initiated North-South Dialogue,” invited expert, Watson Institute, Brown University, February 20-22,

2014 (bringing together leading academic and practitioner voices from around the globe working in

the field of business and human rights, including John Ruggie, former Special Representative to the

Secretary General on Business and Human Rights, who drafted the Guiding Principles)

“In(di)visibility Strategy and Social Rights Enforcement,” JILSA annual meeting, Berkeley Law School, Jan.

31, 2014.

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Human Rights Training for Nepali Public Health Advocates & Supreme Court Decision Implementation

Workshop, Jan. 2014, Kathmandu, Nepal (financed by the International Network on Economic, Social

and Cultural Rights, ESCR-Net)

- Aimed at providing Nepali authorities with comparative perspectives on national experiences in

implementing the rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities and raising citizen awareness

regarding the rights guaranteed in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

(CRPD). See full description of workshops at <http://www.escr-net.org/node/365406>

Experts Workshop, “Comparative Human Rights Systems,” invited expert, Centre for International Courts

(ICourts), University of Copenhagen, Denmark, June 2013

Author Meets Reader, panel discussion on Katharine Young’s new book Constituting Economic and

Social Rights (with Mark Tushnet and Lucie White), Law & Society Association Annual Meeting,

Boston, May 2013

“The Invisibilities of Indivisibility Strategy,” Invited Panelist in conference “Bringing Economic, Social and

Cultural Rights Home: The Right to Adequate Housing in the U.S.,” Columbia Law School Human

Rights Institute (panel on “The Interdependence of Rights” with Philip Alston and Martha Davis), April

2013

Commentary to Ken Roth’s presentation, “Are there Parallels between Rwanda’s and Israel’s Experience and

Conduct?” in conference “Human Rights in the Middle East and Central Africa: Comparisons and

Contrasts between Rwanda and Israel,” SUNY Buffalo Law School, April 2013

“Humanitarian Intervention,” Great Decisions Discussion, International Institute of Buffalo, Mar. 2013

“FDR’s Second Bill of Rights Speech,” Action Speaks: Underappreciated 20th Century Dates that Changed

America, AS220 Providence, Rhode Island (live radio panel with Natalie Klein, George Nee, and host

Marc Levitt, WGBH 89.7 Boston), Nov. 2012

Council on Foreign Relations, Educators’ Workshop, April 28-29, 2012

“Reclaiming Narratives: Framing Social Rights in the United States,” Invited panelist in conference on

“Framing Economic, Social and Cultural Rights for Advocacy and Mobilization: Towards a Strategic

Agenda in the United States,” Northeastern University School of Law, Nov. 2011

“From Monuments to Ladders: Collapsing Social Rights Typologies into a New Enforcement-Oriented

Schema,” Rapoport Center on Human Rights and Justice Speaker Series, University of Texas at Austin

School of Law, Oct. 2011

“Toward a Unified Theory of Human Rights Obligations: Collapsing Rights Typologies into a Broader,

Enforcement-Oriented Taxonomic Schema,”

Junior International Law Scholars Association Annual Meeting, Yale Law School, Feb. 2011

Temple Law School, International Law Colloquium, Feb. 2011

Experts Working Meeting, “The Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of Women in the

Americas,” Organized by the Rapporteurship on the Rights of Women, Inter-American Commission

on Human Rights (OAS), invited expert, Washington DC, October 18-19, 2010

“ Discrimination against Women in the Social, Economic and Cultural Sphere”

“Access to Justice for Women Victims of Sexual Violence in the Economic and Social Rights

Sphere”

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Experts Workshop, “Strategic Litigation Initiative for the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant

on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR),” invited expert, Ford Foundation, New York,

October 12-13, 2010

“The U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” Oxford University (New College),

England, July 2008

“The Sarayaku of Ecuador and the Right to Indigenous Property,” Guest lecturer in “Human Rights,

Culture and Development,” Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, May

2008

Second Potomac Foreign Relations Law Roundtable, George Washington School of Law, May 2008

“The UN Disability Convention: Tool for Inclusion, Participation and Voice in Domestic Policymaking,”

Symposium: Framing Legal and Human Rights Strategies for Change: A Case Study of Disability

Rights in Asia, University of Washington School of Law, April 2008

“Litigating in the Inter-American System,” Conference: The United States and the Inter-American Human

Rights System, Columbia Law School and the American Society of International Law (co-sponsors),

New York, April 2008

Experts Meeting on the Evolving Inter-American Human Rights System, co-sponsored by the American

Society of International Law, Columbia Law School, New York, April 2008

Junior International Law Scholars Association scholarship roundtable, New York Law School, February

2008. Conference commentator on papers presented in “International Security” session.

“Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: An Appraisal,” Georgetown University, March 2008

“Maximum Feasible Participation of the Poor: New Governance, New Accountability, and the Rise of

National Poverty Hearings,” Junior International Law Scholars Association’s Annual Conference,

New York Law School, February 2008

“Racial Discrimination in the United States: U.S. Review before the UN Committee on the Elimination of

All Forms of Racial Discrimination,” University of Georgia School of Law, February 2008

“Conventional Thinking: How International Conventions Effect Human Rights at Home,” Conference on

Race, Class, Gender and Ethnicity: Bringing Human Rights Home, University of North Carolina–

Chapel Hill School of Law, February 2008

“La Jurisprudencia de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos,” International Conference on

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Justiciability, co-sponsored by the United Nations Office of the

High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Economic Commission for Latin America

(CEPAL), Sala Raúl Prebisch, Santiago, Chile, December 2007

International Expert on the Right to Mental Health, Mental Health and Human Rights Forum, Participation

and the Practice of Rights Project, Belfast, Northern Ireland, November 2007

“Maximum Feasible Participation of the Poor: The Rise of National Poverty Hearings” (working paper

presentation), Inter-school Junior Faculty Poverty Law Workshop, Washington College of Law,

American University, May 2008.

First Potomac Foreign Relations Law Roundtable, George Washington School of Law, May 2007

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Inter-school Junior Faculty Workshop on Poverty Law, American University, May 2007

James Farmer Memorial Lecture in Human Rights “The New UN Convention on the Rights of Persons

with Disabilities: Recognizing and Ensuring Disability Rights as Human Rights,” University of Mary

Washington, April 2007

“Operationalizing the Protocol of San Salvador: Advancing Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the

Americas,” Washington College of Law, American University, April 2007

“Implementing the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” Conference: The New

UN Disability Rights Convention: Building Support in the United States for Ratification and

Implementation, Washington College of Law, American University, April 2007

Scholarship Roundtable on Comparative Constitutional Law, George Washington University School of

Law, April 2007

“The Right to Health: A Cross-Jurisdictional Perspective,” University of Virginia School of Law, Invited

speaker, November 2006

“Using International Mechanisms to Protect the Right to Housing,” Invited participant in symposium “The

Human Right to Housing,” George Washington University School of Law, Sept. 2006

“The Inter-American System of Human Rights,” Guest lecturer in course Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights, Washington College of Law, American University, June 2006

“The Right to Culture: Indigenous Rights and Self-Determination,” Washington College of Law,

American University, June 2006

Colloquium “Next Steps in the U.S. Relationship with International Courts and Tribunals,” co-sponsored

with the NYU Center on International Cooperation’s Project on International Courts and Tribunals,

George Washington University School of Law, May 2006

“Perspectives on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the United States,” Human Rights Defenders

Speakers Series, Washington College of Law, American University, April 2006

“Homelessness and the Human Right to Adequate Housing,” Invited panelist in symposium “Poverty and

Human Rights,” George Washington University School of Law, February 2006

“Holding States Accountable for Violations of Women’s Right to Adequate Housing,” U.N. Consultation

on Women and the Right to Adequate Housing in North America, with U.N. Special Rapporteur on

the Right to Adequate Housing, Miloon Kothari, held at George Washington University School of

Law, October 2005

“Mecanismos de exigibilidad de los DESC ante los órganos internacionales de protección y organismos

multilaterales financieros y de comercio: El sistema interamericano,” International Seminar on

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, D.F. Mexico, August 2005

Experts Meeting on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Relations, the

National Institute of Social Development, and the Mexico/European Commission Programme of

Cooperation in Human Rights, Invited expert, Mexico City, Mexico, August 2005

“Cultural Rights as Human Rights: Casting Aside a False Dichotomy,” Guest lecturer in graduate seminar

“Human Rights, Culture and Development,” Elliott School for International Affairs, George

Washington University, June 2005

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“Enforcement Strategies for Ensuring the Human Right to Adequate Housing,” Invited panelist and

discussant in Forum “Housing Rights for All: Promoting and Defending Housing Rights in the United

States,” Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington DC, May 2005

“What Legal Obligations Do Developed States Have to Alleviate Global Poverty?” Moderator, with Arjun

Sengupta, UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty, in Symposium “Global

Poverty, Global Duties, Global Strategies,” Yale Law School, April 2005

WBAI/PACIFICA RADIO, 99.5FM (New York), Politics and Policy, produced by Premilla Dixit. Panel

discussant for International Women’s Day on practical impact of the Convention on the Elimination of

Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in the Americas, March 8, 2005

“Litigating Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Experience from the Field,” Robert F.

Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, Washington DC, October 2004

Experts Workshop “The Case for Cultural Rights,” Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs,

New York, September 2004

Meeting of Experts “Litigating Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Common Challenges and

Comparative Experience,” co-sponsored by Notre Dame University School of Law and the John D.

and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Washington DC, June 2004

“Litigating Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Claims under the South African Constitution: Positive

State Obligations, Reasonableness, Government Discretion, and National Plans of Action:

Comparative Lessons from the South African Experience,” Meeting of Experts, Washington DC,

June 2004

“Enforcing Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to Territory, Culture, and Life in the Inter-American Human

Rights System,” Invited speaker, The Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington

University, March 2004

“Protecting Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the Inter-American Human Rights System,” Invited

speaker, University of Virginia School of Law, September 2003

“The Legality of the War in Iraq,” Invited speaker, St. Thomas University School of Law, April 2003

“Using the Inter-American System of Human Rights for the Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights,” Guest lecturer for Harold Hongju Koh, Yale Law School, March 2003

Seminar in Latin America on Constitutional Themes and Democratic Theory (SELA), Palermo University,

Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 1998

OTHER INTERNATIONAL TEACHING CONSULTANCIES

International Legislative Drafting Institute, Georgetown Law Center, June 2007, sponsored by the

Public Law Center at Tulane School of Law. Train delegates from eight countries on how to draft

national implementing legislation for UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Second International Training Course for South American Human Rights Lawyers, Caracas,

Venezuela, Nov. 2004. Academic coordinator and lecturer in two-week training program for

lawyers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and

Venezuela, entitled “Strengthening the Protection of the Rights to Health and Education in the

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Inter-American Human Rights System.” Lectured on precautionary and provisional measures, the

rules of legal standing, case-framing strategies, and emerging issues in indigenous rights cases.

Regional Training Course for Southern African Countries, Harare, Zimbabwe, Sept. 2004. Expert

lecturer in three-week program entitled “Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Course for

Southern Africa,” organized by the Human Rights Trust of Southern Africa (SAHRIT). Taught

courses on human rights instruments, social rights thematic issues, regional and universal

protection systems, monitoring and enforcement strategies, minorities and indigenous rights, and

the right to health.

Regional Training Course for East African Countries, Nairobi, Kenya, Aug.-Sept. 2004. Expert

lecturer in two-week course entitled “East African Programme on the Equal Status and Human

Rights of Women,” organized by the Nairobi-based Education Centre for Women in Democracy,

for participants from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Taught courses on the UN

system, international social rights jurisprudence, regional systems, presentation of state reports to

the CEDAW Committee, and CEDAW’s impacts in Latin America.

Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Faculty of Public Health and Administration, Lima,

Peru, Aug. 2004. Invited lecturer in University’s International Diploma on the Human Right to

Health. Taught one-week course “The Justiciability of the Right to Health,” presenting lectures

(in Spanish) on the inter-American system, strategies for protecting the right to health under the

American Convention, and comparative adjudication of the right to health in Peru and other Latin

American countries.

International Training Course for South American Human Rights Lawyers, Buenos Aires,

Argentina, May 2003. Invited expert in program “Fortaleciendo la protección del derecho a la

educación y del derecho a la salud mediante el uso del sistema interamericano,” sponsored by the

Raoul Wallenburg Institute and CEJIL. Presented lectures (in Spanish) on establishing state

responsibility for human rights violations in the regional system and litigating under the

“integration approach.”

PROFESSIONAL PROBONO ACTIVITIES AND BAR MEMBERSHIP

Invited Member, Scientific Steering Committee of the European Horizon 2020 ValUEs Project – “EU

as a Value-Based Global Actor: Bridging the Gap between Ethical Power and Market Power in

Europe” (composed of leading experts in the subject areas most relevant to the ValUEs Project, with

aim of ensuring the scientific soundness and relevance of the Project and its outcomes).

American Society of International Law (ASIL)

—Program Committee Member, 2013 Annual Meeting

—Advisory Board Member, International Courts and Tribunals Interest Group

—ASIL Cables contributor

Open Buffalo, Emerging Leaders Program, trainer and mentor

Participatory Budgeting Steering Committee (Buffalo)

Cities for CEDAW Buffalo, Steering Committee Convener

Scholars Board, ActionSpeaks Radio Program

Strategic Litigation Working Group of the International Network on Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights (ESCR-Net)

Bringing Human Rights Home Lawyers’ Network (BHRHLN)

Tara J. Melish 13

HURAH (Human Rights at Home) State and Local Implementation Sub-Committee

Advisory Group to the American Constitution Society for a proposed Blueprint on Human Rights in

the United States (preparing recommendations for a new Administration), 2008-2009

ABA Committee on the American Convention on Human Rights (preparing recommendations on U.S.

ratification for a new Administration)

Chair, Working Group on Domestic Implementation of CERD Treaty Obligations, U.S. Human

Rights Network (principal drafter of U.S. shadow report chapter on domestic implementation)

Admitted to practice in New York and Massachusetts

SUNY COMMITTEE WORK

Committee on Committees, 2014-2015

Academic Program Planning Committee (APPC), 2014-present

Curricular Reform Committee, 2013-2014

Appointments Committee, 2011-2013

(University-wide) Faculty Liaison Committee, UB2020 Strategic Planning Process, 2012-2013

Mitchell Lecture Committee, 2009-2012

International Programs Committee, 2009-2010, 2015-16

Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE) Committee, 2010-2012

Vision and Mission Committee, 2011-2014

Orientation Committee, 2012-2014

HUMAN RIGHTS ACCOMPANIMENT WORK

National Coordination of Guatemalan Widows (CONAVIGUA) (Guatemala, May-July 1994)

Resettlement of Guatemalan Refugees from Mexico (Chiapas/Guatemala Nov. 1991)

Witness for Peace (1990-93) (annual fact-finding delegations to Guatemala and Nicaragua)