Photo by Rebecca Arrington

Ryann Collins visited Rwanda last year as an intern with the U.N.’s Genocide Tribunal. To document her work she took photos, which she presented at an exhibition in U.Va.’s Fayerweather Hall this year.

Colllins takes on international human rights

Ryann Collins’ ongoing interest in furthering human rights will take her to Cambodia a few months after graduating from U.Va. The support of a Luce Scholarship will enable her to help investigate Khmer Rouge war crimes.

Working in Rwanda last year as an intern with the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal was one of the keys to Collins getting the Luce scholarship.

The Henry Luce Foundation selects 18 non-specialists in Asian studies for yearlong internships and jobs. Collins is the seventh U.Va. student to receive the scholarship. She will study the Khmer language at the Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute in Wisconsin before heading overseas.

“I would never have applied if I wasn’t in the International Residential College,” said Collins, a foreign affairs major. Principal Brad Brown encouraged her to apply.

Collins, daughter of an AT&T employee, grew up in Switzerland, France and New Jersey. Her commitment to human rights activism helps her not be afraid of devoting time to areas considered dangerous. “If you go in with an open mind and get involved with the people, they respond and treat you well,” she said.

— Anne Bromley