Students from Bass Connections Project Team Win Oliver W. Koonz Prize

Four Duke students have won the 2015 Oliver W. Koonz Prize—which recognizes innovative work on human rights by students—for the best alternative project, based on their Bass Connections project team.

Phia Sennett, Cassie Yuan, Meghan O’Neil and Yi Ying took part in Exploring the Intersection of Energy and Peace-building through Film. After viewing hours of archival video footage compiled by UN Environmental Program, the team documented the program’s day-to-day operations in the Niger Delta, where transnational oil companies have devastated the habitat on which the Ogoni people depend. Blending footage of oil slicks and contaminated mangrove forests with commentary by local leaders, scientists and community members, the film conveys the message that human rights and environmental restoration are the prerequisites for peace and stability in Ogoniland.

Read the article on the Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute website.