Humanities award given to two Pitt seniors

Pedja Jurisic was at a bar with friends when he heard that he received the Humanity in… Pedja Jurisic was at a bar with friends when he heard that he received the Humanity in Action Fellowship. This was a chance to study human rights, both past and present, and study in various European countries.

“It made my night basically,” Jurisic said.

According to a University press release, Jurisic will study in Amsterdam for about a month during the summer. Jurisic called it a great time and free ticket to study what he loves.

“It doesn’t get much better than that,” Jurisic said. “It’s something that I am personally devoted to.”

Jurisic has also received the Wilma Binder Zeder Memorial Scholarship for academic excellence and first prize in the “Europe: East and West Undergraduate Research Symposium,” according to the press release.

The other recipient of the fellowship is Amish Dave, a neuroscience, biology and history major. He will spend his fellowship in Berlin.

Dave is a member of Alpha Epsilon Delta, and is credited in the press release with implementing the first freshman mentoring program for freshmen interested in the health and research sciences.

The Humanities In Action foundation, according to the press release, “Works to engage student leaders in the study and work of human rights by engaging younger generations in histories of resistance and inspire them to fulfill their moral responsibilities to protect those in danger from institutionalized violations of minority rights and by strengthening the commitment of American and European university students to democratic values and fostering their knowledge of resistance to intolerance — past and present.”

Jurisic said that the subject of human rights is especially important in light of current events and because of developments over the past 10 years. He hopes that greater attention by the academic community will help lead to a greater amount of public discourse.

“This program is going to help us and the world deal with it,” Jurisic said.