The SouthEastern Rights Network (SERN) is an organization aimed at connecting scholars who do human rights-related research and are based at institutions and organizations in the southeastern United States. SERN was founded in 2017 as the Georgia Human Rights Network (GAHRNet) by scholars from Emory University, Georgia State University, and the University of Georgia. However, from its very first workshop, the network included scholars from other institutions in the region. Starting with its first workshop outside of the state of Georgia, held at Vanderbilt University in Fall 2022, the network changed its name to SERN to reflect its broader membership and to encourage further participation by others.
SERN holds two workshops every year, each hosted by an institution in the region. SERN workshops give human rights scholars in the region the opportunity to present their work and get feedback in a friendly, constructive environment. We especially encourage the involvement of graduate students and other junior scholars working on human rights-related topics.