The Human Rights Program at Berkeley was originally launched at the Townsend Center in 1994. Sponsored by the Sandler Family Foundation, it was composed of a 3-year series of courses, internships, seminars, and conferences. In 1997, the program became the independent Human Rights Center. In recent years the Townsend Center has renewed its commitment to Human Rights issues through its sponsorship of the Human Rights Course Thread. Now, in coordination with the undergraduate Human Rights Interdisciplinary Minor, this initiative presents the Human Rights Seminar, a yearly series of presentations by scholars, thinkers, activists and artists.