Oral history interview with Rachel Denber, 2016

Biographical Note

Rachel Denber is the Deputy Director of the Europe and Central Asia Division at Human Rights Watch, where she specializes in countries of the former Soviet Union. Previously, Denber directed Human Rights Watch's Moscow office and did field research and advocacy in Russia and many former Soviet states. Denber earned a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University in international relations and a master's degree in political science from Columbia University, where she studied at the Harriman Institute in the late 1980s

Scope and Contents

Rachel Denber begins her interview discussing her family history and how it sparked her interest in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Denber then describes her time as a graduate student at the Harriman Institute and her interactions with several influential figures at the Institute. She discusses her move to Moscow in the early 1990s through a job at Helsinki Watch, where she was hired by fellow Harriman alumna Jeri Laber. She shares her positive impressions of the city. Denber describes her time living in Moscow from 1991 to 1997 and her work with Helsinki/Human Rights Watch during that time. Her move back to New York City brought her back into contact with the Harriman Institute and its faculty and alumna

Subjects

• Americans--Russia (Federation)--Moscow
• Bertin-Mahieux, Caitlin, interviewer.
• Denber, Rachel--Interviews.
• Executives--Interviews.
• Harriman Institute.
• Human Rights Watch (Organization)
• Human rights--Chechni͡a (Russia)
• Human rights--Russia (Federation)
• Interviews.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Soviet Union--Study and teaching.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 2016