Overview

Hope Metcalf teaches, researches and practices in the field of human rights law. Trained as a U.S. litigator, Metcalf brings a pragmatic, client-based perspective to advise partner organizations on transnational strategies. Metcalf has litigated cases in US courts and before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and filed numerous amicus briefs before the US Supreme Court as well as international human rights courts and UN mechanisms. She has written about the rights of people in detention, and her current research focuses on academic freedom and the impact of extreme political polarization on the rule of law. 

Metcalf directs the Human Rights Initiative Clinic, an experiential course that teaches students how to use a broad range of lawyers’ tools – ranging from litigation to public education – to address complex and systemic human rights violations. Through her affiliation with the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights, she enjoys connecting law students with human rights through programming and advising. Believing that the free exchange of ideas is the foundation of democracy, Metcalf is actively involved in academic freedom matters at the state, national and international levels. She also co-advises the College of Law’s Across the Aisle, which brings together students across the political spectrum to discuss controversial topics. 

Prior to coming to Iowa, Metcalf spent nearly 20 years at Yale Law School, where she taught in several clinics and served as Executive Director for the Schell Center for International Human Rights and the Liman Center for Public Interest Law. Before joining academia, Metcalf clerked for the Hon. Virgina Long of the New Jersey Supreme Court and trained as a litigator at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and Wiggin and Dana LLP. She holds a B.A. from Yale College and J.D. from New York University School of Law. She is a proud Vermonter and product of rural public schools.

Research and practice areas

• Human rights defenders
• Academic freedom
• Political polarization and the rule of law
• National security and human rights
• Rights of persons in detention
• U.S. prisons and solitary confinement

Teaching areas

• Human Rights Initiative Clinic
• International Human Rights Law and Practice
• Federal Courts

Professional affiliations and memberships

• Co-President, University of Iowa Chapter of the American Association of University Professors
• Board Member, Global Labor Justice
• Member, AALS
• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, Iowa State Bar Association

Bar Admissions

• U.S. Supreme Court
• Iowa, Connecticut, New York
• Second, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals