Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute

About the Book

Theatre and Human Rights: The Politics of Dramatic Form develops theoretical intersections between theatre and human rights and provides methodologies to investigate human rights questions from within the perspective of theatre as a complex set of disciplines.

While human rights research and programming often employ the arts as representations of human rights-related violations and abuses, this study focuses on dramatic form and structure, in addition to content, as uniquely positioned to interrogate important questions in human rights theory and practice. This project positions theatre as a method of examination in addition to the important purposes the arts serve to raise consciousness that accompany other, often considered more primary modes of analysis. A main feature of this approach includes emphasis on dialectical structures in drama and human rights and integration of applied theatre and critical ethnography with more traditional theatre. This integration will demonstrate how theatre and human rights operates beyond the arts as representation model, offering a primary means of analysis, activism, and political discourse.

This book will be of great interest to theatre and human rights practitioners and activists, scholars, and students.

About the Author

Gary M. English is a Distinguished Professor of Drama at the University of Connecticut and Affiliate Faculty with the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, with whom he has taught Theatre and Human Rights for ten years. From 2010 through 2018, he lived and worked in the West Bank for a total of four years, including two years in the Jenin Refugee Camp where he served as Artistic Director of The Freedom Theatre, (2012-13). He also served as Visiting Professor and Head of the Media Studies program at Al/Quds Bard College in Abu Dis, in the West Bank, (2017-18).

His research focuses on Palestinian theatre, theatre as a methodology to study human rights, and the use of theatre and cultural production to investigate the political conflict between Israel and Palestinians. Theatre and Human Rights: The Politics of Dramatic Form was published by Routledge in August, 2024. Previous publications include the volume Stories Under Occupation and other Plays from Palestine, co-edited with Samer Al-Saber, and published by Seagull Press in 2020, and “Artistic Practice and Production at the Jenin Freedom Theatre” within the anthology Theater in the Middle East: Between Performance and Politics. His most recent essay, “Palestinian Theatre: Alienation, Mediation and Assimilation in Cross Cultural Research” was recently released in the volume Arabs, Politics and Performance by Routledge in September 2024.

About this Event

This event is sponsored by the Research Program on Arts & Human Rights, a collaborative program hosted at the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute led by faculty from the School of Fine Arts. This talk will take place in-person only in the Heritage Room, 4th Floor of Homer Babbidge Library, with a reception.

AMERICA AND IMMIGRATION

The topic of Immigration dominated this year’s elections. According to a Pew Research study, 61% of voters identified the issue of immigration as a top concern more than in years past. As the Brooking Institute explains, the United States is fundamentally built upon the contributions of immigrants. No other country in the world hosts as extensive an immigrant population as America. With the notable exception of individuals descended from Indigenous peoples and enslaved Africans, the majority of the population can trace some aspect of their lineage to immigrants, whether from recent arrivals or those who came centuries ago. Despite being a nation predominantly composed of immigrants and their descendants, citizenship remains elusive for some, and one of the most contentious social and political challenges of contemporary society. The ongoing debates surrounding who is permitted to enter the country, who is eligible to work, who can establish a family, and who can attain American citizenship continue to profoundly influence our political landscape.

We invite you to participate in a structured conversation exploring the historical backdrop of U.S. immigration policies, the economic ramifications of immigration, and the personal narratives of individuals who are building their lives in a new country and making a home away from home. Encounters programs dive deep into subjects through facilitated, small-group dialogues followed by a question-and-answer style conversation with our UConn faculty and community partners.

This event is hosted by the Democracy & Dialogues Initiative and co-sponsored by the Connecticut Collaborative on Poverty, Criminal Justice, and Race

This event is FREE and open to the public with dinner provided. 

About this Event

Prussian Blue series by Yishai Jusidman" src="https://events.uconn.edu/live/image/gid/203/width/150/height/205/6620_AuschwitzDoor249.jpg" srcset="https://events.uconn.edu/live/image/scale/2x/gid/203/width/150/height/205/6620_AuschwitzDoor249.jpg 2x, https://events.uconn.edu/live/image/scale/3x/gid/203/width/150/height/205/6620_AuschwitzDoor249.jpg 3x" data-max-w="1659" data-max-h="2266" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/>"Auschwitz" (2011), from the Prussian Blue series by Yishai JusidmanIn the face of genocide, what can art do? How might artworks use aesthetic processes to ask profound ethical questions? How might images structure a process of memory that is also a process of imagining, in defiance of relentless efforts to obliterate both?

This panel discusses the exhibition Prussian Blue, Mexican artist Yishai Jusidman’s compelling meditation on these queries. Displayed across three venues—UConn’s Benton Museum, Contemporary Art Galleries, and The Dodd Center for Human Rights—Prussian Blue explores the extent to which visual imagery can effectively convey the horror of the Holocaust.

Our Panelists

• James Waller, Christopher J Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice & Director, Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs
• José Falconi, Assistant Professor of Art History and Human Rights
• Robin Greeley, Professor of Art History

Our Partners

See the Exhibition

The exhibition is displayed across three venues through December 15—UConn’s William Benton Museum of Art, Contemporary Art Galleries, and The Dodd Center for Human Rights. 

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fund (SURF) Award program provides thousands of dollars in support of undergraduate students’ summer research and creative projects. The SURF program is open to undergraduate students in all majors at all campuses who plan to graduate no earlier than December 2025. Students can apply for funding of up to $5,500 per student. Join us to learn how to apply and what makes an application successful.

This information session is sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research. Additional information on the SURF Award program can be found at https://ugradresearch.uconn.edu/surf/. If you require an accommodation to participate in this session, please contact the Office of Undergraduate Research at our@uconn.edu at least one week prior to the session.

DIALOGUE IN THE CLASSROOM

This two-day training is designed to support faculty and instructors in fostering a more open, connected, and conversational classroom culture. With the launch of the new dialogue competency in general education coming soon, this workshop will help prepare participants to integrate dialogue into their teaching and help shape how UConn prepares students to be competent in dialogue. This workshop is suitable for all levels of experience with dialogue and for all disciplinary approaches. Participants will leave with practical dialogue tools to use in the classroom, including designing a Reflective Structured Dialogue for the participants’ campus contexts.

ABOUT THIS WORKSHOP

The workshop will be run by Essential Partners in cooperation with the Common Curriculum Committee (CCC+), Democracy & Dialogues Initiative (Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs), and the Center for Excellence Teaching & Learning (CETL). Research shows that students who experience dialogue in the classroom and on campus have better learning outcomes and report feeling more connected to their classmates and their campus communities. They also report greater openness to opposing points of view and exhibit greater willingness to engage in conversations across differences in values, views, and identities (DeTemple, 2020).

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Establish the conditions for the dialogic classroom through the use of agreements, preparation, design, and the use of space - both virtually and in-person
• Build connections and trust between students to support difficult classroom conversations
• Structure difficult dialogues in the classroom and design dialogue questions to invite narrative, value-based discussion, and complexity
• Use dialogue as a pedagogical tool for reflection, connection to the topic, and the development of conviction and intellectual humility
• Invite and encourage discussions on diversity and inclusion in its many forms
• Use curricular activities as a pathway to more engagement and dialogue throughout campus and local community

If you are interested in participating in this workshop, please take a few minutes to apply by Tuesday, December 3rd. 

APPLY NOW

DIALOGUE IN THE CLASSROOM

This two-day training is designed to support faculty and instructors in fostering a more open, connected, and conversational classroom culture. With the launch of the new dialogue competency in general education coming soon, this workshop will help prepare participants to integrate dialogue into their teaching and help shape how UConn prepares students to be competent in dialogue. This workshop is suitable for all levels of experience with dialogue and for all disciplinary approaches. Participants will leave with practical dialogue tools to use in the classroom, including designing a Reflective Structured Dialogue for the participants’ campus contexts.

ABOUT THIS WORKSHOP

The workshop will be run by Essential Partners in cooperation with the Common Curriculum Committee (CCC+), Democracy & Dialogues Initiative (Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs), and the Center for Excellence Teaching & Learning (CETL). Research shows that students who experience dialogue in the classroom and on campus have better learning outcomes and report feeling more connected to their classmates and their campus communities. They also report greater openness to opposing points of view and exhibit greater willingness to engage in conversations across differences in values, views, and identities (DeTemple, 2020).

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Establish the conditions for the dialogic classroom through the use of agreements, preparation, design, and the use of space - both virtually and in-person
• Build connections and trust between students to support difficult classroom conversations
• Structure difficult dialogues in the classroom and design dialogue questions to invite narrative, value-based discussion, and complexity
• Use dialogue as a pedagogical tool for reflection, connection to the topic, and the development of conviction and intellectual humility
• Invite and encourage discussions on diversity and inclusion in its many forms
• Use curricular activities as a pathway to more engagement and dialogue throughout campus and local community

If you are interested in participating in this workshop, please take a few minutes to apply by Tuesday, December 3rd. 

APPLY NOW

The Corporation and the Public Interest: The Environment, Diversity, and Human Rights

Environmental, social, and governance issues have brought the roles and responsibilities of the contemporary business corporation to the forefront of the public agenda and have changed the nature of legal practice. This symposium will gather a select group of leading experts to discuss issues of corporate sustainability and societal impact. It will consist of three panels on topics that lie at the intersection of corporate activity and the public interest: the environment, diversity, and human rights.

Schedule (exact times are subject to change):

RSVP COMING SOON!