The Russian invasion of Ukraine has precipitated a turning point in the international law of war crimes. In similar previous moments, new concepts and terms emerged to make sense of crimes and to prepare a path toward justice. "War crimes," "crimes against humanity," "genocide," and "human rights" are examples of these earlier concepts. Recognizing the importance of historical context in establishing these precedents, what new concepts, what new language, can help make sense of crimes committed in twenty-first century warfare and contribute to securing justice?

Panelists: 

Predrag Dojčinović, Adjunct Professor and Research Affiliate, Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut

Emma Gilligan, Associate Professor of International Studies, Indiana University Bloomington

Nathaniel Raymond, Director, Humanitarian Research Lab, Yale University's School of Public Health

Peter Pomerantsev, Senior Fellow, Agora Institute, Johns Hopkins University

Moderator: Sara Silverstein, Associate Professor of History, University of Connecticut

Global supply chains have experienced multiple recent and high-profile shocks, driven in part by labor shortages and transportation snares spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and by commodities shortfalls linked to the war in Ukraine. Beneath these disruptions are underlying problems including a lack of social protection floors for workers in multiple industries, and a lack of regulatory safeguards for new industries integral to contemporary supply networks (e.g., e-commerce and other elements of the digital economy). Panelists will explore problems and proposals for reform aimed at safeguarding the economic rights of workers while shoring up the social and environmental sustainability of global supply chains. 

Panelists: 

Tola Moeun, Executive Director, Center for Alliance of Labor & Human Rights in Cambodia 

Marina Colby, Senior Labor Advisor, USAID 

Mark Anner, Professor of Labor and Employment Relations, and Director of the Center for Global Workers’ Rights, Penn State University

Judy Gearhart, Senior Researcher, American University School of International Service

Moderator: Shareen Hertel, Professor of Political Science and Human Rights, University of Connecticut

What is the character and function of Russian propaganda for war, and what concrete effects does it have on Russian popular opinion on the war? Has social media changed the terrain and meant that states can no longer control information as much as before? Can propagandists, publishers, and media owners be held accountable under international law for inciting war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide? This panel brings together experts in Russian media and international law to examine the legal and political implications of war propaganda.

Speakers:

Richard A. Wilson, Gladstein Distinguished Chair of Human Rights, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Law and Anthropology, University of Connecticut

Peter Pomerantsev, Senior Fellow, Agora Institute, Johns Hopkins University

Predrag Dojčinović, Adjunct Professor and Research Affiliate, Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut

A Legacy Without Limits celebrates the life and work of human rights scholar and advocate Wiktor Osiatyński, highlighting his key role in the founding and development of the Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut. Directed by UConn faculty member Catherine Masud, the film features interviews with Wiktor’s family and friends, as well as colleagues at UConn, Open Society Foundations, the Central European University, and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, each reflecting on the impact of Wiktor’s legacy and what it means for human rights today and in the future.

Respondents:

Ewa Woydyłło Osiatynska, Doctor of Clinical Psychology, Certified Family Counselor and Supervisor in Addiction Treatment

Natalia Osiatynska, Strategic Writer and Brand Naming Consultant

Maciej Nowicki, President, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights

Małgorzata Szuleka, Secretary of the Board,  Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights

Gary Gladstein, Founder, Marsha Lilien Gladstein Foundation

Moderator: Kathryn Libal, Director, Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute and Associate Professor, Social Work and Human Rights, University of Connecticut

Production credits: Director, Catherine Masud; Executive Producer, Kathryn Libal;  Post Production Producer, Sahil Laul; Archival Producer, Alex Branzell, Camera, Catherine Masud, Sahil Laul, Laurel Pehmoeller; Editing, Catherine Masud, Sahil Laul

The intersection of Global Health and Human Rights has generated concepts, methods, and political debates, as well as legislation and programs. In official accounts, the importance of local activism, social movements, and regional trajectories in the history of global health and the right to health is often overshadowed by international organizations and foundations’ universalizing narratives of what human rights are and how to measure progress. In this panel, leading scholars and activists from Latin America will challenge these top-down accounts by sharing incredible conceptual, methodological and political contributions of subaltern proposals from Latin America. Panelists will not only shed light on the regional specificities of their struggles, but also show how this region is at the forefront of challenging Western perspectives on the right to health, for instance by proposing novel decommodified and pluriversal perspectives on the social determination of the health-disease-treatment process, intercultural health, and healthcare systems.

Panelists: 

Mario Hernández-Álvarez, Coordinator of the Doctoral Program on Public Health, Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Alejandro Cerón-Valdes, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology, University of Denver

Erika Arteaga-Cruz, Professor, San Francisco de Quito University 

Moderator: César E. Abadía-Barrero, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Human Rights, University of Connecticut 

Panelists: 

Jena Martin, Robert L. Shuman Professor of Law and Ethics, West Virginia University

Jordyn Arndt, Foreign Affairs Officer, U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

Eric Biel, Senior Advisor, Fair Labor Association; Adjunct Faculty, Georgetown Law

Moderator: Rachel Chambers, Assistant Professor of ​Business Law, University of Connecticut School of Business

Exploring a Human Rights-based Approach to Engineering

Engineering has profound implications for human societies, individuals, and the environment. Yet, the field's traditional focus on shaping the physical and natural world has frequently underemphasized the social impacts of engineering practice. Human rights offer a specific framework for managing harm prevention and enhancing the social benefits of engineering. This breakout session will discuss the "Engineering for Human Rights" paradigm and showcase ongoing research and teaching efforts in this area at the University of Connecticut. Attendees will also have the opportunity to engage in a case study discussing the application of engineering ethics and Human rights to engineering work.

Presenters:

Davis Chacon-Hurtado, Assistant Research Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Human Rights, University of Connecticut

Shareen Hertel, Professor of Political Science and Human Rights, University of Connecticut

Genevieve Rigler, Ph.D. Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut

Engaging the Human Rights Archive at The Dodd Center for Human Rights

The Human Rights Collections within UConn Library’s Archives and Special Collections documents human rights and social justice struggles. This growing collection is a repository for materials invaluable to researchers and in the classroom. Presenters share insights into several collections related to war tribunals, genocide, children’s labor rights, rights to housing, and more. Attendees have an opportunity to think about how histories of human rights can be examined within this growing collection.

Presenters:

Catherine Masud, Assistant Professor in Residence, Digital Media and Design and Human Rights, University of Connecticut; Director, A Legacy Without Limits

Predrag Dojčinović, Adjunct Professor and Research Affiliate, Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut

Fiona Vernal, Director of Engaged, Public, Oral, and Community Histories (EPOCH) and Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies, University of Connecticut

Alumni Experiences in the Human Rights Field

Human rights informs work in a range of professions. This breakout session draws upon the experiences of three UConn alum who share insights into how human rights matter in their work. Attendees will have a chance to engage the panelists and each other to discuss the diverse applications of human rights knowledge in practice at the community, state, national, or international levels.

Presenters:

Victor Schachter, Founder and President, The Foundation for Sustainable Rule of Law Initiatives

Jeff Smith, Founder and Director, Vanguard Africa; Producer, The Resistance Bureau

Johanna DeBari, Director of Workforce Equity and Training, Caring Health Center, Springfield, Massachusetts 

In order to document and describe the extent of human rights conditions and abuses, advance our understanding of their causes and consequences, and inform policy and advocacy requires that we accurately and systematically observe and measure these phenomena. Because human rights abusers seek to obfuscate their actions and deny access to evidence, this is a tremendous challenge. The Human Rights Research and Data (HuRRD) Hub workshop session brings together scholars working on cutting edge techniques to improve and expand the measurement of human rights fulfillment and violations, as well as the institutional and policy approaches to prevent or address them, around the world. Panelists will explain the key challenges to human rights measurement and observation that their research aims to address, introduce their innovative methodological approaches to meeting these challenges, and discuss how their data can be used in human rights research, policy, and advocacy. Panelist presentations will lead to an open format discussion to 1) elicit critical feedback on the projects from the audience, 2) make these cutting edge methodological advances in human rights research accessible to the audience, and 3) identify present limitations in human rights measurement and the needs for innovation and future research to address these gaps.

Panelists: 

Rebecca Cordell, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Texas-Dallas

Chris Fariss, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Michigan

Kelebogile Zvobgo, Assistant Professor of Government, William & Mary and Director, International Justice Lab

Skip Mark, Assistant Professor and Director, Center for Nonviolence & Peace Studies, University of Rhode Island

Moderator: Mike Rubin, Assistant Research Professor, Human Rights, Engineering & Business and Director, Human Rights Research and Data Hub

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “every individual and every organ of society…shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms” (1948). Since then, human rights education has evolved from a field that aims to raise awareness about respect for human rights to one through which a person or community has the potential to transform as a result of realizing human rights and one’s ability to influence positive social change. At the same time, scholars and practitioners have critiqued human rights and human rights education for privileging Western and Eurocentric contributions to the fields over non-Western knowledge, values, and perspectives. As a result, they have been engaged in the work of decolonizing human rights education. In this panel, leading human rights education scholars will draw on their decades of experience to reflect on the past and discuss how human rights education needs to continue to evolve at present to meet these contentious times. They will discuss how human rights education can address global challenges such as prejudice and discrimination, economic injustice, and the effects of the climate crisis, and examine how scholarship can inform practice to contend with the human rights challenges of today.  

Panelists: 

Audrey Osler, Professor Emerita of Human Rights Education and Citizenship, University of Leeds

Michalinos Zembylas, Professor of Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies, Open University of Cyprus

Andre´ Keet, Research Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Engagement and Transformation, Nelson Mandela University

Moderator: Sandra Sirota, Assistant Professor in Residence, Experiential Global Learning & Human Rights, University of Connecticut

Rashida Manjoo, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences, and Professor Emerita, University of Cape Town