The Electric Vehicle Revolution: From a Human Rights Angle

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Thursday, April 20, 2023
12:00pm - 1:15pm
Hybrid Event

About This Event

Abstract: Electric vehicles (EVs) have evolved rapidly owing to technological advancements and a growing interest in renewable energy to eliminate transportation’s dependency on fossil fuels and mitigate the effects of climate change. While EVs could revolutionize the transportation industry, they could jeopardize social equity and environmental stewardship efforts. Current studies on transportation electrification often fail to evaluate the EV revolution implications in human rights terms. International human rights law provides universally accepted norms, standards, baseline indicators, and modes of inquiry and reporting that could significantly advance and sharpen impact analysis. In this study, we explored the potential human rights implications that EVs pose for individuals and societies throughout their life cycle. Using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights-based treaties as our baseline, we analyzed the existing and likely EVs’ impacts on human rights. We identified potential measures to address human rights violations. Stakeholders (governments, private sectors, civil society) need to work closely together to make the transition to low-carbon transportation more equitable and sustainable.

This event is co-sponsored by the Economic & Social Rights Group and the Engineering for Human Rights Initiative at the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute.

Location

Join us in person:
The Dodd Center for Human Rights - Room 162
Please register still to receive updates.

Join us online:
Register to receive Zoom login information.

Presenters

Dr. Jin Zhu
Assistant Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
University of Connecticut

Francesco Rouhana
Ph.D. Student
Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
University of Connecticut

About Dr. Jin Zhu

Dr. Jin Zhu is an Assistant Professor with the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. Prior to joining UConn, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University and before that she received her PhD in Civil Engineering and a Master in Public Administration at Florida International University. Her current research portfolio includes the complex systems engineering and management; system-of-systems integration; resilience quantification and simulation in infrastructure systems; and resilient communities. Her work on performance assessment of complex construction projects as system-of-systems has received the Best Paper Award from 2015 ASCE International Workshop on Computing in Civil Engineering, and 2nd Place Best Poster Award from 2016 ASCE Construction Research Congress. Dr. Zhu is the director of Resilient Interdependent Systems Engineering (RISE) Lab at UConn. The RISE Lab focuses on research that advances knowledge, methods, and data within and across diverse disciplines including civil engineering, complex systems science, network and graph theory, decision theory, organizational theory, and computer science.

About Francesco Rouhana

Francesco Rouhana is a PhD student in the CEE Department at UConn. He holds a bachelor degree in Civil Engineering and a master degree in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Transportation and Urban Planning from Notre Dame University – Louaize, Beirut, Lebanon. His research interests include resilience of civil infrastructure systems, disaster risk reduction, response and recovery.    

Human Rights & Cultural Resistance through Theatre

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Wednesday, April 19, 2023
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Nafe Katter Theatre
UConn Fine Arts Complex

4-19-23 Event: Human Rights & Cultural Resistance through Theatre

About this Event:

Nabil Al-Raee, a prominent director and playwright from the West Bank, will be visiting UConn Storrs April 17 - 19.  On Wednesday, April 19, Al-Raee joins us in the Katter Theatre for a presentation entitled Human Rights and Cultural Resistance through Theatre. Al-Raee will present images and speak about several Palestinian productions including, The Siege, The Caretaker, by Harold Pinter, I Am My Own Enemy, a deconstruction of the Medusa Myth, and Suicide Note, based on Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis.

The presentation will also include a public interview with Distinguished Professor Gary M. English in which he will discuss the cultural and political situation in the West Bank, the function of theatre as resistance, and the theatre methods and techniques used in theatre training within a conflict zone. Additional topics will include the use of personal narrative as dramaturgy and the development of theatre based on devised theatre practices.

This event and Nabil's residency are co-sponsored by Theatre Studies, Middle East Studies, and the Research Program on Arts & Human Rights.

Nabil Al-Raee

About Nabil Al-Raee:

Nabil Al-Raee served on the artistic staff of The Freedom Theatre in Jenin, West Bank, Palestine for over a decade and as artistic director from 2013 - 2019. He led the creation of a three-year curriculum in acting that, still in place, focuses on the development of he and colleague Micaela Miranda refer to as an "actor of resistance." The approach focuses on the development and performance of personal narrative within a clear political, social and personal context. Al-Raee also developed and wrote several plays including The Siege, that toured extensively in the U.K. and played at the Skirball Center at NYU. Other productions include Suicide Note, (based on 4.48 Psychosis) I Am My Own Enemy, (a deconstruction of the Medusa Myth) and an adaption of Animal Farm by George Orwell. As an actor he appeared most recently in the film 200 Meters, starring Ali Suliman, and directed by Ameen Nayfeh.

Nabil studied theatre and music in Palestine and Tunisia, is an accomplished musician, actor, director and playwright. He is also an expert on Palestinian arts, culture and politics, cultural resistance, political drama and grew up as a refugee in the Aroub Refugee Camp near Bethlehem.

Connections, Gender, and Access to State-Facilitated Private-Sector Development: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Senegal

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Thursday, April 13, 2023
2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
Hybrid Event
Dodd Center for Human Rights - Room 162

About This Workshop:

The Business and Human Rights Workshop is dedicated to the development and discussion of works-in-progress and other non-published academic research. 

In developing countries, access to opportunities within the private sector are often unequally distributed. Disproportionate advantages may accrue to those with connections to the state or to those with higher social standing. In this paper, I causally estimate the impact of political and social determinants of access to private-sector development under unevenly enforced rule of law. I do so by implementing a field experiment in Senegal in which I operate a registered business and randomize political connections and gender during entrepreneurs’ applications for valuable business permits at municipal councils. I find that politically connected applicants deal with fewer steps in the application process and are more likely to successfully deposit an application. Women, by contrast, are more likely to have their applications rejected, despite following the same procedures as men. These results highlight the specific steps along the institutional pathway where political and social connections are most influential, and offer causal evidence to inform policy to reduce the barriers facing entrepreneurs in developing countries.

 Presenter:

Abhit Bhandari
Department of Political Science
Temple University

This workshop will take place in-person and on Zoom and will not be recorded. Please register to attend.

This event is hosted by the Business & Human Rights Initiative, a partnership between Dodd Human Rights Impact, the UConn School of Business, and the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute. It is co-sponsored by the Research Program on Economic & Social Rights.