The Business and Human Rights Initiative at UConn seeks to develop and support multidisciplinary research, education, and public engagement at the intersection of business and human rights. A partnership founded by Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs, the UConn School of Business, and the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, our initiative collaborates with programs and units throughout UConn.
This page displays past years of BHRI programming. To view upcoming events, see the Business & Human Rights Initiative main page.
Past Events
2024
October 24, 2024
U.S. Human Rights Mechanisms for Complaints against Multinational Enterprises
U.S. National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct David Sullivan joins BHRI to discuss the development and purpose of his role as one remedy for addressing corporate human rights violations globally.
April 11, 2024
Perspectives on Human Rights Due Diligence
This event is co-sponsored by the Business & Human Rights Initiative (BHRI), a partnership founded by Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs, the UConn School of Business, and the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute.
This workshop is dedicated to the development and discussion of works-in-progress and other non-published academic research. Join us in discussion with the following presenters about their UConn Honors thesis research projects on human rights due diligence. Presenters: Meaghan Murphy and Sophie Lemire, Human Rights & Economics ’24, University of Connecticut; Discussants: Rachel Chambers and Shareen Hertel, University of Connecticut; Markus Krajewski, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg; Janne Mende, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
April 8, 2024
Harnessing the Market for Social Change: Investors and Responsible Contracting
This event is supported by the Business & Human Rights Initiative and Economic & Social Rights Program at the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute.
Chavi Keeney Nana & Sarah Dadush explore the evolving landscape of responsible business conduct, focusing on legal requirements for human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) in corporate supply chains. This talk concerns the critical role contracts play in due diligence and how they aid investors in evaluating risks to human rights and the environment when making investment decisions.
April 2, 2024
Design for Freedom: Constructing a Humane Future with Ethical Materials
This event is supported by the Business & Human Rights Initiative, Economic & Social Rights Program, and Engineering for Human Rights Initiative at the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, as well as the Grace Farms Foundation.
Panelists: Sharon Prince and Nora Rizzo (Grace Farms), and Anna Dyson (Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture); The Design for Freedom movement brings industry leaders together to eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain, create true market transformation, and build a more equitable future.
March 1, 2024
Global Business Leadership in Sustainability Summit
Hosted by the School of Business Global & Sustainability Initiatives Office and co-sponsored by the Business and Human Rights Initiative.
The Global Business Leadership in Sustainability Summit (GBLSS) is a half-day event that gathers professionals, alumni, faculty, and students to discuss key sustainability topics for business. Highlighted at this year's event are existing sustainability initiatives ongoing across the University of Connecticut and the State of Connecticut. The summit aims to create a space to build productive relationships with sustainable business partners while continuing to educate and prepare our students.
February 22, 2024
What’s Business Got to do With It? The Role of the Private Sector in Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding
Co-sponsored by Human Rights Research and Data Hub (HuRRD)
Businesses of all sizes play many roles in armed conflict, repression and other situations that lead to widespread human rights violations. Yet, when the violence ends and the arms are put down, only a handful of governments have considered how to involve companies in their transitional justice processes. This paper offers a taxonomy to help classify the different types of roles that companies play in episodes of the break-down of the rule of law and violent conflict and argues that this approach encourages governments to widen their focus to include the private sector in forward-looking peacebuilding processes such as community reconciliation, collective reparations, institutional reform, and even development.
2023
December 1, 2023
Business & Human Rights in Collegiate Apparel Sourcing
Co-hosted by the Economic & Social Rights Program and Business & Human Rights Initiative
Verifying human rights standards are upheld in global supply chains is no easy task, but one essential for both ethical and legal compliance. To hear how professionals that work with UConn maintain this standard, come join us for a student-facing conversation with those who oversee ethics and compliance in one of UConn’s top licensed apparel manufacturers, Colosseum Athletics.
November 9, 2023
Abolition Redux? Rethinking Conventions on Slavery and Forced Labor in the Interwar Years
Co-hosted by the Economic & Social Rights Program and Business & Human Rights Initiative
Presenter: Mishal Khan, Yale Gilder Lehrman Center for Study of Slavery, Resistance & Abolition
October 3, 2023
‘We, the Data: Human Rights in the Digital Age’ Discussion with Author Wendy Wong
Co-hosted by the Economic & Social Rights Program, Business & Human Rights Initiative, Engineering for Human Rights Initiative, Human Rights Research & Data Hub, and the UConn School of Law
Prof. Wendy Wong, The University of British Columbia
September 19, 2023
Ethical Dilemmas: Corporate Response and Market Reaction to the Russia-Ukraine War
Presenter: Prof. Lingling Wang, UConn School of Business
Discussant: Bennett Freeman, Principal, Bennett Freeman Associates LLC
April 13, 2023
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Connections, Gender, and Access to State-Facilitated Private-Sector Development: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Senegal
Presenter: Prof. Abhit Bhandari, Temple University
March 1, 2023
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Human Rights, Multinational Enterprises, and Legitimacy
Presenter: Prof. Rita Mota, ESADE Business School
Discussant: Prof. Harry Van Buren, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
February 24, 2023
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Business & Human Rights in an Unequal World: A Genealogy
Presenter: Prof. Michelle Kelsall, SOAS University of London
Discussant: Prof. Tara Van Ho, University of Essex School of Law
2022
November 1, 2022
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Understanding the Effectiveness of State & Worker-Led Efforts to Combat Forced Labour in Supply Chains
Co-sponsored by the Economic & Social Rights Group, UConn Human Rights Institute
Presenter: Prof. Genevieve LeBaron, Simon Fraser University School of Public Policy
Discussant: Prof. Rachel Chambers, UConn School of Business, Human Rights Institute
October 27, 2022
Business & Human Rights Forum: The Financial Case for Systemic Social Change
Presenters: William Burckart, CEO, The Investment Integration Project (TIIP)
Kilian Moote, Managing Director, Georgeson
October 13, 2022
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Upending Capitalism as We Know It? Public Policy Experimentation & Its Implications for Business
Co-sponsored by the Economic & Social Rights Group, UConn Human Rights Institute
Presenter: Prof. Tricia Olsen, Daniels College of Business, University of Denver
Discussant: Prof. Lyle Scruggs, UConn Department of Political Science
September 20, 2022
Business & Human Rights Forum: Climate Change, Business, & Human Rights
Presenter: Prof. Danielle Anne Pamplona, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (Brazil), School of Law
April 25, 2022
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Stigma & Immigrant Entrepreneurship: Black September, Ethnic Enclaves, & New Venture Performance in Jordan
Presenter: Prof. Ryan Coles, UConn School of Business
Discussant: Prof. Michael Rubin, UConn Human Rights Institute, Schools of Engineering & Business
March 31, 2022
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Coupling & Coupling Compromises in Supplier Factories’ Responses to Worker Activism
Presenter: Prof. Jodi Short, UC Hastings Law
Discussant: Prof. Vivek Soundararajan, University of Bath
March 10, 2022
Business & Human Rights Workshop: Business, Human Rights & The Triple Planetary Crisis
Presenter: Prof. Sara Seck, Dalhousie University
Discussant: Prof. Chiara Macchi, Wageningen University
February 25-26, 2022
Symposium on The Changing Faces of Business Law & Sustainability
Co-hosted by the Business & Human Rights Initiative, UConn; Center for the Business of Sustainability, Smeal College of Business, Penn State University;
College of Business, Oregon State University; & the American Business Law Journal
February 9, 2022
Business & Human Rights Forum: Model Contract Clauses for Human Rights
Presenters: Prof. Sarah Dadush, Rutgers Law School, & Olivia Windham Stewart
Commentator: Prof. Erika George, University of Utah
February 4, 2022
Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum: Human Rights & Corporate Sponsorship in the Beijing Olympics
Speakers: Minky Worden, Director of Global Initiatives, Human Rights Watch
Bennett Freeman, Principal, Bennett Freeman Associates LLC
Daniela Heerdt, Researcher Sport & Human Rights, Centre for Sport & Human Rights & T.M.C. Asser Instituut.
Hosted by: Teaching Business & Human Rights Forum
2021
November 30, 2021
Business and Human Rights Workshop: Contractual Deterrence and the Ethical Supply Chain
Presenter: Robert Bird, University of Connecticut School of Business
Discussant: Gastón de los Reyes, Glasgow Caledonian New York College
November 11, 2021
Business and Human Rights Workshop: Is Human Rights Due Diligence the Next Form of Greenwashing?
Co-Presenters: Justine Nolan, UNSW Law and Robert McCorquodale, University of Nottingham School of Law
Discussant: David Hess, University of Michigan Ross School of Business
October 22, 2021
What Role Should Central Banks Play in Dealing with Environmental and Social Challenges like Climate Change and Inequality?
Hosted by: Project on Public Finance and Human Rights
October 21, 2021
Business and Human Rights Forum: Task Force on Inequality-related Financial Disclosures (TIFD)
A presentation and discussion on the Task Force on Inequality-related Financial Disclosures (TIFD) by Joanne Bauer, Rights CoLab
Commentator: Todd Cort, Yale School of Management
September 23, 2021
Financial Services Human Rights Benchmark
A presentation and discussion on the Financial Services Human Rights Benchmark by David Kinley, University of Sydney Law School and Kym Sheehan
Commentator: Ariel Meyerstein
Hosted by: Project on Public Finance and Human Rights
August 26, 2021
Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum: Reviving the Great Debate
Business and human rights teachers often pride themselves of the relevance of their field to practice. But are we preparing our students adequately so that there is no disconnect between theory and practice? Join us to debate this question with provocative speakers who will endeavor to convince us whether ‘The current mode of teaching business and human rights is disconnected to the reality of business and human rights in practice.’
Arguing in favor of this proposition will be:
Justine Nolan, Australian Human Rights Institute, UNSW
Amol Mehra, Laudes Foundation
Mike Posner, NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights
Arguing against the proposition will be:
Jena Martin, West Virginia University
Debbie Stothard, Altsean-Burma
Tara van Ho, University of Essex
Moderated by Robert McCorquodale, Inclusive Law
Hosted by: Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum
June 21, 2021
Second Roundtable for University-Based Business and Human Rights Programs
In collaboration with the Sié Center for International Security and Diplomacy at the University of Denver, the Initiative co-hosted a virtual roundtable with the dual objectives of exploring the ethical and practical challenges of supporting business and human rights research and engaging with companies and identifying and articulating best practices for university-based BHR programs.
March 18, 2021
Business and Human Rights Workshop: A Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for Human Rights
Rachel Chambers, University of Connecticut Human Rights Institute & Jena Martin, West Virginia University College of Law
Discussant: John Anderson, Mississippi College School of Law
March 12, 2021
Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum: Our First Decade: From the UNGPs to mHRDD
The Teaching BHR Forum celebrates its tenth anniversary by bringing together newer voices and the wisdom of experience to discuss mandatory human rights due diligence. The speakers will contextualize today's developments in the EU and discuss the key areas of progress and promise, the "no go" areas, and corporate board liability and governance.
Claire Bright, NOVA Knowledge Center for Business, Human Rights and the Environment
John Morrison, Institute for Human Rights and Business
Chris Patz, European Coalition for Corporate Justice
John Ruggie, Harvard Kennedy School
Hosted by: Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum
March 4, 2021
Business and Human Rights Forum: Human Rights, Social Justice, and Investment: Opportunities and Challenges
A panel discussion on advocacy, activism, and engagement at the intersection of finance and human rights with:
Sara Blackwell, Business and human rights consultant
Ryan Bowers, Activest
Jillianne Lyon ('18), Investor Advocates for Social Justice
Bart Robertson, Global Fund to End Modern Slavery
February 18, 2021
Business and Human Rights Workshop: Black Star Line, Inc.: Race in the Historical Life of the Corporation
Aaron Dhir, Osgoode Hall Law School and Yale Law School
Discussant: Larry Catá Backer, Penn State Law
Co-sponsored by: Eversource Energy Chair in Business Ethics
2020 & Before
December 11, 2020
Transnational Corporations and Human Rights: Overcoming Barriers to Judicial Remedy
A conversation to mark the publication of Transnational Corporations and Human Rights: Overcoming Barriers to Judicial Remedy and to celebrate the scholarship of Gwynne Skinner (1964 - 2017) with a panel of her co-authors and co-contributors.
Rachel Chambers, Co-Director, Teaching BHR Forum; Postdoctoral Research Associate, Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut
Jennie Green, Clinical Professor of Law, University of Minnesota
James Yap, Lawyer, Toronto, President, Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights
Moderated by Sarah McGrath, Director of International Engagement, Business and Human Rights, Australian Human Rights Commission
November 20, 2020
Business & Human Rights Roundtable on Collegiate Sourcing
November 12, 2020
Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Four Thought Leaders, Four Sectors, One Dialogue
Hosted by: Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum
October 22, 2020
Unavoidable Power and Unaccountable Impacts? The Roles and Responsibilities of Central Banks in Global Economic Governance
Hosted by: Project on Public Finance and Human Rights
March 5, 2020
We Are Not Pricing Climate Risk: A Wall Street Perspective
Robert Litterman, Chairman of Risk Committee, Kepos Capital
Hosted by: Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series
November 8, 2019
Business & Human Rights University Network Roundtable
The Initiative hosted a roundtable of North American university-based human rights programs to discuss their multifaceted roles in the study and practice of business and human rights.
November 22, 2019
Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Rights Summit
Hosted by: President’s Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility at UConn
October 10, 2019
Book launch for "Tethered Fates Companies, Communities, and Rights at Stake" by Shareen Hertel, Associate Professor of Political Science and Human Rights
Book (Oxford University Press, 2019)
September 20-21, 2018
Symposium on Finding the Human Face of Finance
Keynote address by Amy Domini, Founder and Chair of Domini Impact Investments
Workshop
Co-sponsored by: RBS Greenwich Capital Economic Seminar Series | UConn School of Business – Finance Department | Eversource Energy Chair in Business Ethics
October 5-6, 2017
Protecting Rights at the End of the Line: Stakeholder Engagement in Light Manufacturing
White Paper
Co-sponsored by: Research Program on Economic & Social Rights (ESRG), Human Rights Institute | UConn Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) | Eversource Energy Chair in Business Ethics
March 30, 2017
Roundtable on Business and Human Rights in an Era of Anti-Globalization
Report
March 23, 2016
Divestment, Engagement, and How to Change the World A Perspective on South Africa, Darfur, and Fossil Fuels
Lecture by Bennett Freeman, former Senior Vice President for Social Research and Policy at the Calvert Group
Hosted by and sponsored by: Dodd Human Rights Impact as part of the RBS Greenwich Capital Economic Seminar Series
April 23-24, 2015
Social Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Conference: Creating Value for Business and Society
Co-hosted and co-sponsored by: Dodd Human Rights Impact | Eversource Energy Chair in Business Ethics | Connecticut Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
April 8, 2014
Implementing Dodd-Frank 1502/1504: Advancing Human Rights through Financial Reporting
Hosted and sponsored by: Dodd Human Rights Impact
February 28, 2013
Just Business: Multinational Corporations and Human Rights
Lecture by John Ruggie, Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
March 1, 2013
Roundtable on Implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
Hosted and sponsored by: Dodd Human Rights Impact
Roundtable Report