Events

The Electric Vehicle Revolution: From a Human Rights Angle

Posted on April 1, 2023April 22, 2023 by

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.

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.

Human Rights & Cultural Resistance through Theatre

Posted on April 1, 2023April 20, 2023 by Branzell, Alex

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 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

Posted on March 1, 2023May 7, 2023 by

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.

Arts & Human Rights Faculty Seminar Series

Posted on February 13, 2023April 20, 2023 by Farhadi, Maryam

Join us for one or all discussions in this three-part series of faculty seminars sponsored by the Research Program on Arts and Human Rights. This series highlights the innovative work being done at the intersection of the arts and human rights among our faculty. All are encouraged to attend!

All sessions are hosted in-person with the option to join by Zoom. We kindly ask that you register to attend. Those attending in-person can join us in Conference Room 162 of The Dodd Center for Human Rights, while those joining by Zoom will receive a link to join upon registration.

Subverting Statues: Race, Space, Performance, and the Arab American National Museum
Thursday, March 9, 2023 | 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Asif Majid

In 2005, the Arab American National Museum (AANM) opened on the site of a former furniture store, opposite the former city hall building for the city of Dearborn, MI, a city outside Detroit that is often referred to as “the heart of Arab America.” At its founding, the museum also sat across the street from a statue of the former, long-serving, racist Dearborn mayor Orville Hubbard, an individual who explicitly referred to Arabs as “n******”; the Hubbard statue appeared to be gesturing to the museum. Drawing on my work at AANM this academic year – as an Arts Research with Communities of Color Fellow supported by the Social Science Research Council and The Wallace Foundation – in this talk, I ask: what performative, racial, and political power does the geography of the museum carry, particularly in reference to Dearborn’s racist history and spatial politics? And what might it mean to read politico-aesthetic institutions of color as a subversion of monuments to white supremacy?

Asif Majid is a scholar-artist-educator working at the intersection of racialized sociopolitical identities, multimedia, marginality, and new performance, particularly through devising community-based participatory theatre and making improvisational music. Currently, he serves as Assistant Professor of Theatre and Human Rights at the University of Connecticut. Prior to UConn, Asif was a Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow with the San Francisco Arts Commission and a Lab Fellow with The Laboratory for Global Performance and Performance.

Asif has published in multiple peer-reviewed academic journals, as well as numerous books and media outlets. His research interests include performance ethnography, the intersection of Islam and performance, community-based devising, social justice performance, the ethnography of race, and applied theatre. Asif’s US performance credits include work with the Kennedy Center, Convergence Theatre, and Theatre Prometheus, and his UK performance credits include the Royal Exchange Theatre, Action Transport Theatre, and Unity Theatre. Asifearned his PhD in Anthropology, Media, and Performance from The University of Manchester; his MA in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University; and his self-designed BA in Interdisciplinary Studies: Global Peace Building and Conflict Management from UMBC. He is online at www.asifmajid.com.

The Fate of Human Beings: A Documentary Film Reframing the Narrative of Institutionalization through Mental Institution Gravesites
Tuesday, April 4, 2023 | 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Heather Cassano

The Fate of Human Beings is a documentary film uncovering the stories of people with disabilities and mental illnesses who are buried in unnamed graves in mental institution cemeteries across the United States. Through a multiple narrative approach utilizing archival and present-day material, the film unpacks the ramifications of these cemeteries, seeking to understand our past and present relationships with the “otherness” of those interred. This talk will show work-in-progress scenes from The Fate of Human Beings and discuss the research behind the project, including the first database to comprehensively catalog institution cemeteries in the United States.

Heather Cassano is a documentary filmmaker and Assistant Professor of Film/Video at the University of Connecticut. She has presented work in the forms of still photography, multi-channel video, and short and feature films. Her films blend an observational style with deeply personal narratives, striving to tell authentic stories through her personal experiences. Heather’s first feature documentary THE LIMITS OF MY WORLD (2018), followed her severely autistic brother Brian as he transitioned from the school system into adulthood. The film screened at numerous festivals internationally, winning three Best Documentary awards and a Jury Prize. Heather is now working on her second feature documentary THE FATE OF HUMAN BEINGS, which uncovers the stories of people with disabilities and mental illnesses who are buried in unnamed graves in mental institution cemeteries across the United States. The film has been supported by Massachusetts Humanities, the LEF Foundation, the UConn Humanities Institute, and others.

Stubborn Negativity: On Willy Retto’s Uchuraccay Massacre Last Image
Wednesday, April 19, 2023 | 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
José Falconi

The last film shot by photographer Willy Retto captures the killings of himself and several journalists by villagers in Uchuraccay, Peru in 1983, during the country's internal conflict. Despite the photographic evidence, many remained unconvinced as to the events that transgressed and the images shrouded in mythology. This talk reflects on the power of images to provide testimony of the past, while also resisting the linear progress of time. It considers the internal logic and desynchronization between word and image that can contribute to the fog of mythology surrounding historical events. Through this unresolved tension, we uncover a thought-provoking reflection on the complex relationship between images, memory, and history.

José Luis Falconi is a professor of art and human rights at the University of Connecticut, as well as the president of Cultural Agents, Inc., an NGO which promotes civic engagement and creativity through artistic education. From 2001 to 2011, Falconi was the art forum curator at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University, curating more than thirty shows of cutting-edge Latino and Latin American artists in an academic setting. From 2011 to July 2017, he was an associate of the Department of Art History and Architecture at Harvard University, where he received his doctorate in romance languages and literatures in 2010, and his post-doctorate the following year in the history of art and architecture under the supervision of Prof. Thomas Cummins.

His latest academic publications include Portraits of an Invisible Country: The Photographs of Jorge Mario Múnera(2010), A Singular Plurality: The Works of Darío Escobar (2013), The Great Swindle: A Project by Santiago Montoya (2014) and Ad Usum / To be used: The Works of Pedro Reyes (2017). His monograph on Mexican artist Pia Camil, There are no Friendly Fires, will be published in 2022.

In the United States, Falconi has been appointed lecturer in the Department of Art History and Architecture at Brandeis University (2014-2020), at Boston University in the spring of 2016, and in the School of Fine Arts at the University of Connecticut in the spring of 2021. In Latin America, he was “bicentennial” Visiting Professor of Aesthetics at the University of Chile (Santiago de Chile, 2012 and 2019), “International Professor” at the National University of Colombia (Bogotá, 2013), visiting professor at the Center for Latin American Studies “Manuel Galich” at the Universidad San Carlos of Guatemala (2016), and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Costa Rica (2017).

Encounters Series – Spring 2023 Program

Posted on February 1, 2023April 18, 2023 by

Through the Democracy and Dialogues Initiative, UConn is working to increase democratic and civic capacity by supporting community dialogues on critical issues, providing moderator and facilitation training for dialogues and deliberations, and partnering with campus colleagues and local institutions to increase meaningful participation by all community members.

The Encounters Series is dedicated to fostering unexpected conversations around divisive issues and obscure knowledge. The program dives deeply into subjects that are of interest to the Greater Hartford community through facilitated, small-group dialogues followed by a question-and-answer style conversation with our UConn faculty and community partners. Resources are provided beforehand to encourage informed and informal dialogue within conversations that may otherwise prove to be polarizing, and thus unproductive. The aim is to strengthen our ability to know ourselves and to develop a forum for respectful and challenging dialogue. 

Our partners in this Encounters Series include the Hartford Public Library, Connecticut's Old State House, the HartBeat Ensemble, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Connecticut Humanities, and many valuable others. The Democracy & Dialogues Initiative is part of Dodd Human Rights Impact and supported at UConn by the Office of Global Affairs, the Office of the Provost, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Humanities Institute, UConn Extension, and the Division of Student Affairs’ Parent's Fund.

Historic Black Journalism and Its Legacy
In partnership with Capital Community College, Connecticut's Old State House, CT Humanities, the Hartford Heritage Project, and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.
Saturday, March 4 | 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Capital Community College - Community Room, 2nd Floor.
950 Main St., Hartford, CT 06103

As a journalist and a historian, Jelani Cobb, this year’s Pennington lecture speaker, has used public media to present deeply researched long-form journalism on pressing issues. He is a part of a long tradition of Black journalists who have done so. Join us for this community conversation event to explore the history and legacy of Black writing, Black journalists, and advocacy in and through the Black press. This Encounters program is part of the 2023 Pennington Lecture Event, inspired by this year’s speaker, Jelani Cobb.

*A light lunch will be served after the event. All participants are welcome and there is no cost to register or attend.

Destigmatizing Intimate Partner Violence-The Alyssiah Wiley Program
Hosted by Capital Community College & The Alyssiah Wiley Program
Tuesday, April 11 | 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Capital Community College, 2nd Floor Community Room
950 Main St., Hartford, CT 06103

Domestic violence is a pervading issue across our world. During the fiscal year of 2021, over 38,989 people sought domestic violence services in the state of Connecticut alone. This number is not reflective of all those who endure domestic violence, as violence often goes unreported. We need to shatter the silence. Through education, engagement, and empowerment, this program will shed light on domestic violence and encourage social change. Join us as we learn, listen, and reflect through small group discussions with facilitators, and engage with experts in domestic violence services about this critical issue.

*A light lunch will be provided ahead of the dialogue at 12:30 pm. All participants are welcome and there is no cost to register or attend.

Reparations - A More Perfect Union?
Hosted by the Hartford Public Library Albany Branch
Saturday, April 15 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Hartford Public Library Albany Branch
1250 Albany Avenue, Hartford, CT 06112

Have you ever wondered about the lingering impact of historical injustices and how they continue to shape our society today? The issue of slavery reparations has been at the forefront of conversations surrounding social justice and equity, and now is the time to engage in a thoughtful and thought-provoking dialogue on the topic.

Join us for a captivating and enlightening discussion on the complex and multifaceted issue of reparations for slavery. Together, we will explore the historical context and current implications of systemic inequalities, and examine if reparations could serve as a means of redressing these injustices. Whether you are an advocate for reparations or skeptical of their efficacy, this dialogue promises to challenge your thinking and deepen your understanding of this critical issue.

Don't miss this opportunity to be a part of the conversation on reparations and help shape the future of our society. Join us for an insightful and inspiring dialogue that is sure to leave a lasting impression.

*A light lunch will be provided following the dialogue at 12:00 pm noon. All participants are welcome and there is no cost to register or attend.

Amistad: Artistic Perspectives
Hosted by Connecticut's Old State House & Connecticut Freedom Trail
Saturday, April 29 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Connecticut's Old State House
800 Main St., Hartford, CT 06103

Artists from all over the world have raised the Amistad saga beyond the history books. In 1839, fifty-three African captives rebelled onboard the Spanish ship, La Amistad. They took over the ship, but were recaptured and then went on to win back their freedom through the American courts in Connecticut. Their bravery and eventual victory has been immortalized in the history books. But long before historians began to examine the Amistad saga, artists had already claimed the story in their own work. From contemporary portraits of the Africans to modern day stage performances, artists have told us the story of Amistad from diverse and unique perspectives.

What can these works tell us about their subjects and the artists that remember them? What happens when different interpretations come at odds with each other? Can a viewer’s perspective clash with the artist’s? Join us for an informed and collaborative exploration of these fascinating questions!

Facilitator Training
Hosted by the Democracy & Dialogues Initiative
Friday, February 10 | 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Online

Facilitators are fundamentally important to running a successful dialogue. They are the folks who work with the small breakout groups and keep the conversation moving and productive. Want to learn more about the theory and practice of facilitation? Join us virtually on February 10.

Facilitator Training
Hosted by the Democracy & Dialogues Initiative
Monday, March 6 | 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM
In-person: The Dodd Center for Human Rights, Room 162.
405 Babbidge Rd., Storrs, CT 06269

Facilitators are fundamentally important to running a successful dialogue. They are the folks who work with the small breakout groups and keep the conversation moving and productive. Want to learn more about theory and practice of facilitation? Join us! A light lunch will be provided.

Facilitator Training
Hosted by the Democracy & Dialogues Initiative
Thursday, March 9, 2023 | 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Online: Zoom

s.uconn.edu/trainingform

The role of a moderator is to run or direct a dialogue. Moderators serve as the "emcee," managing the structure and timing of the event and provide support to the facilitators. Want to learn more about theory and practice of being a moderator? Join us for this virtual training.

Facilitator Training
Hosted by the Democracy & Dialogues Initiative
Thursday, April 20 | 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM
In-person: The Dodd Center for Human Rights Lounge
405 Babbidge Rd., Storrs, CT 06269

Facilitator Training
Hosted by the Democracy & Dialogues Initiative
Friday, April 21 | 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Online: Zoom

http://s.uconn.edu/encounterstraining2023

Health in Ruins: The Capitalist Destruction of Medical Care at a Colombian Maternity Hospital

Posted on February 1, 2023April 12, 2023 by Branzell, Alex

Join us for a panel celebrating Professor César Ernesto Abadía-Barrero’s new book, Health in Ruins, which chronicles the story of El Materno—Colombia’s oldest maternity and neonatal health center and teaching hospital—over several decades as it faced constant threats of government shutdown.

This team-based and collaborative ethnography analyzes the social life of neoliberal health policy. The book shows that health care privatization is not only about defunding public hospitals; it also ruins rich traditions of medical care by denying or destroying ways of practicing medicine that challenge Western medicine.

Our panel will include an overview of the book by Prof. Abadía-Barrero, followed by comments from three internationally renowned experts in medical anthropology and global health. The electronic version of the book is available from the UConn Library or Duke University Press.

César E. Abadía-Barrero is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Human Rights at the University of Connecticut. A medical anthropologist, his research integrates different critical perspectives in the study of how for-profit interests transform access, continuity, and quality of health care. He has conducted activist-oriented research in Brazil and Colombia, focusing on healthcare policies and programs, human rights judicialization and advocacy, and social movements in health. He is the author of I Have AIDS but I am Happy: Children’s Subjectivities, AIDS, and Social Responses in Brazil (2011, English and Portuguese editions) and Health in Ruins: The Capitalist Destruction of Medical Care (2022, English and Spanish editions). His current collaborative research follows decolonial proposals in health and wellbeing after Colombia’s 2016 peace accord.

Human Rights Film+ Series: After Zero Tolerance

Posted on February 1, 2023March 23, 2023 by Branzell, Alex

Directed by Emmy™ Award-winning filmmaker and UConn DMD Associate Professor Oscar Guerra, After Zero Tolerance brings a compelling and intimate perspective to the ongoing debate around US immigration policy and the treatment of families and children at the border. The film follows the story of Anavelis, who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border with her then-six-year-old daughter, Genesis, in 2018. They were forcibly separated by law enforcement at a border camp, and Anavelis was deported back to Honduras without Genesis – kicking off a years-long quest to reunite with her daughter.

This event will feature a full screening of After Zero Tolerance (2022, 29 minutes), followed by a discussion with Oscar Guerra, Ann Garcia, Nan Schivone, and Anavelis.

Our Guests:

Prof. Oscar Guerra, After Zero Tolerance filmmaker and Associate Professor, UConn Department of Digital Media & Design
Ann Garcia, Attorney, National Immigration Project
Nan Schivone, Legal Director, Justice in Motion
Anavelis, After Zero Tolerance film protagonist

Moderator:

Prof. Catherine Masud, Assistant Professor in Residence, UConn Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute and Department of Digital Media & Design

A Source of Escalation or a Source of Restraint? Whether and How Civil Society Affects Mass Killings

Posted on January 1, 2023February 9, 2023 by

In this Human Rights Research and Data Hub Workshop, Dr. Evan Perkoski will present his research on state-led mass killings. Why do some state-led mass killings end quickly while others endure for over a decade? And why do some states murder millions of constituents during the course of mass killings, whereas other states seem to retreat from the brink after killing hundreds? A large body of work has focused on the important role played by civil society and non-governmental actors in initiating different forms of rescue, evasion, and assistance in the midst of different cases of mass killings, as well as the political pressure they have applied in bringing about the ends of civil conflicts. Despite many inspiring and hopeful cases of collective action under systems of intense repression, other research finds civil society can accelerate or exacerbate mass killings. In this paper, we test some basic mechanisms that emerge from the literature on the connection between civil society and mass killings, and we find that a complex albeit meaningful relationship exists. We find that, in general, a relatively participatory and autonomous civil society is correlated with shorter mass killings. However, we also find that active civil societies are associated with higher rates of lethality, particularly when those civil society sectors exist in highly unequal polities. Because most mass killings are relatively short, our findings suggest that civil societies in states with uneven access to power are more commonly correlated with longer, deadlier spells of government violence. This conclusion seemingly supports the view of civil society skeptics, at least in highly unequal contexts where mass killings have already begun.

Evan Perkoski is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut, and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Krulak Center for Innovation and Future Warfare at the Marine Corps University.

He studies issues relating to terrorism, insurgency, and violent and nonviolent uprisings. In his book project, he explores the fragmentation of militant organizations (like Al Qaeda) and the conduct and survivability of breakaway splinter groups (like the Islamic State). Some of his other work looks at the onset of mass killings in popular uprisings, the logic of covert and clandestine cyber operations, and how cooperation and competition influence the behavior of militant groups. His research generally leverages new data and quantitative methods to understand political violence.

Reimagining Gender Violence as Torture

Posted on January 1, 2023April 7, 2023 by Branzell, Alex

Is gender-based violence (GBV) different in any important way from what is understood as torture?
The participants in this forum, basing their arguments on decades of experience in law, clinical work, activism and scholarship, assert that understanding GBV as torture is essential for furthering public understanding of the true nature of GBV, and importantly, for improving the response and redress measures for victims.

This expert panel is one in a series of public engagements of the 2023 Gladstein Visiting Professor of Human Rights Rashida Manjoo, the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences.

Rashida Manjoo is Professor Emeritus at the University of Cape Town where she taught for many years in the Department of Public Law and also convened the LLM Human Rights Program. She continues to supervise PhD candidates in the Faculty of Law.

Professor Manjoo has over four decades of experience in social justice and human rights work both in South Africa and abroad. Until July 2015, she held the position of United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences, a post she was appointed to in 2009 by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Her UN work over six years has included monitoring and reporting on States' compliance in responding to and preventing violence against women, its causes, and consequences, both generally and in different country contexts. She has particularly highlighted the interaction of interpersonal, communal, institutional, and structural factors that negatively impact the interdependence and indivisibility of the human rights of women, and the challenges of the normative gap in international law on the issue of violence against women.

Professor Manjoo is the former Parliamentary Commissioner of the Commission on Gender Equality, an institution created by the Constitution of South Africa, with a mandate to oversee the promotion and protection of gender equality and women's rights. She has also been involved in social context training for judges and lawyers, where she has designed both content and methodology.

She has authored several journal articles, book chapters and reports, including the co-edited books Women’s Charters and Declarations: Building another World; The Legal Protection of women from violence - normative gaps in international law; Criminal Justice and Accountability in Africa; and Violence against Women: Law, Policy, and Practice.

Rashida Manjoo is the 2023 Gladstein Visiting Professor of Human Rights at the University of Connecticut Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute.

Carla Ferstman joined Essex Law School in January 2018. She is a barrister and solicitor (British Columbia, 1994). DPhil (Public International Law) (Oxon); LL.M (NYU); LL.B (UBC); BA (Philosophy) (Western). She was Fernand Braudel Fellow (2022) at European University Institute (Florence); visiting professional (2015) at Centre for International Governance and Justice at RegNet, Australian National University (Canberra); and Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow (2012/13) at the United States Institute of Peace (Washington, DC).

Carla is a member since 2018 of the Council of Europe's Expert Council on NGO Law (a specialist body that provides commentary and expertise on the regulation of civil society activities throughout the Council of Europe). She is also on the JRR-UN Women SGBV Justice Experts Roster and on the Advisory Committee of Lawyers for Justice in Libya. She was a judge on the Aban Tribunal, an International ‘People’s Tribunal’ established to investigate atrocities alleged to have taken in place in Iran during the November 2019 protests, which held oral hearings in November 2021 and February 2022 and issued its final judgment in November 2022.

Carla has worked in the human rights field for the bulk of her career to date. After a brief period in private practice in Canada as a criminal defence lawyer, she began working internationally, first for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Rwanda and thereafter, at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in London. She served as the Executive Legal Advisor of the Commission for Real Property Claims of Refugees and Displaced Persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1999-2001), a mass claims body established pursuant to the Dayton Peace Accords to re-establish property rights and assist displaced persons to return home. In 2001, she joined REDRESS, a nongovernmental human rights organization which pursues justice on behalf of victims of torture and related international crimes, first as Legal Director and from 2004 - 2018 as Director. During her tenure, REDRESS won the MacArthur Foundation Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.

In 2022, Carla won the Essex Faculty of Arts and Humanities Supervisor of the Year award.

David Richards is an Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut, with appointments in both the Department of Political Science and the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, where he is Director of Graduate Studies.

David’s body of work on human rights includes more than two-dozen studies of: gender-violence law, the measurement of government respect for human rights including torture, US public support for torture, and the effects of globalization on human rights respect, among others. He has also authored reports for governments and international organizations.

Some current projects include studies of: torture in the time of COVID; sexual violence as torture; school infrastructure as a children’s right; the language of torture in narratives; and best-practices in teaching college students about torture.

David Richards is likely best known as the co-founder/director of the now-archived Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Data Project. Funded multiple times by the National Science Foundation and World Bank, among others, this project provided information on the level of government respect for 16 human rights in 196 countries from 1981 to 2012. The CIRI Project’s data have been used by international organizations such as the United Nations and World Bank, and in 170 countries by governments, media, activists, businesses, scholars, and students.

David’s book (with Jill Haglund, Univ. of Kentucky) Violence Against Women and the Law (Routledge 2015), examines the strength of laws addressing four types of violence against women–rape, marital rape, domestic violence, and sexual harassment–in 196 countries from 2007 to 2010. Of central importance is the question of why these laws exist in some places and not others, and why they are stronger or weaker in places where they do exist. The book’s original data allow the testing of various hypotheses related to whether international law drives the enactment of domestic legal protections. Also examined are the ways in which these legal protections are related to economic, political, and social institutions, and how transnational society affects the presence and strength of these laws.

Linda MacDonald and Jeanne Sarson are feminist human rights activists living in Nova Scotia, Canada. For 30 years they have focused their work on supporting women who detail being victimized by family and non-family-based non-State torturer-traffickers with organized criminal informal networks with like-minded others. As independent researchers and scholars with many published articles, book chapters, and their 2021 book, “Women Unsilenced: Our Refusal To Let Torturer-Traffickers Win,” which shares their developed theory, models, and non-State torture (NST) victimization-traumatization informed care, expanding this work to name the infliction of consequential conditioned suicide-femicide victimizations. Their participatory research represents the voices of women from Canada, the U.S., Mexico, the UK, Western Europe, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Papua New Guinea, plus women who identify torture victimizations in prostitution and pornographic exploitations. Since 2004 they have participated in non-governmental organizational panels at the United Nations in New York, Geneva, and in Vienna where they are involved in a Working Group addressing non-State torture (NST) to create global education with the aim to eliminate all forms of non-State torture of women and girls. They develop resources, provide educational presentations and webinars nationally and internationally, including in the UK, the U.S., Spain, Portugal, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Rwanda’s Restorative Journey: Living Alongside Your Enemy

Posted on January 1, 2023January 25, 2023 by Branzell, Alex

Three days into the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi, Carl and Teresa Wilkens made the heart wrenching decision that she would take their young children to safety, and he would stay at their home in Kigali and try to help. Neither had any idea that during the next 100 days more than a million people would be slaughtered, often by their neighbors.

Through the sharing of first-hand accounts of the catastrophic 1994 genocide and the country’s rebuilding journey that followed, Carl will discuss restorative justice and practices and engage us in guided conversations about what those practices mean today, particularly in the realm of rebuilding trust.

As a humanitarian aid worker, Carl Wilkens was one of two Americans who refused to leave Rwanda as thousands of expatriates and UN soldiers fled the country in the face of what is now known as the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi. Working together with Rwandan colleagues they brought food, water, and medicine to orphans trapped around the city.

These days Wilkens travels around the globe using the transformative process of storytelling and restorative practices to explore topics such as polarization, harmful conflict, and belonging. He is the Co-founder and Director of World Outside My Shoes.

"I'm Not Leaving"

In advance of the event, we encourage you to watch the 40-minute documentary, I'm Not Leaving, available in full & free on YouTube.

This 40-minute documentary shares snapshots of the genocide through the eyes of Carl and his wife Teresa along with: Gasigwa, a courageous Rwandan colleague whose home became a safe-house, Laura from the US Embassy who wrestled with Washington, DC to not abandon their mission, and Phil, one of the handful of UN peacekeepers who volunteered to stay in Rwanda and were tenuously hanging on to save lives. Their gut-wrenching choices and unexpected alliances formed during the 100 days of slaughter leave us with a surprising sense of hope and agency.

About This Event

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Presenters

About Dr. Jin Zhu

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Sessions

About Asif Majid

About Heather Cassano

About José Falconi

About the Program:

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March 4 – Encounters: Historic Black Journalism and Its Legacy

April 11 – Encounters: Destigmatizing Intimate Partner Violence-The Alyssiah Wiley Program

April 15 – Encounters: Reparations-A More Perfect Union?

April 29 – Encounters: Amistad: Artistic Perspectives

Lead a Dialogue!

February 10 – Facilitator Training

March 6 – Facilitator Training

March 9 – Moderator Training

April 20 – Facilitator Training

April 21 – Moderator Training

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Reception

About César Abadía-Barrero:

Our Panel:

About ‘After Zero Tolerance’

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Presenter

About Evan Perkoski

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Reception

Associated Workshop – April 5 – Violence Against Women and the Normative Gap

About Our Experts

Rashida Manjoo

Carla Ferstman

David Richards

Linda MacDonald & Jeanne Sarson

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About Carl Wilkens

"I'm Not Leaving"