Human Rights and the Politics of Solidarity

A Conference in Honor of Wiktor Osiatyński April 4-5, 2019 • Storrs, CT The commitment to solidarity in human rights practice is under attack from both external and internal threats. Externally, rising populism, nativism, and xenophobia pose significant challenges for human rights advocates seeking to make the case for universal rights. Internally, as well, human […]

Hartford Community Court

Opened on November 10, 1998, the State of Connecticut Superior Court Community Court Session in Hartford is a collaborative effort between the State of Connecticut Judicial Branch and local authorities that seeks to address the “quality of life” crimes that contribute to the deterioration of local neighborhoods. Committed to the concept of restorative justice, the […]

Common Cause

Common Cause in Connecticut is a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizens lobby dedicated to improving the way state government operates. Whether it is advocating for opening committee meetings to the public or compelling the passage of the strongest campaign finance law in the nation, Common Cause in Connecticut has been a leading voice in reforming state government.

Contexts of Human Rights

10th Anniversary Conference September 19-21, 2013 • Storrs, CT This international conference will showcase the “Connecticut School of Human Rights,” a contextual approach to human rights that has been advanced at the Human Rights Institute of the University of Connecticut over the last ten years. Despite the predictions of some that the era of human […]

Human Rights in the USA

Conference October 22-24, 2009 • Storrs, CT As international human rights laws and institutions rose to global prominence in the latter half of the twentieth century, conventional wisdom in the United States held that human rights were only for beleaguered foreign populations. US citizens did not require international human rights protections, it was argued, because […]

In the Balance: Humanitarianism and Responsibility

Conference of Humanities Institute and the Human Rights Institute of the University of Connecticut October 10-12, 2008 • Storrs, CT The central aim of this conference is to think through the rapidly expanding body of scholarship on humanitarianism – both as a discourse and practice – beyond its longtime amalgamated human rights framework. We hope […]

Humanitarian Responses to Narratives of Inflicted Suffering

Conference of the Humanities Institute and the Human Rights Institute of the University of Connecticut October 13-15, 2006 • Storrs, CT This international conference will analyze humanitarian responses to private and public narratives of politicized suffering that has been inflicted by states, private political groups and also by more structural causes such as apartheid, colonialism, […]

Economic Rights: Conceptual, Measurement, and Policy Issues

Conference October 27-29, 2005 • Storrs, CT Scholars and policymakers are increasingly attempting to link socio-economic and classic civil and political rights in unprecedented and innovative ways. The University of Connecticut will host a conference on “Economic Rights: Conceptual, Measurement, and Policy Issues” (October 27-29, 2005) to move this new research and debate forward. Having […]

Human Rights in an Age of Terrorism

Inaugural Conference September 9-11, 2004 • Storrs, CT In the globalizing, post Cold War era of the 1990s, human rights came to play a more salient role in establishing stability in the global order, and ensuring more democratic forms of political and economic participation at the local level. During this time, significant advances were made […]