Human Rights Program 20th Anniversary Symposium: Mobilizing Knowledge to Advance Human Rights

The two-day event features a keynote address on the role of universities in advancing human rights by a UN OHCHR representative, a showcase of UMN faculty-led engaged scholarship, a film screening of Until We Find Them, conversations with Mexico-based journalists and researchers working to address disappearances in Latin America, presentations by a student team researching human rights defenders, and the launch of Program Director Barbara Frey’s newest book, Disappearances in the Post-Transition Era in Latin America. Join us as we highlight the many affiliated faculty, students, and practitioners engaging in human rights research, teaching, and engagement - the three pillars of the Program’s work. We have much to celebrate! More information and a full schedule is available here. 

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Engaged Scholarship Showcase

1:00 - 1:15p Welcome & Opening Remarks
1:15 - 2:30p The Arts & Human Rights
2:45 - 4:00p Education & Human Rights
4:15 - 5:30p Human Rights at Home

“Principled Voices” - The Scallen Lecture in Human Rights
7:00 - 8:30p Until We Find Them film screening (30 min), with filmmaker Hunter Johnson (MHR ’20)
Remarks by Darwin Franco & Dalia Souza, Mexican journalists and film protagonists

Friday, November 19, 2021

Human Rights Defenders
8:00 - 8:50a First Person: Defending Human Rights in Armenia
9:00 - 9:30a Human Rights Defenders Research: Black Lives Matter
9:30 - 10:30a Protection Networks for Human Rights Defenders
10:45 - 11:45a Scholars at Risk

Keynote Address
12:30 - 1:30p “The Role of Academia in Advancing Human Rights”, Todd Howland, Chief of the Development, Economic, and Social Issues Branch, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Disappearances in Latin America
1:45 - 2:45p Observatory on Disappearances & Impunity in Mexico
4:00 - 5:00p Disappearances in the Post-Transition Era in Latin America Book Launch