Human Rights Working Group

The Human Rights Working Group of the Graduate Seminars on Global Issues has brought together graduate students representing more than 15 disciplines – ranging from Literature to Law, Philosophy, Cultural Anthropology, Public Policy, and Biomedical Engineering – in order to engage critically with issues of global and local human rights discourse, practices, and agenda-setting. During our meetings we have debated key ‘human rights’ terms and issues, including humanitarian law, the role of rights in international development, and the history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Group members whose research reflects their work in the human rights sector, such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Human Rights Watch, have led discussions. Participants have also shared first-hand experiences on the response to human rights crises in Uganda, Nepal and Chile—successes and shortcomings.

Readings and discussions have catalyzed additional events, such as the campus visit in April 2006 of David Kennedy, Harvard Law professor and author of The Dark Sides of Virtue. With a listserv of more than 50 students, and at least 27 participants per meeting, attendance has been remarkably high. The diversity of group members’ skills and experience has provided invaluable opportunities for skills-sharing and critical discussion.