Let's Talk Human Rights
Spring 2018 Highlights
Welcome!
The first half of 2018 has been a whirlwind of activity at the Human Rights Center. The center focuses on human rights research and advocacy--both globally and within the U.S. We have supported the research of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students on a wide range of human rights topics. We sent faculty, staff, and students to Washington DC, Texas, El Salvador, Mexico, Malawi, and beyond. We helped coordinate a university-wide, all-day workshop on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We brought together community advocates and faculty to help overcome challenges facing immigrants and refugees. We worked to develop and coordinate responses to human trafficking in the Miami Valley and across the state. We documented everyday people standing up for human rights in the borderlands and supported human rights and development in Dayton and in Africa.
Later this year we will commemorate 20 years of human rights at UD and the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This Fall we will host numerous events commemorating these milestones and we will join the world in celebrating the canonization of Blessed Oscar Romero in October.
We’ve been busy and the year is only half over. We’re looking forward to accomplishing even more this Fall when our new Executive Director, Shelley Inglis, joins us.
Peace,
Tony Talbott
Interim Executive Director
Executive Director
Shelley Inglis will bring 15 years of United Nations human rights experience to the University of Dayton when she begins her position as the Human Rights Center's executive director August 16, 2018. Inglis currently is a regional cluster leader in the UN Development Programme in Istanbul.
"I look forward to expanding the University's human rights profile and making human rights central to the entire University of Dayton footprint, plus teaching and mentoring students in a rigorous and renowned academic setting. I feel this is an extraordinary opportunity and fit for me as I'm especially interested in working in an academic institution that has a strong commitment to ethics and social justice."
Creating Global Citizens
Natalie F. Hudson, director of the University of Dayton human rights studies program, spoke at the 2018 United Nations Global Citizenship Education Seminar about the role of human rights and global citizenship education in the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, 17 goals to eliminate poverty and achieve human rights for everyone economically, socially and environmentally.
Malawi Research Practicum 2018
The sixth cohort of undergraduates - Lauren Breitenstein, Maggie Cadman, Hannah Donovan,Elizabeth Mazza and Morgan Langford - will spend their summer conducting research with Determined to Develop in the Chilumba district, northern Malawi.
The Moral Courage Project: El Paso, Texas
In May 2018, a new team of undergraduate students along with faculty members and practitioners traveled to El Paso, TX to conduct an innovative oral history project in the model of our pilot project "Ferguson Voices" but in a new environment.
Malawi Graduate Fellow 2018-2019
A 2018 graduate with degrees in Human Rights Studies and Psychology, Lauren will depart this June to Chilumba, Malawi to spend the year working as a Program Officer with Determined to Develop.
"I look forward to gaining international development experience in an organization with the common good at its core."
Graduate/Law Student Research and Advocacy Grants
The Human Rights Center selected the first cohort of graduate and law students and awarded them a stipend to support developing and implementing research or advocacy projects. The recipients are Erin Peiffer (School of Engineering -Renewable and Clean Energy), and Alysa Medina, Stephanie Bello, and Sara French (School of Law).
Global to Local Refugee and Immigration Collaborative
The Human Rights Center co-led this collaborative along with the Fitz Center, and the Center for International Programs. It brought together faculty, staff, and community partners in a semester-long series of workshops aimed at holistically addressing barriers to thriving faced by immigrants and refugees in the Dayton and across the U.S.
A Dialogue on Justice and Immigration
In collaboration with Welcome Dayton and University of Dayton Immigration Working Group, Human Rights Center Faculty Research Fellows facilitated a plenary dialogue featuring speakers from across campus and the Dayton community.
Movie Screening and Nonviolence Workshop
In partnership with the Wright Memorial Public Library, the Human Rights Center co-hosted a film screening and workshop led by the filmmakers challenging the community to understand the narratives of the Arab-Israeli conflict and explore nonviolent peace activism.
Workshop in New Delhi
Binod Kumar facilitated a two-day workshop in collaboration with the NGO Pahal. The training focused on nonviolence philosophy, history, activism, compassion, and assessment of conflicts mediated by technology and religion.
Fair Trade Campaign
The Human Rights Center co-sponsored with the Hanley Sustainability Institute a delegation to the Fair Trade Campaigns National Conference. Tony Talbott, Bradley Petrella'18 (International Studies) and Sarah Richard'19 (Mechanical Engineering) presented on the university’s successes and shared new tools for institutional and individual advocacy.
Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition
Abolition Ohio continued its advocacy work by teaming up with The SOAP Project. 60 volunteers passed out 10,000 bars of soap labeled with the National Human Trafficking Hotline Number to 68 hotels in the Dayton area during the First Four. Abolition Ohio successfully advocated for the passing SESTA/FOSTA into law and weighed in on its direct impact on commercial sex sites.
Connecting Research to Practice
The Human Rights Center released three articles in the OpenGlobalRights series featuring SPHR17 conference participants:
- Learning and Unlearning the Alchemy of Human Rights Education. — Shayna Plaut
Read in العربية |Deutsch|English | Español | Français
- Fighting for indigenous rights in the Trump era. — Tereza M. Szeghi
Read in English | Español - When sexual harassment is reframed as gender-based violence and a human rights violation, rather than just “bad behavior”, it changes the possibilities around responsibility and recourse. — Sarah Davila-Ruhaak
Read in English | Español | Français
Scholar-Practitioner in Residence: Steve Connell
Pulling from both existing material and original work created within guest artist residency, Steve Connell performed his solo "Fluent." In collaboration with students from the Human Rights Studies, and Theatre, Dance and Performance programs, Steve devised UNFINISHED - a show speaking to the importance and beauty of a human voice raised, be it in song, celebration, or protest. Watch full performance.
Events
Keep up with and join our latest events by checking our calendar.
In the News
Media highlights for the Human Rights Center team, Student Interns, and Faculty Research Fellows can be found on HRC in the news.