10 Years of Human Rights at the University of Iowa: Celebrating the Center for Human Rights
*Please check back frequently for new updates to our schedule!
Schedule of Activities
Tuesday-Friday, November 3-6, 2009: Human Rights Film Series
All films are at 7:00 PM
November 3- Milk
Shambaugh Auditorium, followed by a panel discussion featuring Tyler Mooers (UI Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender and Allied Union), Andrea Jansa (One Iowa) and Ann Estin (College of Law)
November 4- Voices from Inside: Israelis Speak
Shambaugh Auditorium, featuring Vicki Hesli (UI Political Science)
November 5- Garbage Dreams
Phillips Hall 100, followed by a panel discussion featuring Sujatha Sosale (Journalism and Mass Communication), Liz Christiansen (UI Office of Sustainability) and Jennifer Jordan ( Eco Iowa City)
November 6- Pray the Devil Back to Hell
Shambaugh Auditorium, Featuring Wayne Douglas Doe (Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Diaspora Project National Advisory Committee). Also see the Advocates for Human Rights for more information.
See the Landlocked Film Festival web site for more information about this film series.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Sparks Fly Upward: Learning About the Holocaust, Defying Genocide
7:00- 9:00 pm, UI Music Recital Hall, 1670 UCC
The Marvin and Rose Lee Pomerantz Lecture Series and the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, US Holocaust Memorial Museum Present "The Sparks Fly Upward: Learning About the Holocaust, Defying Genocide." The lecture will be delivered by Cathy Mansfield (Composer/Librettist and Drake Law School Professor) and examine how a seemingly civilized society degenerated into genocide in a few short years and the difference that a single individual can make to the survival of another in the midst of genocide.
The presentation features historical photographs of Berlin and Germany from the years before and during the Holocaust, a short film about a rescuer from the Holocaust and from Rwanda, and musical selections from The Sparks Fly Upward, a musical drama composed by Mansfield that follows three German families in Berlin, two Jewish and one Christian, through the Holocaust, beginning in the autumn of 1938 with the events building up to Kristallnacht.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Children's Human Rights Today: Challenges and Prospects
7:00- 8:30 pm, 1117 UCC (**this is the updated and correct location for this event)
In honor of the 20th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), UICHR will host a panel discussion on "Children's Human Rights Today: Challenges and Prospects." Joan Nashelsky (UICHR Program Assistant) will moderate the discussion.
- Special guest Jonathan Todres, (Georgia State University Law School, and Campaign to Ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child) will be featured in the panel
- Bev Witwer (Teacher/Participant in the UICHR Child Labor Initiative), Burns Weston (Bessie Dutton Murray Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus; Senior Scholar, UI Center for Human Rights; Project Director, Climate Legacy Initiative), and Rex Honey (UI Geography)
Friday, November 13, 2009
Activist Lawyering: Fighting the Good Fight and Even Winning (Sometimes)
12:40- 2:00 pm, 225 Boyd Law Building
Lawyers & Leaders forum featuring Michael Ratner (President of the Center for Constitutional Rights Board of Directors, Professor at Columbia Law School) "Activist Lawyering: Fighting the Good Fight and Even Winning (Sometimes)."
Human Rights Research and Teaching at the UI: UI Faculty Colloquium
2:00- 4:00 pm, 2520D UCC (**this is the updated and correct location for this event)
This panel will be an opportunity for the university community to hear faculty members from across the university and its diverse colleges and disciplines discuss ways in which human rights issues, both domestic and international, infuse their teaching and research. The topics include health disparities and access to care, immigrant rights, artistic representation of human rights, and women’s rights in international conflict zones. Coordinated by Lon Moeller (UI College of Business) and Shel Stromquist (UI History).
- Colloquium Panelists include: Sonia Ryang (UI Anthropology), Omar Valerio-Jimenez (UI History), Adrien Wing (UI Law) and Mary Cohen (UI College of Education)
Worldways Premiere
5:00- 7:30 pm, Old Capitol Senate Chamber
Worldways taped for television production with Joan Kjaer.
- Courage of Conviction Award will be presented by President Mason to Michael Ratner (President of the Center for Constitutional Rights Board of Directors, Professor at Columbia Law School)
- Courage of Conviction Award The Courage of Conviction Award is an annual award presented by the UI Center for Human Rights, recognizing an individual or organization who has demonstrated extraordinary commitment to human rights principles. The recipient of this award has shown long-term dedication through effective action to the meaningful advancement of dignity and justice for all people, and remarkable character by giving human rights a voice where it has none. This award recognizes the tremendous strength and integrity required of the individual advocate to act for the common good and the rights of individuals in the face of resistance and opposition, and often at political or personal cost.
- Michael Ratner (President of the Center for Constitutional Rights Board of Directors, Professor at Columbia Law School) in conversation with former UICHR director Burns Weston about current international human rights issues
- Tribute to Dr. Ignacio Ponseti whose “Ponseti Method” has changed the lives of children all over the world who were born with club foot
- Live musical performance by Stephen Swanson (baritone) and David Gompper (piano) of “Songs of War”
- Young human rights professionals exploring issues such as child labor, human trafficking and immigrant rights
- Discussion of the Philippine Reservation at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and the 1,000 Filipinos who were brought to the US to live and work on the reservation; artifacts made by the Filipinos are on view in the Old Capitol Museum
**Tune in online from 5-7 p.m. tonight for the live stream of the inaugural event!**
“Worldways” will be broadcast on UITV at the following times: |
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| Saturday, November 21, 6:00 PM ~8:00 PM | Saturday, December 5, 6:00 PM ~8:00 PM |
| Sunday, November 22, 12:00 AM ~2:00 AM | Sunday, December 6, 12:00 AM ~2:00 AM |
| Sunday, November 22, 9:00 AM ~11:00 AM | Sunday, December 6, 9:00 AM ~11:00 AM |
| Sunday, November 22, 3:00 PM ~ 5:00 PM | Sunday, December 6, 3:00 PM ~ 5:00 PM |
And on KRUI, 89.7 at the following times: |
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| Saturday, November 21, 3:00 PM ~ 5:00 PM | Saturday, December 5, 9:00 AM ~ 11:00 AM |
UICHR@10 Reception
7:30 pm, Old Capitol Rotunda
Reception with Michael Ratner (President of the Center for Constitutional Rights Board of Directors, Professor at Columbia Law School) with cake and heavy appetizers in celebration of UICHR's 10th anniversary
Saturday, November 14, 2009
“The National Security State: It Did Not Begin With “W” Nor Will It End With “O”
9:00-10:00 am, Old Capitol Senate Chamber
Opening remarks and welcome by Gregory Hamot (Director, UICHR; UI College of Education)
Keynote Address by Michael Ratner (President of the Center for Constitutional Rights Board of Directors, Professor at Columbia Law School) , introduction by Burns Weston (Bessie Dutton Murray Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus; Senior Scholar, UI Center for Human Rights; Project Director, Climate Legacy Initiative)
Panel 1: Labor Rights, Migration and Empowering Vulnerable Populations: The Way Forward
10:15-11:45 am, Old Capitol Senate Chamber
Moderated by Shel Stromquist (UI History)
Panelists include:
- Thea Lee (Deputy Chief of Staff at the AFL-CIO) on the relationship between U.S. trade policy and U.S. immigration policy
- Steve Meili (Law Professor University of MN Law) on the rights of migrants, the evolution of these rights over the last decade, and how new obligations could inform international and domestic policies on immigration
- David Vasquez (Pastor and Founder of the Postville Archive Luther College) on "The End Game: Postville as a cautionary tale"
UICHR Retrospective and Boxed Lunch
12:00-1:15 pm, 1117 UCC
UICHR Retrospective & Boxed Lunch. Burns Weston, Dorothy Paul and Rex Honey will give a presentation during lunch on the founding and past accomplishments of the UICHR
Panel 2: Human Rights and Gender: Domestic and International Perspectives
1:30-3:00 pm, Old Capitol Senate Chamber
Moderated by Lisa Heineman (UI History)
Panelists include:
- Karen Musalo ( Clinical Professor of Law and Director, Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at the University of California-Hastings) on "Gendered Persecution and the Rights to Protection"
- Chivy Sok (Human Rights Consultant and former Deputy Director of the UICHR) on "Time to Bring CEDAW Home: Ratifying the Women's Rights Convention"
- Mehrangiz Kar (Lawyer, Activist, and fellow, Scholars at Risk ) on “Human Rights and Women in Iran: Beyond June 12th”
Panel 3: The Challenge of Climate Change: Pursuit of Intergenerational Justice
3:30-5:00 pm, Old Capitol Senate Chamber
Panelists include
- Tom Athanasiou (Founder, Director of Eco Equity) on "Waking Up to a Climate Constrained World"
- Jerry Schnoor (Allen S. Henry Chair in Engineering; Co-Director Center for Global & Regional Environmental Research; Editor-in-Chief of the Environmental Science and Technology Journal) on "Climate is Changing and People are Affected Already"
- Burns Weston (Bessie Dutton Murray Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus; Senior Scholar, UI Center for Human Rights; Project Director, Climate Legacy Initiative) on "Expanding Human Rights Discourse and Practice"
UICHR Award Presentations and Dramatic Readings
7:00 pm, Old Capitol Senate Chamber
UICHR Awards presented:
- Articles in Art student Studio Art Contest Winners announced
- Human Rights Playwrights Awards announced
- Recognition of UICHR Logo designer
8:00-9:00 pm, Old Capitol Senate Chamber
Dramatic readings by Human Rights Playwrights Awards winners
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Student Activist Summit/Workshop
11:00 am- 2:30 pm, 1117 UCC
Student Summit with lunch provided by the Bread Garden Market.