Human Rights Initiative
Recipients of the Human Rights Initiative Funding for the 2009-2010 Academic Year
Forum on Disabilities, Human Rights, and Social Inclusion, submitted by Kathryn Libal, UConn School for Social Work
The Forum on Disabilities will be held both at the School for Social Work, and at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, and will feature Dr. Gunn Strand Hutchinson, of Bodo University College, Norway, who has been active within international social work on the Disabilities Convention, as well as a local speakers and activists who are experts on the American Disabilities Act and the debate over US ratification of the Convention. The events are tentatively scheduled for Spring 2010.
The Asylum and Human Rights Law Clinic, submitted by Jon Bauer, UConn School of Law
The Asylum and Human Rights Law Clinic is an intensive law school clinical program in which students, under faculty supervision, represent clients who are seeking political asylum in the United States. Clinic students interview and counsel clients, investigate facts supporting their claims, research human rights conditions in the client’s home country, prepare supporting documentation, affidavits and a legal brief in support of the asylum application, and represent clients at asylum interviews and hearings. The clinic will also conduct an outreach program for undergraduate students at the Storrs campus.
The Parkville Project, submitted by Helene Kvale, Department of Dramatic Arts
The Parkville Project is an original site-specific piece of theatre which weaves text, music, and puppetry into a magical realist narrative, exploring immigration and identity within the Brazilian and Portuguese communities of the Parkville neighborhood in Hartford. A workshop of The Parkville Project will be held in conjunction with the conference, Human Rights in the USA, on October 23, 2009, and further developed for a full scale production in 2010.
The Litchfield County Writers Project Panels on Human Rights, submitted by Davyne Verstandig, Director of the Litchfield County Writers Project, UConn-Torrington
The Litchfield County Writers Project will host a series of evening panel discussions during Fall 2009, entitled “Justice, Injustice, and Human Rights.” The series will merge literature and human rights, and will focus on four main themes: The Power of Media in Human Rights; The Justice System? Convictions and Innocence; Film, Plays and Gay Rights; and PEN: Writers on Human Rights.
Exhibition: The Spirit of Afghanistan: Carpets of War and Hope, submitted by Karen Sommer, William Benton Museum of Art
This exhibition during the fall of 2009 will display 50 Afghan carpets created since 1979 when the wars started in Afghanistan. The carpet industry, worked by women, thrives in Afghanistan and is its largest legal export despite continuous wars. The modern carpets incorporate traditional design elements yet are constantly evolving and changing, some now depicting elements of warfare, such as landmines, grenades, and guns into traditional patterns. This collection of carpets and textiles are viewed not just as art, but also as expressions of culture, history, and human rights.
Conference: Hope in Hard Times: The Human Rights of Domestic Workers, submitted by Fe Delos Santos, Asian American Studies Institute
This conference on domestic workers rights will explore the political and economic dimensions of gender/care work and human rights campaigns by domestic workers. While media coverage of the current economic downturn has largely focused on the losses of the affluent, the conference will focus on the struggles of the unheralded, low-wage, and mostly immigrant workers from the perspectives of activism, policy and scholarship. The conference is planned to be held in March 2010 and is a collaborative effort between various centers, institutes, and departments on campus.
Forum: Representing Crisis in Latin America: Humanitarianism and Beyond, submitted by Kerry Bystrom, Department of English
This roundtable discussion will be organized around a set of questions raised at the Foundation of Humanitarianism Program’s October 2008 conference on Humanitarianism and Responsibility. Participants in this two hour roundtable will address the specific questions regarding the discourse surrounding humanitarianism and US relations and obligations to Latin America. The audience will have the opportunity to ask questions of the panelists and engage with participants.
IMPAX Global Health and Human Rights Film Series, submitted by Naomi Avery and Lauren Rosen, UConn Medical School
IMPAX, (International Medical Practice Action and eXchange) is a student organization serving medical and dental students interested in global health and medical service projects abroad. The Global Health and Human Rights Film Series will screen four films on a variety of global health issues, and will invite local and regional experts on the topic to lead a discussion following the films. Two films will be from the Human Rights Film Collection at Homer Babbidge Library, and two films will be purchased for the IMPAX film series and then added to the Human Rights Film Collection.