Monthly Archives: February 2008

Human Rights Archives and Documentation Symposium

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The Thomas J. Dodd Research Center and the Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut are hosting a symposium, “Human Rights Archives and Documentation:  Transforming Ideas into Practice” on March 3-4, 2008.

The Center for Research Libraries Global Resources Network and the Center for Human Rights Documentation at Columbia University Libraries are co-sponsoring the event. 

This one and a half day symposium will bring together archivists, librarians, and human rights scholars together to address specific needs and unique issues in human rights documentation and to create strategies for the future.  The keynote address for the symposium will be the Sackler Distinguished Lecture in Human Rights with the Honorable Patricia Wald, who served on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.  The Sackler Lecture, on March 3, at 4 PM in Konover Auditorium at the Dodd Research Center, is free and open to the public. 

The second day of the program will consist of working group sessions with human rights archivists and librarians to share information and address issues specific to human rights documentation.  More information is available on our website.   

Raymond and Beverly Distinguished Sackler Lecture with the Honorable Patricia Wald

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Patricia Wald, who served for two decades on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and also was U.S. Judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague, Netherlands, will deliver the 14th Annual Raymond and Beverly Sackler Distinguished Lecture in Human Rights.

Her talk, “Perplexing Predicaments in Human Rights Law: Women, Terror, and Tribunals,” will take place at Konover Auditorium in the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, beginning at 4 p.m on Monday, March 3.

Wald received her bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College and her law degree from Yale Law School, were she was editor of the Law Journal. She began her career as a law clerk to Judge Jerome Frank of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

She was an associate in the Washington, D.C. firm of Arnold, Fortas & Porter; an attorney in the Office of Criminal Justice of the Department of Justice; attorney for Neighborhood Legal Services; member of the District of Columbia Crime Commission; co-director of the Ford Foundation’s Project on Drug Abuse; attorney with the Center for Law and Social Policy; and litigation director of the Mental Health Law Project.In 1977, Wald was appointed Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs in the U.S. Department of Justice; and in 1979 President Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where she served until her retirement in 1999. From 1999 to 2001, she served on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, where she rendered significant decisions in the field of international humanitarian law.From 2002 to 2004, she was chair of the Open Society Justice Initiative; and from 2004 to 2005, was a member of the President’s Commission on U.S. Intelligence Capabilities Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction.Wald is a council member and former first vice president of the American Law Institute and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

She is the author of Law and Poverty (1965), and co-author of Bail in the United States (1964) and Dealing with Drug Abuse (1973). She has also published many articles on a wide range of legal subjects.Wald is a fellow of the American Philosophical Society and a former member of the executive board of the American Bar Association’s Central European and Eurasian Institute.She received the American Bar Association Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award; the annual award of the Environmental Law Institution; and the annual award of the International Human Rights Law Group.

She has received many honorary degrees from universities and law schools, including most recently the degree of Doctor of Law at Yale University.

Upcoming Human Rights Events at UConn

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February is packed full with human rights events!  Here are some lectures happening in the next week!

 Monday, February 18, 2008:

David Held, Graham Wallas Professor of Political Science Co-director of the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics will speak on “Global Challenge: Creating Effective and Accountable Global Policies.” 

Presented by the Human Rights Institute & the Center for International Business & Education Research (CIBER)

Monday, February 18, 2008
Konover Auditorium
Thomas J. Dodd Research Center
4:00pm – Reception to follow

Tuesday, February 18, 2008:

 Eugene Harkins, author of Where Witch Birds Fly, will give a lecture, “Human Rights and Sierra Leone.  Sponsored by the UNESCO Chair & Institute of Comparative Human Rights.

Eugene Harkins’ lecture will not only highlight the devastation caused by the civil war in Sierra Leone, but will focus on the sense of hope and the democratic renewal occurring in the country since the civil war.  He will also provide updates on the Charles Taylor trial presently before the Hague.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008
12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
CUE Room 122
University of Connecticut, Storrs

 Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Mary Crawford (Psychology) will speak on “Sex Trafficking in Nepal: A Critical Feminist Analysis” 

Wednesday, February 20, 2008
 4:00 – 5:30 pm
CLAS 301, University of Connecticut, Storrs
Refreshments Served

Sponsored by the UConn Humanities Institute.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Screening of Invisible Children, sponsored by Love146.  (See Love146’s Facebook group for more information)

7:00- 8:30 PM
Konover Auditorium,
Thomas J. Dodd Research Center
University of Connecticut, Storrs

 Monday, February 25, 2008

Robin Romano, “Migrant Child Labor in the USA”. 

Romano is a reknowned human rights photographer, filmmaker, and educator who will be screening segemnts of his new film, “The Harvest/La Cosecha” as well as segments from his award winning documentary on child labor, “Stolen Childhoods.”  Romano will speak on related policy issues in the United States and internationally. 

Monday, February 25, 2008
4 PM
Konover Auditorium
Thomas J. Dodd Research Center
University of Connecticut, Storrs

UConn Student Activist Conference

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Idealists United has created a conference that will teach students how to move beyond charity and take a step toward advocacy. The aim of this conference is to train students in strategies that will allow them to overcome typical barriers to progress and become more effective activists, regardless of cause. Our hope is to give you, the student, the confidence and knowledge needed to create change within the societal issues you feel most passionate about.

            The conference will take place in the Dodd Center Saturday, February 23rd from 10am-6pm. For more information or to register stop by the Human Rights Institute or e-mail Idealists.united@gmail.com.

The conference will contain a keynote speaker, 3 sets of workshops, a peer-networking lunch, and a closing activity.The workshops are as follows:

Set 1:
Leading a Successful Meeting
Talking with Your Peers about Controversial Issues
Grassroots media

Set 2:
Effectively Lobbying Politicians
Getting the Media to Listen
Coalition Building

Set 3:
Running Successful Promotional Events
Leading a Direct Action Campaign
Creating a Social Movement

Conference registration will end on February 14th at 11:00pm. Students will still be able to attend the conference if they are not registered, but only registered students will be guaranteed a free lunch and have their choice of workshops.

To register drop-off a completed registration form at Human Rights Institute or send your name, workshop preference (ordered 1-3 for each set), organization name(s) if applicable, and any leadership role you hold within the organization(s) to Idealists.United@gmail.com.  Feel free to send any questions or comments to this address as well.

Human Rights Film Series– Tying the Knot– Feb. 12, 2008

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My apologies for the infrequency of postings here– February and March are jam-packed with events and work deadlines, so I haven’t been posting here as much as I’d hoped! 

But there are lots of human rights events coming up, and I’ve been ordering new books for the library, so keep checking back for further information.

The 2007-2008 Human Rights Film Series, “A Cinematic Exploration through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights” continues with our first film of 2008, Tying the Knot, on Tuesday, February 12, at 6 PM in Konover Auditorium at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center. 

A description of Tying the Knot (2004) is below. 

“When a bank robber’s bullet ends the life of police officer Lois Marrero, her wife of thirteen years, Mickie, is honored as her surviving spouse but denied all pension benefits. When Sam, an Oklahoma rancher, loses his beloved husband of 22 years, long-estranged cousins of his late spouse try to lay claim to everything Sam has. As Mickie and Sam’s lives are put on trial, they are forced to confront the tragic reality that in the eyes of the law their marriages mean nothing. From an historical trip to the Middle Ages, to gay hippies storming the Manhattan marriage bureau in 1971, Tying the Knot digs deeply into the past and present to uncover the meaning of civil marriage in America today.”  (From the film’s website)