September | 2019

News and Opportunities

Welcome to the Class of 2023!

Welcome to the class of 2023 and to all returning students, staff, and faculty! As teachers, students, and practitioners of human rights, we're eager to renew our engagement with a community that is passionate about the study and practice of human rights. The news is full of dramatic human rights challenges -- borders and refugees, the climate crisis, the right to vote and to have housing, food, education, and work, among others. None of them will be understood or resolved without the work of individuals and communities determined to create positive change. Our commitment at the DHRC@FHI is to spark the conversations and research that will contribute to stronger rights protections. A foundation of that effort is the education we offer in the history and development of human rights ideas. We're also excited to offer ways to engage in this crucial work both at home in Durham and around the world. Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the committee that agreed to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 -- no easy time. We take up again her call for courage. “Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just one step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.” Sincerely, Robin Kirk and Erika Weinthal Co-directors of the Duke Human Rights Center@FHI

Human Rights Research Updates

This summer, five undergraduate human rights grant recipients spearheaded impactful projects -- from an exploration of community organizing after Hurricane Maria to understanding Hepatitis C rates in the North Carolina prison population. Ivan Robles worked with organizations in Puerto Rico in post-Hurricane Maria recovery efforts to understand how the disaster events has impacted frameworks for community organizing and development in Puerto Rico. "My work with Oasis de Esperanza has allowed me to confront the myriad of ways the fundamental human rights of the community’s drug-user population are neglected, namely with public policies that limit access to medication and create obstacles for intervention programs." Read more... Senior Gino Nuzzolillo researched Southern urban development in Atlanta, specifically how vulnerable communities organized in the wake of the 1906 Atlanta Race Riot. "I read hundreds of documents, including oral histories, city council minutes, even Atlanta’s first official comprehensive zoning and development plan from 1922. One document in particular, however, caught my attention, and provided me brief yet powerful evidence of Atlanta’s racial politics in the first decade of the 20th century." Read more... Selin Ocal stayed in Durham to study the implications of Hepatitis C in the North Carolina prison population. "As the end of my summer inched closer, I was able to accomplish three large goals that I had set out to complete during my time in Durham. The first was to complete a literature review focusing on the implications of Hepatitis C in US jails and prisons, where I argue that combatting the disease through screening and treatment in the correctional setting will reduce the spread of disease in the general population." Read more... Ester Kwarteng partnered with Shoulder to Shoulder, an NGO in Camasca, Honduras, to investigate the perceptions of body image amongst young adolescents and older women. She also taught English to elementary school students. "Generally, those who live in urban areas–such as in Camasca proper–tend to be a bit more conscientious about their looks, while those who live in rural areas–such as in the surrounding villages of Camasca–are not... Another trend I took note of was that the adolescent girls had more to say about their overall appearance than the older population of women." Read more... Visit the website to learn more about their projects!

2019-2020 Teaching for Equity Fellows - Health Professions Educators cohort

Last month, the Teaching for Equity Fellows program welcomed 18 faculty from the School of Medicine and School of Nursing into the 2019-2020 Health Professions Educators cohort. Fellows participated in a two-and-a-half day framework session on the Foundations of Equity. The fellowship includes monthly workshops that are specifically designed to address a number of teaching and mentoring topics that may arise around race and identity. Faculty fellows gain specific skills and strategies to create a culture that improves learning for all our students and create a learning community to collaborate and network with. Learn more here

Applications for Racial Equity Learning Arc - Due Sept. 18

If you are interested to build and develop your foundational knowledge to further develop critical consciousness around issues of race, the Duke Human Rights Center (FHI) and the Office of Civic Engagement present to you a great opportunity! The Racial Equity Learning Arc, a cohort-based series of six workshops led by Alexa Broderick of The Equity Paradigm, is open to Duke staff and faculty who have completed the Racial Equity Institute’s Phase I workshop (or a near equivalent). Participants should commit to attending at least 5 of the 6 sessions held from 8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. in Smith Warehouse on the following dates:  Thursday, October 10, 2019 Thursday, November 7, 2019 Thursday, January 9, 2020 Thursday, February 13, 2020 Thursday, March 19, 2020 Thursday, April 16, 2020  Application Deadline: 18th September, 2019 ( Apply here )

Are Concentration Camps back? And What Can We Do?

On September 11, the Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute and the Forum for Scholars and Publics held an event that asked “Are Concentration Camps Back? And What Can We Do About It?” The panelists included Claudia Koonz, Peabody Family Professor Emeritus of History; James Chappel, Hunt Family Assistant Professor of History; and Roxana Bendezú, founder of Migrant Roots Media. The discussion was moderated by Robin Kirk, Senior Lecturer of Cultural Anthropology and Co-Director of the Duke Human Rights Center@FHI. Read the Duke Today coverage of the event here .

Why the Human Rights Certificate? Interview with Isabel Shepard, '20

This interview was conducted over email with Isabel Shepard, a senior undergraduate student enrolled in the Human Rights Certificate Program, completing a major in Cultural Anthropology, by Miranda Gershoni, a second-year undergraduate student working for the Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute.   Miranda Gershoni (MG):  Why did you decide to pursue the human rights certificate? Isabel Shepard (IS): I decided to pursue the human rights certificate after participating in DukeImmerse’s program on Rights & Identities in the Americas . Taking that suite of classes showed me that learning about human rights is not simply taking classes on the topic, but learning a whole new mode of thinking that rejects and subverts the right/wrong binary we’re taught in other classes—instead, delving into the lived realities of peoples and communities. Read the rest of the interview with Isabel here .

Modern Endangered Archives Program

The Modern Endangered Archives Program (MEAP) is a UCLA Library granting program funded by The Arcadia Fund. The first competition aimed at 'Documenting Global Voices' and saw a good number (over 50), for both planning (up to $15K) and project (up to $50K). The second competition will open towards the end of September. Although the name will be revised, the MEAP objectives are expected to stay as follows: Providing open access to cultural and historical materials from around the world as a challenge to politicized and nationalized historical narratives that minimize or silence multiple voices and perspectives. Enabling digital preservation of at-risk cultural heritage from parts of the world with limited resources for archival preservation. Expanding the capacity for digital preservation around the world and building a culture of open access that can continue after the period of the grant For further details and applications, check their site out here.

Human Rights @ Duke Annual Lecture w/ Imam Omar Suleiman, "Human Rights, Faith, and the Border"

Monday, September 23 7:00 PM White Lecture Hall Duke East Campus This year Imam Omar Suleiman will give the Human Rights @ Duke Annual Lecture on Human Rights, Faith and the Border . Imam Omar Suleiman is a world renowned scholar and theologically driven activist for human rights. He is the Founder and President of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research and a professor of Islamic Studies at Southern Methodist University. Most recently, he was recognized by CNN as one of the 25 most influential Muslims in America and included amongst the Fredrick Douglass 200 most influential Americans whose modern day work embody the legacy of the great abolitionist. This event is sponsored by the Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute, Duke Human Rights Center at the Kenan Institute of Ethics, Center for Muslim Life, the Muslim Student Association, Amnesty International, Duke University Middle East Studies Center, and Duke Islamic Studies Center.

Student Opportunities

Graduate Student Opportunity: Rubenstein Library Seeks Archival Expeditions Fellows. Archival Expeditions introduces Duke graduate students to teaching with digital and physical primary sources. Each student partners with a Duke faculty sponsor to design an undergraduate course module that incorporates primary source material tailored to a specific class taught by that faculty member. Students have the option of drawing on the physical special collections of the Rubenstein Library or primary source databases and digital collections available at Duke or elsewhere. Visit the Archival Expeditions website for details and application instructions.

Refugee4Refugees: Volunteering opportunities in Greece. Refugee4Refugees is a non-governmental organization, with no political, religious, or ethnic affiliation that works at the front line of the humanitarian crisis in Greece. There are opportunities in diverse fields like social media, fundraising and advocacy that can be put to use remotely to aid the work we do; so if you don’t have the time to come to Greece but still want to make an impact, there might be lucrative possibilities of this too! The call is for volunteers of all ages and skill sets who can offer as little as 2 weeks of their time. Visit their website for further details.

CFP: The Columbia Journal of Politics and Society Seeks Undergraduate Submissions. The Journal of Politics & Society, with its particular focus on undergraduates and interdisciplinary coverage, is the only scholarly publication of its kind. Now in its twenty-eighth year, the Journal only considers academic papers submitted by undergraduates. In a process comparable to the peer review and editing procedures of professional academic journals, selected papers are rigorously edited by the Editorial Board, itself composed exclusively of undergraduates. Visit their website for information about paper and research submissions.

World Relief Durham: Internship Opportunities. We have several internships working with refugees and immigrants for Fall 2019 that we are still recruiting for. We think that Duke students with a passion for human rights would be ideal candidates for these positions. This unique opportunity will allow interns to gain global, local and professional experience, while also contributing to an organization focused on serving the most vulnerable in our community. Visit their website to get further details and apply.

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The Duke Human Rights Center @ the Franklin Humanities Institute brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars, staff and students to promote new understandings about global human rights issues.