Liberal Arts Education and the Teaching of Human Rights: October 14-15, 2005

The University of Chicago Human Rights Program announces a conference to support the development of human rights curriculum in the humanities and social sciences. Liberal arts education aspires to educate students as citizens, not merely as biologists, business people, or English teachers. Research and teaching in human rights integrate exploration of the questions of human freedom at the core of liberal arts education with critical examination of the institutions designed to promote and protect human freedom in the contemporary world. Promotion of human rights education at the undergraduate level would help to combat American exceptionalism and give the next generation of American leadership a rights language in common with their peers across the globe.

This conference will bring together faculty from human rights programs and individuals teaching human rights courses based in the humanities and social sciences in what promises to be a stimulating day of discussion in disciplinary workshops and interdisciplinary exchange.

The conference will start at 3:00 p.m on Friday October 14 with a talk by University of Chicago Professor James Chandler on the challenges of interdisciplinarity. Panels and workshops dedicated to disciplinary perspectives in the social sciences and humanities will follow on Saturday. There will also be sessions devoted to programmatic and pedagogic questions involving the integration of internships into curriculum, the use of film as a teaching tool, the tension between activism and the academy, and other topics. Attendees include faculty and advanced graduate students, with a particular emphasis on younger scholars beginning their careers.

Registration: The conference and meals are free; registration is required and will be limited to 40 participants. We have reserved a block of rooms at a downtown hotel for a reasonable price and we will provide transportation between the hotel and campus.

To register, go to: http://humanrights.uchicago.edu

For more information: call Maureen Loughnane at 773-834-0957 or email her at human-rights@uchicago.edu.