Duke News’ Geoffrey Mock recaps the Duke University Center for International Studies’ recent Faculty Institute for Global Studies, headed by Robin Kirk, entitled “Human Rights and Wrongs.” The Summer 2009 Institute, held July 13th through 17th at the John Hope Franklin Center, brought together expert speakers from across the country, was aimed at providing faculty members of North Carolina’s small liberal arts and community colleges with tools and insights to help them connect more effectively with their students, when discussing human rights history, as well as ongoing issues.
During the week, the teachers engaged Duke professors and local human rights activists in discussions about the history, theory and practice of human rights.Claudia Koonz, a Duke history professor, talked about teaching the Holocaust. Activists with the Duke student-founded Student Action With Farmworkers discussed how they combine classroom and activism. A trip to key Durham sites in the Civil Rights movement showed how hands-on learning is used in teaching human rights.
Human rights is not a static field, Kirk said. “When you teach about slavery, students are often amazed to find out just how ingrained it was in society,” Kirk said. “Everyone took it for granted. We look at it now, and wonder how that could be? It wasn’t until activists challenged that notion that people slowly started to take notice. The process of how that happens is fascinating to teach.”
Read more at Duke News and Communications: Teaching Human Rights.
