Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Human Rights and Social Justice
Stephen Batalden, Melikian Center for Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies and History
The idea for this Research Cluster emerged from a workshop with Dr. J. Paul Martin, co-founder and former executive director of the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University and current director of human rights studies at Barnard College. His talk drew a large number of faculty and graduate students from across the university. Following Dr. Martin’s presentation, faculty representing a range of disciplines – political science, law, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, science and technology, literature, African and African-American studies, geography, and history – engaged in a lively discussion regarding the opportunities and challenges of expanding intellectual and practical engagements with human rights, incorporating interdisciplinary scholarship into policy and practice, and creating spaces where sustained engagement among scholars and practitioners can occur.
This Human Rights Research Cluster will provide the crucial first step in creating such a space. There are significant shared concerns among ASU faculty and students that are ripe for development around a range of human rights topics, including war crimes, torture, and other serious violations; transitional justice; struggles for autonomy by Native American nations; the rights of women and gender justice; immigration debates and the relationship between citizenship and rights; the role of economic and social rights for just societies; the accountability of non-state actors for human rights abuses; and the political and institutional structures involved in addressing human rights. In addition, there is expressed interest in exploring sources of human rights knowledge and representation in varying cultural discourses and mediums, including literature, history, film and the arts.
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Human Rights and Social Justice will meet the final Wednesday of the month from 12:00-1:30 in Coor 4403. Those dates are: September 24, October 29, and November 26.