2017 Syllabus

Area Studies Global Teacher Seminar

Human Rights in a Global Perspective: Mass Atrocities and State-Sponsored Violence

Dates: Monday, June 5 – Friday, June 9, 2017

9:00AM-3:30PM

Jennings Hall 160

1735 Neil Ave. Columbus, Ohio 43210

 

Lead Facilitators:

Professor Tami Augustine, Department of Teaching and Learning

Professor Jenny Suchland, Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures

Kathryn Metz, Outreach Coordinator, Center for Slavic and East European Studies

Co-sponsors: 

The institute is made possible by generous funding from the US Department of Education’s International and Foreign Language Education (IFLE) Title VI grant and the Ohio Humanities Council Educator Enrichment Grant.

Outcomes: Teachers will deepen their understanding of the development of human rights law and global experiences of mass atrocities. There will be an emphasis on the evolution of human rights mechanisms, the universality of human rights, different tools to combat human rights violations, comparing experiences of mass violence and long-term consequences of mass atrocities, as well as mechanisms for reconciliation.  Participants will have the opportunity to develop a lesson plan from the materials provided during the week and will present a draft plan on Friday, June 9.  Completed lesson plans are due August 15 and teachers will be expected to integrate them into their classrooms. The lesson plans will be made available online for other teachers to access.

Resources: A key goal of the institute is to support teachers’ development or revision of class units relating to human rights.  We will provide each teacher with access to the OSU Library database, as well as resource guides for each case study, which will include links to news articles, books, videos, and human rights advocacy websites. From these resources, teachers will create a lesson plan based on one of the case studies taught at the institute. The Educator Enrichment Grant from the Ohio Humanities Council will allow for follow-up consultations between the teachers and the institute’s facilitators, lesson plan review, and assistance teaching a human rights related lesson in the fall of 2017.

Monday, June 5

  • 9:00AM-9:30AM: Introduction to Summer Institute
    • Syllabus and goals
      • Led by Kathryn Metz
  • 9:30AM-12:00PM: Introduction to the concept of Human Rights
    • Key Questions and Approaches to Human Rights
    • History of the evolution of human rights
      • Led by Dr. Jennifer Suchland
  • 1:00-3:00PM: Human Rights in the Classroom
    • What are we already teaching in the classroom?
    • What do we want to be teaching and how do we get there?
    • Discussion of ideas and goals for unit plan, and time to brainstorm
      • Led by Dr. Tami Augustine
  • 3:00-3:30PM: Resources available at OSU libraries and how to find them
    • Led by Father Ruzic, Subject specialist librarian for East European and Slavic Studies
  • 3:30-4:00PM: Walk to the Ohio Union to have Buck-IDs made

 Tuesday, June 6

  • 9:00AM-12:00PM: Human Rights: an introduction to an idea
    • Human Rights as a legal apparatus
    • Why are human rights controversial?
      • Led by Dr. Jennifer Suchland
  • 1:00PM-3:30PM: Case Study #1: Eastern Europe and Middle East
    • Causes and impacts of the Armenian Genocide & the current refugee crisis in the Middle East
      • Led by Dr. Khatchig Mouradian, Columbia University

Wednesday, June 7

  • 9:00AM-12:00PM: Case Study # 2: East Asia
    • State repression & prison camps in North Korea
    • Film screening: Camp 14 – Total Control Zone
      • Led by Dr. Mitchell Lerner, Department of History, The Ohio State University
  • 1:00PM-2:30PM: Case Study #3: Africa
    • The Somali Civil War and Diaspora
      • Led by Jibril Mohammed, lecturer of Somali language and Culture, OSU
  • 2:30-3:30: Refugee resettlement in Columbus
    • Guest speaker from CRIS: Angie Plummer, Executive Director 

Thursday, June 8

  • 9:00AM-12:00PM: Case study # 4: Latin America
    • Transitional Justice Framework
      • Led by Dean Laura Fernandez, Assistant Dean for International and Graduate Affairs, Moritz College of Law
    • Colombian civil conflict and FARC peace agreement
      • Dean Laura Fernandez with guest speaker Isabella Gomez Rueda
    • Round table discussion: Comparative transitional justice experiences in Colombia and the former Yugoslavia
      • Led by Dean Laura Fernandez & Kathryn Metz
    • Interactive activity on dispute-resolution
      • Led by Dean Fernandez
  • 1:00PM-3:30PM: Research time in the library

Friday, June 9

  • 9:00AM-10:30am: Independent research time
  • 10:30-12:00: Global Human Trafficking
    • Forced Labor and Human Rights
      • Led by Dr. Jennifer Suchland
    • 12:00-1:00PM: Working lunch catered by Freedom Ala Cart
      • Message from Dr. Jill Bystydzienski, Director, CSEES
      • Guest speaker from Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force: Sophia Papadimos
    • 1:00-3:30PM: Presentation of lesson plans, group discussions, feedback from Dr. Augustine and Dr. Suchland

This program is made possible, in part, by Ohio Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.