About the Project
One of the Human Rights Collective’s areas of focus between 2022 and 2024 was the Human Rights Training Program, funded by the UBC Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund. This project aimed to develop a coordinated and resourced network of people, modules and courses dedicated to interdisciplinary learning and research about Human Rights education while enhancing the necessary training available to students and scholars researching and enacting Human Rights.
Objectives
- Provide an annual Human Rights advocacy and research seminar series, resources and a network for students to support course work or co-curricular activities.
- Develop standalone modules for skills training in the field of Human Rights for faculty members teaching/supervising research.
- Provides faculty teaching in the field of Human Rights with a network of colleagues and a range of additional materials to include in their courses beyond their own areas of expertise that complement the learning goals of their courses, including support for applied research/experiential learning in their courses.
- Develop and pilot a 300-level, interdisciplinary course that allows students to engage with Human Rights topics that incorporates the module content as it relates to the topics of study and the experiential learning projects embedded in the course.
Impact
- Through the project deliverables, the HRC will provide faculty and students with structured and supported experiential learning opportunities to engage with topics, theories and approaches to complex issues involving Human Rights.
- The interdisciplinary focus of this project not only creates spaces for shared expertise and resources, avoiding siloed and duplicated work, it directly advances multiple strategies towards transformative learning and global engagement, exemplifying the assertion that “when students across a range of programs work together, the result is a rich, high-level learning experience that builds expertise in ways no individual, discipline-based course can achieve” (UBC Strategic Plan).
Project Deliverables
Human Rights Collective Resource Catalog
The HRC Resource Catalog was launched in the fall of 2023 on the HRC Website and Canvas Catalog. Developed as a part of the TLEF project, this interdisciplinary hub aims to enhance student learning in the field of human rights. It provides students and faculty members with opportunities to learn valuable information and skills for human rights research and advocacy beyond their own expertise.
The Catalog contains various online resources, including video excerpts from discussion panels, news articles, and documents on human rights topics like academic freedom, media monitoring, trauma, creative arts, and environmental rights. Faculty members can survey the Catalog and include any applicable resources as supplementary materials in their courses. Moreover, students interested in human rights can explore the Catalog in order to strengthen their learning outside of the classroom.
The materials on the Resource Catalog have been collected from past lectures, workshops, and panels hosted by the HRC/ORICE, as well as online resources.
Supervisors: Dr. Jenny Peterson, Tamara Baldwin, Developers: Noah Stuart, Emma Villalobos, Audrea Wang, Nastya Mozolevych, Niyati Sharma
Workshop Series: “Challenging Human Rights Stereotypes” & “Activating Advocacy”
“Challenging Human Rights Stereotypes” Workshop Series
During the 2022W academic year, UBC HRC hosted this seminar series to introduce students to critical discussions, practical skills, and cutting-edge interdisciplinary approaches to human rights issues. The theme for these workshops focuses on challenging the stereotypes related to human rights work: how are issues of human rights represented in media and literature; who does human rights work; are human rights always about humans; and where in the world do we need human rights work?
- (De)humanizing? Critiquing Representations of Human Rights in Film with Dr. Alessandra Santos and Dr. William Brown
- Through the Lens: Image Use and Implications with Dr. Jenny Peterson
- Exposing Normalized Violence in Canada with Dr. Tricia Logan and Naomi Moses
- Trauma-Informed Community Care with Nastya Mozolevych
- Human Rights and the Environment: Are Human Rights only about Humans? with Dr. David Boyd
- Youth and Human Rights: Can young people save the world? with Vedanshi Vala, Ziyaan Virji, and Niyati Sharma
Supervisors: Dr. Jenny Peterson, Tamara Baldwin, Developers: Audrea Wang, Niyati Sharma, Max Bogpene, Facilitators: Dr. Alessandra Santos, Dr. William Brown, Dr. Jenny Peterson, Dr. Tricia Logan, Naomi Moses, Nastya Mozolevych, Dr. David Boyd, Vedanshi Vala, Ziyaan Virji, and Niyati Sharma
“Activating Advocacy” Workshop Series
During Term 1 of the 2023 Winter Session, UBC HRC hosted three workshops as part of their “Activating Advocacy” series, providing interactive learning opportunities in human rights advocacy, policy analysis, and data visualization strategies. Participants in these workshops learned key advocacy techniques, such as reaching out and talking to government representatives; policy analysis strategies, including problem structuring; and data visualization techniques, such as creating visualizations that can convey disparities to a wide audience.
- Human Rights Advocacy 101 with Don Wright
- Policy Analysis Fundamentals with Dr. Grace Jaramillo
- Getting Started with Data Visualization for Human Right with Dr. Kemi Ola
Supervisors: Dr. Jenny Peterson, Tamara Baldwin, Developers: Emma Villalobos, Noah Stuart, Max Bogpene, Facilitators: Don Wright, Dr. Grace Jaramillo, Dr. Kemi Ola
Academic Course: PPGA 391A – Human Rights in a Globalized World
During Term 2 of the 2023 Winter Session, the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs piloted a new interdisciplinary undergraduate course in human rights in collaboration with the UBC Human Rights Collective and the UBC Office of Regional and International Community Engagement. PPGA 391A: Human Rights in a Globalized World: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Practical Applications offered a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to gain hands-on experience in human rights work. The course took an interdisciplinary lens to explore the theory and practice of human rights work in a globalized world. The interdisciplinary course content touched on themes of environmental rights, AI and data rights, artistic activism, and legal and political approaches to human rights challenges. Students learned the opportunities and impediments in rights-based work and participated in experiential learning activities, including community-partner group projects. Students were paired with community partners involved in human rights work addressing areas including civil and political rights, migrant worker rights, and disability rights.