This symposium addressed the human rights implications raised by the current conflict between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah.  It examined the limitations of the international system that has sustained the conflict. We asked what alternative configurations can be imagined to secure political and human rights for both Israelis and Palestinians?

War is being declared on the body and sexual autonomy is under assault for LGBTQ+ people and those seeking safe and legal access to abortion.  Focusing on human rights and an international perspective, our symposium brought together scholars, survivors and legal experts to discuss the politics of sexual and reproductive rights.

View the full program here.

This Symposium explored war crimes, crimes against humanity and alleged genocide arising from the conflict. It also revisited the enduring dichotomy between Russian authoritarian imperialism and Ukrainian democratic nationalism.

This Symposium explored achievements and missteps in implementing socialism in China, India, Scandinavia, and Latin America.  It weighed socialism’s value in addressing global challenges of climate change, economic inequality, and human rights abuses.

COVID-19 first appeared in China and soon became a global pandemic, but the polities of East Asia were relatively successful in containing it. Some African states adopted harsh measures to suppress the pathogen while others drew on experience with AIDS and Ebola to mount effective responses. The U.S. was notably ineffective in responding to the pandemic. This symposium explored these contradictions and complexities and discussed the decline in positive international cooperation.

In the past year, we have witnessed popular uprisings that have led to changes in governments in Algeria, Sudan, and Puerto Rico. At the same time, the United States has used various methods to encourage or force regime change in Iran, Syria, and Venezuela. Internal popular uprisings are often undertaken on pretexts of defending or extending human rights, but they can sometimes result in abuses of human rights. And calls for regime change in the name of “democracy” and “human rights” are often used to justify imperial intervention resulting in additional domestic repression.

This symposium examined manifestations of global warming in Africa, its differential impacts on African populations, and the successes and failures of African and international institutions as they attempt to mitigate the climate change process, develop sustainable economies, and ensure social resilience.

In recent years, China has been playing increasingly active roles in Africa. This symposium examined the Chinese record in sub-Saharan Africa in comparison with those of European countries and the United States.

We like to view counterterrorism as an essential policy to keep innocent people safe, and electoral politics as a way to protect human rights. Yet, counterterrorism measures can result in immigration policies and military tactics that violate human rights, and elections and referenda may provide opportunities for racist demagoguery, nativist discrimination, and violence against civilians. This symposium explored the counterintuitive relationships, and sought ways to mitigate the unwanted side effects resulting from such policies and institutions.

In an effort to enhance understanding of the dynamics of the recent flows of people from Africa and the Middle East to Europe, we explored the historical roots and global dimensions of this explosion of forced migration and human trafficking. We also discussed the conditions that permit the persistence of slavery in our times, and learned how we can act to alleviate those conditions.

The Community Roundtable addressed topics of the previous days’ symposium and included discussion between three symposium speakers and community members.

The symposium examined Islamist groups in Africa and elsewhere, such as Boko haram, Seleka, and Al-Shabaab, and also considered cultural values, global interests, socioeconomic conditions, and human rights.

This commemorative symposium on the Rwandan genocide brought together leading Rwandan survivors and experts on the origins, course, and consequences of that catastrophe.

This was the first symposium hosted by the Alison Des Forges Memorial Committee honoring the life and work of human rights activist Alison Des Forges (1942-2009).

A screening of the film My Neighbor, My Killer and discussion with the filmmaker, Anne Aghion, was held on April 12, 2012.