How to Fight for Human Rights in the 21st Century

My department has an MA program in international affairs, which has attached to it the Human Rights in Iran unit. On Tuesday, February 24, at 6 pm, the human rights professionals who are part of the Unit will be hosting an exciting mini-clinic on how to run a human rights campaign. Faculty from our MA program will also be there to answer questions about our department and masters program. You have to register in advance; seating is limited. Check out this announcement below.

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Mini-Clinic with the Human Rights in Iran Unit: Twenty-First Century Tricks of the Trade for Running a Human Rights Campaign

Almost everyone these days seems to be behind the idea of human rights.  But how can advocates move human rights issues to the front and center of policy debates?  How can advocates get states and international organizations to promote and enforce rights?

This three-hour mini-clinic—by human rights professionals with years of experience working for the United Nations, governments, and top human rights NGOs—is a practicum on how advocates can set their goals, frame their messages, and spread the word, especially through online campaigning using diaspora communities.  At the practicum, you will help craft and translate policy ideas for different target audiences, from journalists to lawmakers to the general public. And then you will walk through the process of structuring a human rights campaign.

By the end of the clinic, you will be able to:

  •    Formulate a policy objective for any human rights issue
  •    Locate stakeholders and points of influence
  •    Choose your advocacy strategy and activities to further your objectives
  •    Use media and social media to amplify your message

This practicum will provide you with the practical aspects of human rights work that major human rights and international organizations value.  If you are studying international affairs or are planning a career that promotes human rights, this clinic is for you.

The event will be conducted by the Human Rights in Iran unit, which provides research support for the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran.  The unit is affiliated with the International Affairs Masters Program at the Department of Political Science at Brooklyn College.

Here is the date/time/place of the event:

Tuesday, February 24, 6-9 pm

City University of New York, 25 Broadway, 7th Floor Auditorium

Subways: 2/3 Wall Street and 4/5 Bowling Green

The clinic is open to advanced undergraduates, MA, and PhD students or professionals at any NYC-metro areas institutions or organization. Registration is required by February 23 by emailing your name to politicalscience@brooklyn.cuny.edu.

For information about Brooklyn College’s MA in International Affairs, see http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/academics/schools/socialsciences/graduate/polisci.php.  Deadline for applications is April 1 for Fall 2015.

One Comment

  1. BillR February 10, 2015 at 8:44 am | #

    Human Rights had its heyday near the very end of the last century, but the media-savvy tactics of its legal-eagles to focus laser-like on creating “emotional petting zoo[s]” while studiously avoiding anything to do with economic aspects of the grandiosely titled Universal Declaration of Human Rights from the first half of last century mean that this “last utopia” too will be consigned to little more than professional resume-padding in the long line of tired discarded academic fads:

    http://gawker.com/why-is-south-sudan-a-hellhole-blame-george-clooney-1683838565

    http://www.salon.com/2010/09/23/the_last_utopia_samuel_moyn

    http://cassian.memphis.edu/counterpoint/samuel-moyn.mp3

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