In 1994, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 1995 to 2004 to be the UN Decade for Human Rights Education. Non-governmental organizations, educators and human rights advocates around the world worked to further promote human rights education. In many countries, including Turkey, the Philippines and Albania, human rights education is a requirement and included in national curricula.
In the United States, however, human rights education remains relatively rare. But within the last 10 years, an increasing number of secondary, college and university-level institutions have developed new courses, minors, majors and even Ph.D programs in human rights.
The teaching of human rights can provide future citizens with tools both to synthesize current knowledge in new ways, understand the complexities and nuances of rights and formulate innovative advances to human rights protections around the world, including in the United States. Students grounded in the history, development and practice of human rights can make a significant contribution to the current challenges facing the world today.
At the Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute, we are compiling resources for teachers from high school through post-graduate studies. Some materials are well-suited to secondary school toward while others are be best for graduate-level or professional students.
Please write us at dhrc.fhi@duke.edu with additions, comments and suggestions!
HUMAN RIGHTS CURRICULA
University of Chicago human rights curriculum development project: a compilation of curricula from leading U.S. universioties
University of Minnesota Human Rights Resource Center: a rich resource for curricula, documents and films
Human Rights Education Associates: Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) is an international non-governmental organisation that supports human rights learning; the training of activists and professionals; the development of educational materials and programming; and community-building through on-line technologies. HREA teamed with Amnesty International to create a guide for service-learning and human rights, available here.
Duke University Summer Institute on Human Rights: a seminar for secondary and post-secondary school faculty on how to incorporate human rights into teaching and service-learning
HUMAN RIGHTS READING LISTS
Amnesty International summer top ten for 2010
Business and human rights reading list
Rights readers blog: Rights Readers is an education and outreach project of the Pasadena (California) chapter of Amnesty International. They meet at 6:30 on the third Sunday of the month at Vroman’s Bookstore. Check here for a past reading list or browse the Rights Readers Store.
HUMAN RIGHTS IN FILM
Human Rights Films 2010: A list of films for the classroom compiled by Prof. Mark Gibney, UNC-Asheville
University of Washington Libraries Human Rights Film directory
WITNESS: This NGO uses film to open the eyes of the world to human rights abuses