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HRE USA

A network dedicated to building a culture of human rights

Human Rights Educators USA Honors William Fernekes

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November 27, 2023

Human Rights Educators USA (HRE USA) announced today a special lifetime achievement award in honor of Dr. William R. Fernekes, a pioneer leader in human rights education. A dedicated educator, generous and serious scholar, and passionate activist, he has touched and inspired many lives. HRE USA will honor Dr. Fernekes at both the Human Rights Concert at the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday, November 30th at the Omni Hotel at 8:00 p.m. Central and the virtual 75th Human Rights Day Celebration on Thursday, December 7, at 4:00 p.m. ET.*

Since the 1980s Dr. Fernekes has worked tirelessly to teach about and create infrastructure for human rights education (HRE) in every aspect of his professional life. Starting as a social studies teacher and department supervisor at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in New Jersey, he became an early advocate for HRE at the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) and Amnesty International, and was a founding member and remains a long-time leader of HRE USA. He has presented at and organized a multiplicity of educational conferences and introduced a new course on Human Rights and Education at Rutgers Graduate School of Education. At HRE USA he has overseen the Curriculum Integration Project, which includes 20 lessons created, field-tested, revised and published on the HRE USA website. Most recently he has served as host of the new HRE USA podcast, Human Rights Education. NOW!, which interviews prominent human rights educators.

As a scholar Dr. Fernekes has written and edited numerous publications, many in journals such as Social Education (1985, 1992, 2015). His books include Children’s Rights: A Reference Handbook (1986), co-authored with Beverly C. Edmonds, The Human Rights Imperative in Teacher Education: Developing Compassion, Understanding and Advocacy, co-edited with Gloria T. Alter (2022), and most recently Clifford Case and the Challenge of Liberal Republicanism (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023). He has also spearheaded efforts through Amnesty International, NCSS, and HRE USA to bring HRE-related resources to educators across the country. 

Dr. Fernekes’ work has inspired numbers of educators in New Jersey and beyond, and by proxy, hundreds, if not thousands of their students, to bring not only human rights content, but also human rights principles into both their classrooms and their lives. As one nominator observed, ”Bill has been an exemplary model of professionalism, dedication, and principle in the work that educators can do to further promote human rights in their classrooms and their greater communities….[W]ithout him, I know my home state of NJ would not be anywhere near where it is at this moment in human rights education.”

Another nominator said, “ Dr. Fernekes is one of the most dedicated and generous people I know. He will take on leadership roles and do the hard work to create organizations, new programs, classes, and structures to support human rights education. His body of work and disposition exemplifies a life-time commitment to human rights education.”

HRE USA is proud to honor William Fernekes for his years of commitment and service to human rights education in the United States. 

  • The Nashville Human Rights Concert on November 30, 2023 at 8 pm Central: More details.
  • The HRE USA Human Rights Day Celebration on December 7, 2023 at 4 pm ET: Registration link.

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The core values of HRE USA and its partner organizations include transparency and critical thinking skills. We believe that human rights--and human rights education--belong to everyone, and that the full realization of human rights means that access to human rights education materials must never be conditioned upon the subscription to any particular religious faith, ideology, political affiliation, or membership in any particular organization and that any organizational connections should be openly acknowledged.