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Join us on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York for an informative and inspiring professional development event featuring the latest Native Knowledge 360° resources.

Learn about the roles Haudenosaunee leaders and communities played during the American Revolution with a deep dive into two powerful new tools designed to bring Native voices and experiences into your classroom:

• Native Women Leading the Way: From Revolution to the Future is a teaching poster that spotlights three remarkable Native women who led their communities through the conflict of the American Revolution and beyond.
• How Did the Haudenosaunee Persevere Through the American Revolution? is an engaging digital book tailored for middle school students that emphasizes the resilience of the Haudenosaunee people.

>> Resource 

November 11, 2025 at 10:30 AM–2:30 PM ET, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN, NEW YORK, NY 

>> Register

We offer recommended books for pre-K–12 that challenge stereotypes and focus on contemporary Native Americans. Our list is drawn from books recommended by Debbie Reese of American Indians in Children’s Literature.

View Booklist

The relaunched Teaching Hard History podcast series is back with two episodes exploring how to use films and documentaries to teach critical history. 

Host Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Ph.D., is joined by film historian Ron Briley, sharing practical, actionable strategies to use film in learning settings to frame the narrative of complex topics, including American slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction. 

The new resource pages for Season 1: American Slavery: Episode 8: Film and the History of Slavery and Episode 9, featuring 10 additional films, are now available!

Nest course starts today, October 20!

In this course, learners will explore the impact problematic narratives about Native Americans have on society and student education, as well as learn ways to recognize and share more complete narratives, both inside and outside the classroom.

Through November 7, 2025, virtual 

This course is free. 

>> Learn more and register  

We are delighted to share the publication by Teresa M. Cappiali of a new open-access book, Transformative-Emancipatory Pedagogy (TEP) to Reimagine Education: Tackling Controversies in Diverse Settings (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025).

 Access the book (Open Access): SpringerLink

Alongside it, she has also released the first booklet of the TEP® Booklet Series (published by NOIWE), which offers a short, practical entry point into the approach:
 Download the booklet in English or French

Beyond the publications, her aim is to build a global network and community around TEP—a vision of education as a transformative, humanizing, and justice-oriented practice. If you’d like to be part of this journey, here’s the link:
 Join the TEP Community

October 9, 2025

2025 is the date for the Universal Period Review of human rights by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The UPR is a “unique mechanism of the Human Rights Council that calls for each UN Member State to undergo a peer review of its human rights records every 4.5 years” (UNHRC). 2025 is the date for the U.S. UPR, its fourth review since the establishment of the UPR in 2006 and initial reviews in 2008.

Due to the United State’s withdrawal from the UPR in August of 2025 (Reuters) and refusal to participate scheduled UPR on November 7, 2025, HRE USA has joined other human rights organizations and civil society in co-signing on to the UPR Civil Society event for the People’s UPR and in support of UPR related events across the country. We have also co-signed and support The Advocates for Human Rights’ statement on the U.S. and the UPR (resources below.)

In the spring of 2025, we submitted reports for the UPR to the UNHRC with our organizational partners, which can be found Attacks on Academic Freedom: Columbia University and Beyond and PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION, ACADEMIC FREEDOM, AND HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES (2025).

>> Read the Advocate for Human Rights’ statement and video: U.S. Human Rights Organizations Demand Leadership in Face of U.S. Attempts to Destabilize World Human Rights Framework 

>> UNHRC Documents on the U.S. UPR

>> Read the Summary of Stakeholders’ Submission to the UPR

In response to the announcement by the United States that it would not participate in its Universal Periodic Review—a mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council—HRE USA has joined a coalition of civil society stakeholders to make our voices heard and advocate for our country’s participation. 

Event: The People’s UPR
Thursday, October 23, 2025, starting at 12pm (ET) at the Church Center of the United Nations (777 United Nations Plaza, in New York, NY.) Lunch will be served. 
The event will also be livestreamed for those who wish to view from afar.

The Fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United States has been set to take place in November 2025. The UPR is a unique United Nations Human Rights Council process that allows all United Nations Member States to undergo a peer review of their human rights records every 4.5 years. So far this year, the United States government is refusing to participate in this process. Nonetheless, U.S. civil society will mobilize to ensure that people’s voices are heard through important testimonies to build a record toward addressing human rights violations here in the United States. As part of those efforts to build a record, a People’s UPR is being organized as a side event during the Third Committee Session at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, NY.  We hope that the People’s UPR will be attended by United Nations, Country Mission, and Embassy staffers both in NY and in Geneva (via Zoom).

There will be opportunities for directly impacted persons (a ‘directly impacted person’ is someone who is personally and directly affected by the law, policy, practice, act or omission by the government) to testify in-person during the People’s UPR regarding human rights issues in the United States. The event will be livestreamed but there will be no opportunities for persons to testify live via the web. Instead, we will play prerecorded testimony received via video ahead of time from persons who cannot attend in-person.

>> Register (in-person or livestream) 
>> See the UPR-Related Calendar of Events

HREA in collaboration with PedagogyFutures has just released a six-lesson module addressing AI Human Rights and Education! 

The curriculum empowers educators and students to critically engage with how AI shapes society, from education to governance, public services, and civil liberties. Through interactive lessons and real-world case studies, participants build essential literacy around AI’s potential and risks, all grounded in a commitment to dignity and human rights. 

>> The curriculum is free and can be downloaded from here: https://pedagogyfutures.io/ai-human-rights-education/

The Council of Europe’s Education Department has released a new Guidance document on applying the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC) to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The publication helps policy makers and educators connect sustainability learning with democratic participation and human rights by using the RFCDC’s competence model. 

Education for sustainable development is most powerful when it equips learners to think critically, act responsibly, and participate peacefully in democratic life. This guidance shows how to make that link in curricula, classrooms and communities,” said the Head of the Education Department.

The document sets out the purpose and benefits of using the RFCDC for ESD, including the added emphasis on democracy and human rights, and shows how the RFCDC’s 20 competences can be readily applied to strengthen learners’ ability to take responsible individual and collective democratic action in support of sustainability. 

What the Guidance provides:

• How RFCDC and ESD fit together, and why the RFCDC adds value to ESD through its focus on democracy and human rights. 
• Transformative pedagogies that make ESD concrete: co-operative learning, inquiry-based and project-based learning, service learning, outdoor learning and field work. 
• Coherent implementation advice on aligning curriculum, pedagogy and assessment so students develop both subject knowledge and RFCDC-ESD competences. 
• Practical examples and planning pointers that education authorities and schools can adapt to their context.

Who it is for:

The guidance addresses ministries of education and policy makers, teachers and school leaders (pre-primary to secondary), and non-formal educators such as youth workers, NGOs, museums and libraries. 

Availability:

The publication is available online

In the next AAOH session, we’re exploring trauma-informed interviewing. It’s essential, it’s nuanced, and it’s at the heart of ethical oral history practice. Together, we’ll navigate the complexities of creating safe spaces for difficult conversations—and more importantly, how to support your narrators while gathering meaningful stories that honor their experiences. You’ll walk away with concrete strategies for recognizing trauma responses, techniques for building trust and establishing boundaries, and the confidence to conduct sensitive interviews with both compassion and professionalism.

Thursday, October 23, 2025 from 12pm PT / 3pm ET, virtual 

Ask An Oral Historian consultation hours are your chance to dive into the intricacies of oral history and learn alongside fellow storytellers. Whether you’re wrestling with a current project or just curious about the craft, these monthly 60-minute working sessions are your space to grow and ask questions in an intimate, small-group setting.
>> Register