Category: Events

Across the United States, educators are confronting what may be the most sweeping attack on the freedom to teach and learn since the McCarthy era. Teachers are being pressured over what they can teach, what books students can read, which histories can be discussed, and whose identities can be affirmed in school. Public attention has understandably focused on the most visible forms of repression: banned books, prohibited lessons, restrictive legislation, attacks on diversity initiatives, and educators disciplined for what they say or display in their classrooms.

Educational censorship, then, cannot be measured only by counting banned books, enacted laws, or educators formally disciplined. It also operates through anticipation, uncertainty, and self-censorship. The Freedom to Teach and Learn Survey helps make those less-visible effects visible — while also documenting the collective resistance educators are building in response.

The chilling effect is real. So is the resistance.

HRE USA is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.

“We are deeply honored to receive this recognition from the Anthem Awards and grateful for their continued support of SIMA Academy’s mission. From classrooms to communities in more than 145 countries, SIMA Academy harnesses the power of documentary storytelling to advance media literacy, critical thinking, global citizenship, and youth leadership. This recognition is a testament to the extraordinary educators, students, filmmakers, and partners who bring our mission to life every day.”

– Daniela Kon Lieberberg, Founder and CEO, SIMA

The 6th Annual Anthem Awards received more than 2,500 submissions from 43 countries worldwide, the organization’s largest competition to date. The Anthem Awards are recognizing the work that is setting the standard for good worldwide.

Read The Press Release

HRE USA is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.

We are delighted to announce the programme for series 2, autumn 2026. Please see information about all webinars on our website. Registration is open for the first webinar in the series that will take place on September 8!

All past webinars can be viewed on our Human Rights Education Review YouTube channel.

Register below. Registration for each webinar opens 4 weeks in advance of the event.

Tuesday 10 November 16.30 – 17.30 (London); 17.30-18.30 (Berlin CET)

Suzanne EGAN, University College Dublin, Sutherland School of Law, Ireland

REGISTER HERE

Addressing human rights education’s curriculum problem: an interdisciplinary solution

Suzanne Egan engages with debates on powerful knowledge (PK) in addressing curriculum development in human rights education (HRE).

Egan addresses Walter Parker’s influential article in Human Rights Education Review, and what Parker termed human rights education’s ‘curriculum problem’ in schools. While supporting PK theory as a useful framework for designing HRE curricula, Egan argues that curriculum development should involve greater interdisciplinary collaboration, beyond education specialists. Drawing on legal scholarship, she suggests how PK theory can strengthen the creation of comprehensive and effective human rights education programmes.

See Suzanne’s published article here: Addressing human rights education’s curriculum problem: an interdisciplinary solution

HRE USA is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.

Join us for the Film Screening of “Abundance” and a Live Dialogue Session with panelists!

Amid the largest food crisis in a century, a group of college students launches a grassroots effort to fight hunger, inspiring more than 600 students to mobilize and help feed millions of families. As their initiative rapidly grows into a nationwide movement, the film explores the power of youth leadership, collective action, and innovative solutions to food insecurity.

Join us for this inspiring film and a conversation exploring food justice, community resilience, and the power of young changemakers to tackle global challenges. The screening will be followed by a live dialogue with director Owen Dubeck.

Date/Time: Friday, 16 October 2026, 10:30 – 12:00 (KST)

Schedule:

• 10:30 – 11:00: Introduction & Film Screening
• 11:00 – 12:00: Dialogue session with the Film Director & Panelists

Your email address is required in order for us to send you a reminder a few days before the event. Please be sure to check your email.

HRE USA is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.

Interdisciplinarity in Human Rights Education

14-15 June 2027 OsloMet University, Oslo, Norway

Conference Announcement and Call for Papers  

The International Association for Human Rights Education (IAHRE) was established in 2023 at the 15^th International Conference for Education and Democratic Citizenship (ICEDC) hosted by Sutherland School of Law at University College Dublin, Ireland. IAHRE exists to support the development of human rights education research, scholarship and practice. It has been awarded charitable status in recognition of its efforts to promote the public good. IAHRE’s scholarly journal is the award-winning Human Rights Education Review (HRER) founded in 2018 and published by Taylor & Francis.

The IAHRE Conference is a meeting place for scholars, researchers, graduate students, education policymakers, and civil society activists from across Europe and internationally. It builds on the work of the WERA International Research Network on Human Rights Education, coordinated by Professors Audrey Osler and Hugh Starkey. It provides a unique opportunity to present and discuss current research and policy relating to human rights education and questions of human rights within education. There is an expectation that presenters accepted for IAHRE 2027 will submit their final revised conference papers to Human Rights Education Review shortly after the conference.

Call for papers

We invite papers for the 2027 IAHRE Conference Interdisciplinarity in Human Rights Education. IAHRE 2027 aims to build on the vast array of disciplines that contribute to human rights education, and we welcome scholars from sociology, education, law, history, politics, geography and other relevant disciplines, as well as those specialising in regional studies. Papers should review and critically reflect on human rights education policy and practice, child rights education and the wider area of education and human rights. We are interested in research that addresses HRE across formal education, from early years through to higher education, as well as community-focused and community-led initiatives designed to enhance and strengthen human rights understanding. Papers reflecting the work of those aiming to enhance human rights understanding in professional education, in diverse fields, including teacher education, medicine, nursing and social care also welcome.  

Colleagues working in NGOs and international organisations who have campaign  case studies are likewise invited. We welcome contributions from researchers at all stages of their careers.

At IAHRE 2027 we aim to build upon the contributions at IAHRE 2026 Re-imagining Human Rights Education in a Turbulent World that recognised how human rights education is taking place in an increasingly unstable world with growing authoritarianism and challenges to human rights and democratic values in all regions and where climate change, disinformation, terrorism, war and conflict, hate speech and xenophobia confront us in the starkest terms. Given these challenges we remain mindful of both the challenges and the opportunities that educators in varied contexts face.

Human rights education (HRE) supports UN Sustainable Development Goal 4. HRE has a vital role in maintaining hope and enabling people of all ages to reimagine a positive future. Children and young people experience barriers to democratic participation since they are not only excluded from formal political mechanisms and decision-making processes but have been the subject of government-led social media bans that threaten access to communication and information.

Any vision of a sustainable future necessarily includes ‘sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development’ (SDG 4.7). IAHRE 2027 invites contributions that build on and extend the focus of past conferences and on the fast-expanding HRE literature, both in HRER and other journals and books.  IAHRE 2027 includes but is not limited to papers addressing:

• Human rights curricula
• Education for peace  
• Global citizenship education
• Climate, environment and sustainable development
• Migration, citizenship and rights
• Children’s digital worlds
• Human rights, intercultural and language learning
• Worldviews and religion
• Decolonising learning
• Professional education and training
• Children’s rights and child friendly schools

This call for papers invites both individual papers and proposals for symposia.

Individual paper requirements

Prepare an abstract of no more than 300 words, including paper title, your name(s), institutional affiliation(s) and contact email(s). Please indicate whether you would prefer to give an oral or a poster presentation. Abstracts should be sent, no later than Monday 19 October 2026 to: Professor Hugh Starkey h.starkey@ucl.ac.uk.

More information

HRE USA is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.

Open call

The annual SIMA Awards recognize outstanding achievements in high-integrity documentary storytelling, honoring bold, cinematic work from around the world that defines the field, expands perspective, and resonates far beyond the screen. Each year, projects from over 140 countries compete for awards, cash prizes, global recognition, and entry into SIMA’s distribution ecosystem — extending their reach into classrooms, communities, and cultural spaces worldwide.

DEADLINES

Early Bird Deadline — September 18

Regular Deadline — September 25

Late Deadline — October 9

HRE USA is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.