Training as Action Series (TAAS): Finding Joy: Integrating Mental Wellness into Your Advocacy Strategies

Monday, February 26, 2024 – 7-9 pm ET

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Human Rights Educators USA’s annual Training as Action Series (TAAS) is a virtual training series focused on bridging personal and collective action on some of the most critical human rights issues of today. TAAS creates an educational space to connect and collaborate with others in human rights education and training. It also gives participants the skills and information needed to take action on rights issues in their communities. The 2023-2024 training series will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and center on the theme, “Protecting Democracy, Promoting Human Rights.” Sessions will discuss topics such as voting rights, facilitating difficult conversations, organizing an advocacy campaign, communicating with decision makers, protesting, and mental wellness.

Summary
Human rights work often takes an emotional toll on its practitioners, but there are ways to mitigate this toll and find joy and solidarity in the work. This final module aims to explore how to integrate wellness strategies into the various actions discussed throughout the training series, and to establish the importance of self-care in order to care for others.

Objectives

  • Understand the importance of maintaining mental wellness during human rights work
  • Discuss ways to find joy and solidarity
  • Explore how to integrate mental wellness strategies when organizing advocacy campaigns, protests/demonstrations, and other human rights initiatives

The History of Black Music — A Love Supreme

On Monday, March 4, 2024, award-winning musicologist and music historian Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr. will discuss his book Who Hears Here?: On Black Music, Pasts and Present.

A Guggenheim Fellow and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Guthrie P. Ramsey, Jr. is a music historian, pianist, composer, and Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Pennsylvania.

A widely-published writer, he’s the author, co-author, or editor of four music history books and many essays and articles. Who Hears Here? On Black Music, Pasts and Present (2022) is his latest book. As a producer, label head, and leader of the band Dr. Guy’s Musiqology, Ramsey has released five recording projects and has performed at venues worldwide. Ramsey hosted the Musiqology Podcast, and Musiqology Rx is his community arts initiative that provides quality arts programming to under-served communities. He has written for and consulted with museums and galleries, and was co-curator of the acclaimed exhibition Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Dr. Ramsey has lectured on music nationally and internationally.

March 4, 2024 at 4pm (PT)/7pm (ET), virtual

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Boston College: Hans De Wit Fellowship

Partially funded with seed funding generously donated by World Education Services, the Hans de Wit Fellowship was established in 2022 to support the academic mobility of early career researchers in the field of higher education studies, who are interested in spending a semester based at the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College. Fellows will be welcomed as active members of the CIHE community. Although they will be expected to conduct their own independent research while based in Boston, there will be opportunities to participate in Center events, projects and other activities.

Application deadline: March 15, 2024

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Rethinking Schools: Volume 38, No. 2, Winter 2023-24

The winter issue of Rethinking Schools features three articles about social justice in elementary schools.

One of these stories is “Community Building as World Building” by Cristina Paul in collaboration with Olivia Lozano and Nancy Villalta. They describe an early elementary engineering unit. Students designed a model community — with no police or banks — in which everyone gets what they need.

>> Read issue

EIHR: Summer Institute 2024

Presented in partnership with the
Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center

Teaching about Genocide
July 15-18 | 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie, IL

Learning about genocide, beyond the Holocaust, has become an essential feature for curricula across the country. However, teaching about genocide can be challenging.  Many educators report needing additional content preparation and pedagogical support to teach this difficult topic effectively. Join Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center (IHMEC) and Educators Institute for Human Rights (EIHR), as we work to connect best practices in genocide education with global genocide through the framework of IHMEC’s new core exhibition Voices of Genocide.

Through the seminar you will:Expand content knowledge of 5 case studies of genocides in Armenia, Guatemala, Bosnia, Rwanda, and BurmaLearn the common conditions and risk factors that can lead to genocide;Discover diverse primary and secondary classroom resources;Gain a toolkit of strategies on effective methods for teaching about genocide;Explore Voices of Genocide, a first-of-its-kind exhibition;Hear presentations from noted genocide scholars, educators, and survivors LEARN MORE>>
100% of Summer Institute participants agreed the Institute increased their confidence in teaching genocide studies to their students and the sessions were well-organized/engaging.

“This was well organized and provided a ton of resources and support to help me better prepare and bring back to my classroom.” – 2022 Teaching About Genocide Summer Institute Participant

WORKSHOP INCLUDES:

Classroom Resources and Materials

21 Clock Hours (CPDUs)Graduate

Credit Available through National Louis University (at an additional cost)

1 CPS Lane Credit (Must attend entire four-day Institute to receive credit)

Breakfast and Lunch

COST: $150
Full or partial financial assistance for tuition will be available for teachers with demonstrated need. Limited number of Travel Stipends are available for teachers who live farther than 200 miles from the Museum. APPLY EARLY!

Civic Learning Week National Forum 

Tuesday, March 12, 2024 | George Washington University and National Archives, Washington D.C.

2024 and Beyond: Civic Learning as a Unifying Force

Register to Attend    Register to Watch

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Amy Coney Barrett will join the Civic Learning Week National Forum on March 12, 2024, livestreamed from Washington, D.C. Showcasing the Justices’ shared commitment to high-quality civic education, the featured conversation will be moderated by Eric Liu, co-founder and CEO of Citizen University, and address student questions about the judicial system and civic engagement, as well as the Justices’ legal career paths. The discussion will highlight the civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions gained through civic education, and why civics is essential to sustaining and strengthening constitutional democracy in the United States.

The forum will also include panel discussions and research presentations on Information Literacy, Bridging the Divide, and Elections as a Teachable Moment, concluding with a Fireside Chat between Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan and Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona (tentative). View full schedule and ticketing options.

Minneapolis officially recognized as the second UNICEF Child Friendly City in the country

UNICEF Child Friendly City in the country

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View the event on our YouTube channel

The City of Minneapolis puts children first, with City leaders and partners committed to creating a supportive environment for young people.

                        Recognizing this effort, The United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF USA) will announce Minneapolis as the second city in the country to receive the UNICEF Child Friendly Cities designation. The recognition takes place on the 4th anniversary of the City Council’s resolution to take the steps towards becoming a UNICEF Child Friendly City.

Houston became the first Child Friendly City in August of 2023.

The UNICEF Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI)

 CFCI aims to improve the safety and inclusion of children and young people, their meaningful participation and access to equitable social services, safe and healthy living environments, play and leisure opportunities.

 A UNICEF Child Friendly Cities designation:

·       Recognizes a city’s advancement of child rights.

·       Shows commitment to eliminating discrimination against children through local government policies and actions. 

·       Fosters inclusive participation through child and youth councils.

·       Indicates a thorough assessment of the community was conducted, a detailed local plan was created, and that much of the plan was implemented.

Prioritizing children in Minneapolis

 City leaders are investing in our youth’s physical and mental well-being by addressing key areas:

·       Eliminating barriers to accessible health care.

·       Providing after-school opportunities.

·       Offering mental health and substance use resources.

·       Creating job programs.

WHEN:            Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 10 a.m. 

WHERE:          RSVP to Scott Wasserman for location details
Note: The event can also be viewed on our YouTube channel

WHO:              Mayor Jacob Frey

                        Michael J. Nyenhuis, UNICEF USA President & CEO

                        Commissioner Damōn Chaplin, Minneapolis Health Department 

                        Gretchen Musicant, Former Minneapolis Health Commissioner

                        Director Kim Ellison, Minneapolis Public Schools School Board Member

Background

·       Children make up 20 percent of Minneapolis.

·       98 percent of Minneapolis residents live within six blocks of parks.

·       City leaders, community members and youth participants developed the Minneapolis Local Action Plan to become a UNICEF Child Friendly City in 2020

Call for Special Issue Article Proposals: Queering Human Rights Education: Research, Praxis and Liberation for LGBTQIA2S+

Guest Editors: David Donahue, Maria Autrey Noriega, Lori Selke, Mauro Sifuentes

This special issue of the International Journal of Human Rights Education (IJHRE) queers human rights and human rights education, drawing on the multiple definitions of queer: as a noun, adjective, and verb. As a noun, queer is an umbrella term for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual/aromantic/agender, two spirit (LGBTQIA2S+) community, with the plus sign in the acronym holding space for new and expanding understanding about identity related to sexuality and gender. As an adjective, queer speaks to departing from the norm, differing from expectations regarding sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). As a verb, queer refers to challenging all that is considered normal and natural. Queering is about troubling power and replacing binary thinking with more complex, fluid ways of understanding.

In keeping with these multiple definitions, the editors of the special issue seek articles that are about the human rights desires and celebrations of LGBTQIA2S+ people as well as the challenges and contestations of those rights. In addition, we seek articles that challenge normative thinking about human rights and HRE, particularly in terms of gender and sexuality and that trouble what it means to teach and research in the field of human rights. We welcome scholarship that not only expands what we know but questions, challenges, and complicates how we come to know something and why we think it is valuable.

We welcome contributions looking inside and outside of the classroom, across all global settings, from early childhood, primary, and secondary education to higher education, adult education, and immigrant/refugee education and their intersections with HRE curriculum and educational materials; HRE pedagogy and practices; HRE community and spaces; HRE history and scholarship; and/or HRE advocacy and policy. Visual art, poetry, and creative nonfiction are welcomed as well as texts grounded in social science. We also seek book reviews, including reviews focused on trade books and children’s literature, as well as scholarly texts, focused on SOGIESC.

Proposal deadline: April 10, 2024

>> Details and submission information

HRE USA will be present at the 2024 IAHRE Conference: Extending Human Rights Education


We’re pleased to announce that HRE USA will be presenting at the 2024 IAHRE Conference: Extending Human Rights Education in London, April 19, 2024!

The HRE USA Podcast Team’s poster session is titled, “Human Rights Education Now! Podcast: Building a Space for Critical Human Rights Education Discussions in the U.S.”

HRE USA has become a member of this global network, our members are encouraged to attend!

>> IAHRE conference information and registration
>> IAHRE website

Grassroots Global Justice Action Fund: Grassroots Global Justice Action Fund Director

Position Summary: The GGJ Action Fund Director will provide strategic leadership to build alignment and the clear goals necessary to grow the engagement of working class grassroots communities in policy and electoral organizing. They will oversee the political direction and program leadership of the c(4) structure; lead strategic planning and implementation; fundraise for the work of the organization; coordinate the GGJAF Member Working Group; and represent GGJAF publicly on a national and international level with members, movement allies, and funders.

Application deadline: February 24, 2024

>> Learn more