The DePaul University Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education is pleased to welcome Monisha Bajaj to give the 2023 Ikeda Lecture, “Peace, Creative Coexistence, and Human Rights Education.” Professor of International and Multicultural Education at the University of San Francisco, Dr. Bajaj is an internationally renowned author and educator. Her scholarship on peace, human rights, migration, racial justice, and education has been recognized with multiple prestigious awards, including the Ella Baker/Septima Clark Human Rights Award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA).
In this lecture commemorating Ikeda’s 40 years of annual peace proposals, Dr. Bajaj brings her influential work and perspectives into dialogue with Ikeda’s, engaging especially with his 2013 proposal on the transformative power of education to bolster human dignity, agency, and the wisdom of courageous empathy to build a global society of peace, creative coexistence, and human rights. This event is free and open to the public. Please register here to receive the event Zoom link and please forward this email to students, colleagues, and friends who may be interested.
The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) will offer a 5-day field visit to The Hague, Netherlands, in February 2023. It will provide participants with a first-hand experience of the UN. Scholarships are available!
This unique training opportunity will give you direct access to the UN, offering opportunities for networking and insights into UN career paths.The United Nations Hague Immersion Programme – Winter Edition includes expert lecturers, training workshops, court room hearings and guided tours through UN premises. In dedicated career development sessions, you can have your CV, cover letter and LinkedIn profile reviewed. The field visit also includes activities with International Organizations based in the Netherlands such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and other Hague-based institutions.The training opportunity is available in from 27 February – 03 March 2023. A maximum of 30 participants are accepted per edition. All participants are welcome to register, and spots will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.
UNITAR will offer scholarship opportunities for a limited number of participants to attend the training free of charge. Find out more
Sunday, January 22 and Saturday, Ferbruary 11, 2023
Would you like to have a better grounding in Native American history? An opportunity to offer dynamic interactive workshops about Indigenous peoples’ rights in your classrooms? On Sunday January 22 and Saturday February 11, Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples is offering its online workshop, “Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change: Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples.” Register here for either program.During this 2-hour participatory workshop,we experience the history of the colonization of Turtle Island, the land that is now known as the United States. The story is told through the words of Indigenous leaders, European/American leaders, and Western historians. We engage with this history through experiential exercises and small group discussions. And we consider how we can build relationships with Indigenous peoples based on truth, justice, and an understanding of Indigenous peoples’ collective human rights.
This workshop is presented by Native and non-Native facilitators working together. It is appropriate for high school students and adults. Register here for the next online workshop, or contact co-director Paula Palmer (paulaRpalmer@gmail.com) for more information.
Some sample responses to recent Toward Right Relationship workshops:
From Native participants:
“Everything that went into this experience and the presentation is so deeply meaningful.”
“This workshop is the tool I’ve been searching for to begin imagining a new way forward.”
“This workshop is an innovative and impactful step towards healing.”
From non-Native participants:
“This is a wonderful model for fostering conversations that lead to more understanding among peoples.”
“I am thankful for the discomfort and what it opened up.”
“Wow – that was an excellent workshop. Best zoom educational experience I have had!”
“I’ve known and thought about indigenous peoples’ history for a long time. Now what I can do is much more in the forefront of my mind.”
Based on the University of Michigan 4-stage model of intergroup dialogue, our participants learn from each other’s shared and divergent experiences while developing skills that honor and include marginalized voices. Our dialogue model supports participants through critical reflection processes that lead to allyship and action.
Winter series: January 18, 2023 through March 22, 2023
Reports from the Inaugural session of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. Thursday January 19, 6:30PM (EST)/3:30PM (Pacific) (Click here to register)
In December 2022 the United Nations launched the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (UNPFPAD) as part of the International Decade on People of African Descent (2015-2024). The PFPAD will develop a global Declaration on the Rights of People of African Descent and define steps to improve the lived experiences of African descended people around the world through improved implementation of international commitments to end racism and all forms of discrimination. Delegate Justin Hansford calls this Forum a potential “instrument of liberation” that requires grassroots communities to “dream big” and engage with this global process to find creative and concrete ways to address ongoing harms of colonialism, genocide, and slavery. Over 900 civil society representatives attended the first PFPAD meeting in Geneva, which generated promising ideas for transformative change. Advocates who attended PFPAD will share their observations and offer ideas for how this new body can be a tool for building local and national movements to end white supremacy and advance racial justice. (Click here to register)
Panelists: Lisa Borden, Senior Policy Counsel, International Advocacy and Policy, Southern Poverty Law Center; Charkera Ervin, Howard University School of Law/ Movement Lawyering Clinic; Efia Nwangaza, SNCC Veteran, Civil/Human Rights Attorney, Director Malcolm X Center for Self Determination; Tiffany Williams Roberts, Director of Public Policy Unit, Southern Center for Human Rights; Gretchen Rohr, US-Liaison and Global Strategic Litigation Officer, Open Society Justice Initiative
Co-sponsors: U.S. Human Rights Cities Alliance, Southern Center for Human Rights, Southern Poverty Law Center, Ubuntu Institute for Community Development, Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance, Global Studies Center & Center for African Studies-University of Pittsburgh
We recommend reading what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had to say about Reconstruction as part of his tribute to W. E. B. Du Bois on Feb. 23, 1968.King explains that “white historians had for a century crudely distorted the Negro’s role in the Reconstruction years. It was a conscious and deliberate manipulation of history and the stakes were high.” He describes how Du Bois set out to demolish the myths in his vital text, Black Reconstruction in America. King on Reconstruction
All educators can be climate change leaders in their schools and communities. It is important that they have the necessary resources to teach about climate change impacts and solutions, and that they are able to support climate action with their students. Accessibility of instructional resources is fundamental to ensuring that everyone can participate in conversations about, and solutions to, climate change. We are happy to introduce two Climate Generation resources translated into Spanish to help more educators get started!
Becoming a Climate Change Educator is a toolkit primarily for educators new to the subject of climate change, although there are ideas and activities for experienced climate change educators as well.
Cómo Convertirse en Educadore Sobre el Cambio Climático es un kit de herramientas primariamente para les educadores nueves al sujeto del cambio climático, aunque hay ideas y actividades para les educadores experimentades en cambio climático también.
hreusa.org 
