Summer Institutes

Regional Perspectives on Globalization and Human Rights
Summer Institute for Middle & High School Teachers
June 28 - July 1, 2004

The University of Chicago presented a workshop that explored human rights and globalization issues from June 28 - July 1, 2004 at the Gleacher Center. High school teachers and college educators from the Chicago area and the upper Midwest participated in the weeklong program through lectures, multimedia presentations, and discussions. The initial workshop announcement is available for download, as is the ulitmate worskhop schedule.

This workshop was a collaborative project of six University of Chicago entities that brought together their resources to produce this unique content-driven professional development opportunity. Sponsors include the Center for East Asian Studies, the Center for Latin American Studies, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the South Asian Language and Area Center, the Center for International Studies, and the Graham School of General Studies.

Each day was closely aligned to Illinois State Board of Education Standards and goals and CPDU credits were made available for participants. Curriculum discussion is provided with the help of the Global Classroom program consultant and lead teachers.

Materials provided at the workshop are downloadable below:

Monday, June 28 - The Environment and Natural Resources / The Three Gorges Dam

Morning presentation: Murat Arsel, Research Associate and Lecturer in Environmental Studies at the University of Chicago. His graduate work at the University of Cambridge, England, examines the environmental politics of Turkish economic development. His research interests include sustainable development, European environmentalism and social theory, gold mining, third world political ecology and Middle East politics. His new research project on transnational environmental activism and its impact on development policies investigates a number of case studies, including the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline.

Afternoon Presentation: Bellette Lee, Ph.D candidate, Department of Political Science, University of Chicago and former political reporter for the South China Morning Post.

Alyssa Ayres, a doctoral candidate in South Asian Languages and Civilizations, produced a resource guide for teaching and learning about ecology and environmental issues in India.

Tuesday, June 29 - Transnational Corporations and Corporate Responsibility / The Bhopal Disaster

Kim Fortun, Associate Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Professor Fortun's research interests include environmentalism and environmental sciences, information technology and culture, globalism, law, ethics, and ethnography.

Professor Fortun produced the following series of handouts to be used by educators to facilitate teaching about ethics and corporate responsibility. All are in MS Word format.

Suggested links (more are available in the resource list, above):

Wednesday, June 30 - Migration and Human Rights / The Agricultural Crisis in Mexico

Andreas Feldmann, Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Human Rights Program at the University of Chicago and Susan Gzesh, Director, Human Rights Program and Lecturer in the Law School.

Andreas Feldmann specializes in International Relations with a focus on political violence and population uprooting in Latin America. His current work focuses on the link between state-orchestrated violence and migration in the Americas. He is also a Special Consultant of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights.

Susan Gzesh has been a Lecturer in at the University of Chicago Law School since 1993, teaching an annual course on immigration policy and law. From 1996-2001 she was Director of the Mexico-U.S. Advocates Network and a founding member of the Regional Network of Civil Organizations for Migration. he co-authored a study of human rights violations in processes of deportation in North America and Central America.

Readings distributed included:

  • Taran, Patrick. 2000. "Human Rights of Migrants: Challenges of the New
    Decade". International Migration 38 (6): 8-45.
  • Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. 2000. Annual Report of the Inter-
    American Commission on Human Rights OAS Doc. OEA/Ser.L/V/II.111 Doc 20 rev.
    chapters. IV and VI. Second Progress Report of the Special Rapporteurship on
    Migrant Workers and Their Families.
    http://www.cidh.org/annualrep/2000eng/chap.6.htm
  • Weiner, Myron. 1995. The Global Migration Crisis: Challenges to States and to
    Human Rights. New York; Harper Collins College Publishers, pp., 1-20.
  • Massey, Douglas S, Jorge Durand and Nolan Malone. 2002. Beyond Smoke and
    Mirrors. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, pp. 7-51.
Suggested further reading:
  • Fitzpatrick, Joan. 2003. "The Human Rights of Migrants." In Migration and
    International Norms    , Alexander Aleinikoff and Vincent Chetail eds. The Hague:
    T.M.C. Asser Press, pp 169-184.

Audiovisual/Video

  • Steve James and Gordon Quinn. "The New Americans"(episodes 2&3) VHS. Directed
    by Susana Aikin, Carlos Aparicio, Jerry Blumenthal Steve James, Indu Krishnan, Gordon Quinn. Chicago: Kartemquin Films, 2002.
    This video, and others in the series, are available through the Center for Latin American Studies Video Lending Library

Thursday, July 1 - Religion and Politics / The Gush Emunim Movement in Israel

Khaled Keshk, Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies, DePaul University Department of Religious Studies. Professor Keshk is also part of the new Islamic Studies Center at DePaul. His research interests include modern issues of the role of religion in politics as well as the early Umayyid dynasty. He is also a contributor to the Arabic-language newspaper, Al Ayat.

Prithvi Chandra, doctoral candidate in South Asian Languages and Civilizations, prepared a bibliography on the religions of South Asia.

Zachary Chase, from the Center for Latin American Studies, prepared an additional bibliography on religion and religous movements in Latin America.