Human Rights Education Now!

Maria Hantzopoulos earned her B.A. from Boston University in History, her M.A. in Social Studies Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and her doctorate at Teachers College in International Educational Development. Her work broadly considers how educational processes structure inequity in their contexts and beyond. Her research interests include school culture and climate, project-b...

Note: due to character limitations, this bio and episode details are an abbreviated version. Visit the HREUSA Podcast page for the full version HERE . Audrey Osler is Professor Emerita of Citizenship and Human Rights Education (HRE) at University of Leeds, and Editor-in-Chief of Human Rights Education Review . She's the Co-Chair of International Association for Human Rights Education (IAHRE)...

In Episode 26, Audrey Osler shares her thoughts on the impediments to implementing HRE in the USA. She then explains the importance of recognizing children as citizens and the Convention of the Rights of the Child. Audrey then examines the lack of public dialogue in the US around human rights. Next, she discusses how educating journalists about human rights is critical, and how there is a lack of...

In Episode 24, Sandra Sirota describes the influence of Paulo Freire’s work, the  significance of structured dialogue in social justice pedagogy, and the role of emotions in the classroom. Next, she discusses the changing public human rights discourse in the USA; the power of human rights language; and using tools from peace, anti-racist, and social justice education. She then shares her thoughts...

Sandra Sirota , EdD is Assistant Professor in Residence in Human Rights and Experiential Global Learning and Director of Dodd Impact’s program , Human Rights Close to Home (HRCH), at the University of Connecticut. Her work explores human rights and social justice education in the United States and South Africa. Her current research focuses on how students and teachers conceptualize and actualize h...

Dr. Monisha Bajaj is a Professor of International and Multicultural Education at the University of San Francisco. She is the editor and author of eight books and numerous articles on issues of peace, human rights, migration, and education, including  Humanizing Education for Immigrant and Refugee Youth and World Yearbook of Education 2023: Racialization and Educational Inequality in Global Perspec...

In Episode 22, Dr. Monisha Bajaj shares HRE and peace education strategies to apply when working with marginalized groups, as well as her partner project with immigrant students in Oakland, California, and the book that emerged from the partner project. Next, Dr. Bajaj discusses how the HRE framework helps students from all backgrounds by broadening their perspective. Dr. Bajaj then explains the c...

Anita Yudkin-Suliveres is an educator who works in the field of teacher education. She is a professor in the Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education, and Coordinator of the UNESCO Chair on Education for Peace at the University of Puerto Rico. For over twenty years she has worked in human rights and peace education in formal educational settings and in collaboration with Non-Gov...

In Episode 20, Anita Yudkin-Suliveres elaborates on her relationships with other scholars in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Spanish-speaking world, as well as her Teaching For Freedom work in Costa Rica. Next, Anita discusses the lack of dialogue between the Global North and South, and the importance of accessing different ways of knowing when educating for peace, such as those from Indigen...

Sociologist Yvonne Vissing , PhD, is Professor of Healthcare Studies and Director of the Center for Childhood & Youth Studies and the Center for Human Rights Education at Salem State University.  Author of 20 books, including Children’s Human Rights in the USA , she is US policy chair for the Hope for Children CRC Policy Center in Cyprus and on committees of HRE USA and the American Associatio...

In Episode 18, Yvonne Vissing shares her thoughts on the absence of discussion around human rights in public discourse and the lack of US knowledge around the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). She goes on to discuss human rights education (HRE) and social justice connections along with the significance of the human rights framework as a way to encompass social justice concerns. Yvonne t...

In Episode 16, teachers Chris Buckley and Jake Skrzypiec discuss the HRE Community within and in connection to the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). Next, students Kevin Maysonnet and Shirin Unvala share their thoughts on using HRE to address human rights challenges in the US by engaging in activities that improve the quality of life for others and mobilizing people to advocate for h...

In Episode 15, Chris Buckley, Jake Skrzypiec, Kevin Maysonnet, and Shirin Unvala share their initial interest in human rights issues. They discuss their thoughts on how to make schools more accepting of human rights issues, and the vision of human rights education (HRE) as a universal requirement for students. Chris, Jake, Kevin, and Shirin discuss misconceptions about HRE and the importance of em...

Felisa Tibbitts ( www. FelisaTibbitts.com ) is Chair in Human Rights Education in the Department of Law, Economics, and Governance at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, where she also serves as UNESCO Chair in Human Rights and Higher Education. In addition, Felisa is Human Rights Education Associates ( www.hrea.org ) Executive Director and co-editor with André Keet of Emancipatory Human Rights...

In Episode 14, Felisa discusses issues-based education and HRE and her work in developing Human Rights Education Associates. She then elaborates on the role of the internet in fostering online HRE learning and the challenge of engaging local and universal issues through HRE teaching. She explains the relationship of HRE to social justice scholarship and issues and shares her views on the setbacks...

Human Rights Watch Student Task Force is a youth leadership-training program that brings together high school students with educators and empowers them to advocate for human rights issues, especially the rights of children. Pam Bruns is the Founder and Executive Director Emeritus. Kristin Ghazarians is the Senior Manager. Ren Zhang and Clementine Causse are two students working with the Human Righ...

Human Rights Watch Student Task Force is a youth leadership-training program that brings together high school students with educators and empowers them to advocate for human rights issues, especially the rights of children. Pam Bruns is the Founder and Executive Director Emeritus. Kristin Ghazarians is the Senior Manager. Ren Zhang and Clementine Causse are two students working with the Human Righ...

In episode 9 part one, Sandy Sohcot, founder and director of the The World As It Could Be Human Rights Education Program , discusses her initial interest in human rights, and her work with the Women’s Leadership Alliance. She shares her background as the Executive Director for the Rex Foundation, and about the creation of The World As It Could Be. She expounds upon the significance of using the ar...

 In episode 10 part two, Sandy Sohcot, founder and director of the The World As It Could Be Human Rights Education Program , shares more about her work with the Women’s Leadership Alliance and connections to human rights education (HRE). She discusses her ideas around what she thinks ought to be future priorities in human rights education, as well as collaborations between HRE and social justice o...

In Episode 1, Rosemary Blanchard discusses her early interest in human rights issues and the importance of HRE in early education. She shares her background in civil rights law, and how witnessing extreme poverty on a  trip to Brazil was transformative in shaping her views on HRE. She shares how working with the Navajo nation as a policy analyst helped her to better understand international human...

In Episode 2, Rosemary Blanchard continues her discussion of the role of the NCSS Position Statements on HRE; connections between NCSS work and Civic Education coalition; and the problem of eroding civics education in K-12 spaces. Rosemary touches on overcoming the perception that human rights Issues are only “over there,” and the problem of examining human rights as a zero-sum challenge. Rosemary...

In episode 5 part one, Marissa Gutierrez-Vicario discusses her background and work in human rights activism, particularly in the context of her organization ArteJustice. She talks about her Chicana heritage and the activists who inspired her, as well as the connections between human rights and activism. She explains the development of ArteJustice and the importance of using visual arts to promote...

In episode 6 part two, Marissa discusses her spiritual journey and its connections to her work in human rights, particularly in the area of racial justice. She talks about the importance of partnerships in advancing social justice work and the role of the federal government in advancing human rights in the US. Lastly, Marissa shares insights on the critical changes necessary to advance HRE in the...

In the second half of his conversation with Bill Fernekes, David Shiman shares insights about current and future challenges facing HRE in the USA. In particular, he links the success of HRE to maintaining an open and respectful classroom climate where the exchange of ideas and the study of controversial issues is a central focus of instruction. Shiman then discusses the importance of engaging in p...

David Shiman discusses the origins of his interest in human rights and social justice, and the impetus his election to the Amnesty International USA Board of Directors gave to work in human rights education (HRE). He also describes his work as a human rights educator in the former communist states of Eastern Europe and how HRE has developed over time in Europe, the USA, the Philippines and South A...