Midterms are here! Remember to hydrate, sleep and be kind to yourself. All the important things will get done. On Indigenous People's day, and every day, it is important to recognize the stolen land we occupy. There are many ways to learn about the Lenape people, but here's a start . If you are a U.S. citizen, do you have a voting plan?
Shout out to the HRHP friends who came by Riverside Park for our picnic <3
Reminder- the first Spring 2021 Capstone Information session is this Friday!
Very best,
Team HRHP
HRHP Faculty Highlight:
Joanne Bauer teaches Corporations and Human Rights at SIPA. She is Senior Researcher for the Business and Human Rights Program at Columbia’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights and co-leads an international initiative on Teaching Business and Human Rights based at Columbia. In October 2018 she launched Rights CoLab, an independent initiative that develops strategies to advance human rights through business, technology and finance.
Upcoming Events
EVENT
Elections and Human Rights Series: Indigenous Peoples Rights and elections
A number of complex questions arise when it comes to elections and Indigenous Peoples. Disenfranchisement has taken different forms for different groups in this country. It has also had different historical roots, settler-colonial, social, political roots and legal/constitutional roots. Keeping in mind historical, socio-political and legal factors, what are the most critical contextual problems for each of these sectors for participation of Native Americans in elections? How is the fundamental right of equality and non-discrimination challenged in elections in this country? We often say that the quality of a democracy depends on how it treats minorities and Indigenous Peoples: what types of reforms would it take for a climate of confidence to be fostered in America that would encourage electoral participation? What can we learn from the struggles of movements and campaigns that got Native Americans elected, including in recent times? How are the individual and collective rights of Indigenous Peoples linked to participation in elections? How have the mobilizations around Standing Rock and Black Lives Matter affected the electorate in terms of meaningful participation in the elections? In a world of the expanding force of social media, fake news and hate speech, even in pandemic times, what is the role of media in the upcoming elections?
Panelists:
-Tatewin Means (Lakota), Executive Director, Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation
-Michael Witgen (Anishinaabe), Professor, Department of History and the Program in American Culture University of Michigan
-Janene Yazzie (Diné (Navajo)), Sustainable Development Program Coordinator, International Indian Treaty Council & Co-Convenor, Indigenous Peoples Major Group for Sustainable Development
Moderator:
Elsa Stamatopoulou, Director, Indigenous Peoples' Rights Program, Columbia University's Institute for the Study of Human Rights
For speakers' bios and more information about the event, go to: http://humanrightscolumbia.org/events/election-and-human-rights-series-indigenous-peoples-rights-and-elections
Please join HRHP for a discussion on pressing topics in the field, as we rethink human rights and humanitarian policy during the age of COVID, police brutality, localizing/weaponizing human rights, and more. The talk will also outline many of the curriculum changes that will be implemented in Fall 2020 for both of Professor Barkan's courses: Rethinking Human Rights and Humanitarianism and Politics of History and Reconciliation.
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Elazar Barkan is Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, Director of SIPA's Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy Concentration, and Director of Columbia's Institute for the Study of Human Rights.
Professor Barkan is also founding Director of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR) in The Hague. Professor Barkan served on ISHR’s board of directors before becoming ISHR’s co-director in 2007 and director in 2008. Previously, Professor Barkan served as chair of the History Department and the Cultural Studies Department at the Claremont Graduate University, where he was the founding director of the Humanities Center. Professor Barkan is a historian by training and received his PhD from Brandeis University in Comparative European History and BA from Tel Aviv University.
His research interests focus on human rights and on the role of history in contemporary society and politics and the response to gross historical crimes and injustices. His human rights work seeks to achieve conflict resolution and reconciliation by bringing scholars from two or more sides of a conflict together and employing historical methodology to create shared narratives across political divides and to turn historical dialogue into a fundamental tool of political reconciliation. A recent pertinent article: “Historians and Historical Reconciliation,” (AHR Forum) American Historical Review, (October 2009). Professor Barkan's other current research interests include refugee repatriation, comparative analysis of historical commissions, shared sacred sites, and the question of human rights impact, specifically with regard to redress and transitional justice.
During this event, human rights educators will discuss how they plan to address anticipated challenges and opportunities with respect to teaching after the 2020 U.S. elections. They will also share techniques for ensuring an inclusive and respectful environment around teaching and discussing contentious issues.
Panelists:
Natalie Hudson, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Director of the Human Rights Program at the University of Dayton
Rachel Wahl, Associate Professor in the Social Foundations Program, Department of Leadership, Foundations, and Policy at the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia
Kendall Thomas, Nash Professor of Law and Director, Center for the Study of Law & Culture, Columbia University in the City of New York
Moderator:
Sandra Sirota, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut
For speakers' bios and more information, go to: http://humanrightscolumbia.org/events/election-and-human-rights-series-human-rights-classrooms-and-elections-teaching-day-after
Columbia University School of Nursing Indigenous People's Day- Emergence/Submergence (Monday 10/12 @1PM ET) Sponsored by: School of Nursing. Register here. Description: Hadrien Coumans (co-founder & co-director of Lenape Center and Advisor for Wellbeing) will discuss wellbeing practice and knowledge drawn from the work of Lenape Center and other experiences of dynamics of healing. Students will learn about and be immersed in the themes of Emergence / Submergence; One Motion / Calibration; Heart / Healing. These dimensions of care, wellbeing and restorative practices are being offered through the blessing and direction of Joe Baker, Lenape elder and executive director of Lenape Center.
Al Borde Arquitectos Lecture (Monday 10/12 @6PM ET)
Sponsored by: Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Register here. Description: Lecture by David Barragán, Al BordeÔÇ¿Response by Juan Herreros, Professor of Professional Practice at GSAPP. Al Borde is a Quito, Ecuador-based studio, whose Principals David Barragán, Esteban Benavides, Marialuisa Borja, and Pascual Gangotena champion an improvisational, collaborative approach to design. Resisting theory and dogma, their projects seek to enhance local development and engage communities in social innovation. Recognized globally for its process, the firm was named to Domus’ guide to the world’s best architecture firms in 2019. Each of Al Borde’s projects is conceived of and materialized with the resources and knowledge that are found in place. In the projects, the input of others adds something that members of the firm cannot see clearly from their distant position as architects. Even thinking of a long-term immersion process, they can never come to achieve the whole understanding of the place and its conditions as well as the ones who live on site. This acceptance of the value of others’ knowledge makes them comprehend participatory design not in a romantic way of charity, but as a tool or strategy for the project to perform as its best.
Indigenous Peoples' Day: Ella Cara Deloria Lecture (Monday 10/12 @6PM ET)
Sponsored by: Multicultural Affairs, CC/SEAS, Native American Council
Register here. Description: Launching the official recognition of Indigenous Peoples' Day at Columbia University, join Multicultural Affairs and Native American Council for the inaugural Ella Cara Deloria lecture, named after a prominent Yankton Sioux educator, anthropologist, ethnographer, linguist, novelist, and 1915 graduate of Teachers College, Columbia University. This year’s theme explores the intersections of Black and Indigenous Identities.
Indigenous Peoples of the Americas and the Covid-19 Pandemic Discussion (Monday 10/12 @7PM ET)
Sponsored by: The University Seminar on Indigenous Studies, The University Seminar on Latin America and the Institute for the Study of Human Rights and cosponsored by Native American Council, Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, Center for the Study of Social Difference, Mailman School of Public Health, Institute of Latin American Studies, at Columbia University, and Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Native Studies Forum and The Latinx Project at New York University. Register here. Description: A discussion in honor of the first Indigenous Peoples Day 2020 commemoration at Columbia University.
Speakers: -Sachem HawkStorm, welcome from the Lenape People; -Lisa Bellanger (Anishnabe), International Indian Treaty Council, Board of Directors; -Dr. Myrna Cunningham (Miskita),President , Fondo para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas de América Latina y el Caribe; -Victor Lopez Carmen, (Crow Creek Sioux Tribe and Yaqui), Co-Chair Global Indigenous Youth Caucus
-Tarcila Rivera Zea (Quechua), President, International Indigenous Women’s Forum, Vice-President, Chirapaq; -Sara Nawashahu Yawanawá- Bergin (Yawanawa), Chief of Shukuvena Village'; -Janene Yazzie, (Diné (Navajo)), Dzit Asdáán (Strong Women) Command Center for Covid Relief
Native Women & Politics: Double Feature Screening of WITHOUT A WHISPER - KONNON:KWE and PAULETTE (Thursday 10/15 @8PM ET)
Description: This election season join CC/SEAS Multicultural Affairs for a screening of two newly released films spotlighting the role of Native women and politics: WITHOUT A WHISPER - KONNON:KWE (2020) uncovers the hidden history of the profound influence Indigenous women had on the beginnings of the women’s rights movement in the United States, and PAULETTE (2019) tells the story of Paulette Jordan, the first Native American -- and the first woman -- to win the Idaho Primary for Governor.
