Two University of Arkansas at Little Rock students and their faculty mentor recently attended a weeklong, scholarly seminar in New York City focused on human rights issues and global justice.

UALR seniors Michael Wyatt and Kate Blackwell joined Dr. Rochelle Green of the Department of Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies for a workshop titled, “The Ethics of Human Rights and Development in the 21st Century.”

The workshop, which is part of a series of seminars organized by the Oxford Human Rights Consortium, included a series of in-depth discussions at the United Nations led by world-renowned international lawyers, human rights and development scholars, and senior policy advisors.

The Oxford Human Rights Consortium, of which Dr. Green is a founding member, is an organization dedicated to providing unique educational opportunities for undergraduates as well as postgraduates on topics related to human rights, development, and peacekeeping.

In addition to UALR, other universities participating in the consortium include Oxford University, Quinnipiac University, University of Houston, University of Oregon, and University of Southern California. Students from these universities as well as Yale University and Southern Connecticut University were among the participants in the 30-person seminar.

This particular workshop, which focused on ethical questions related to development, included lectures and seminars at Yale University and Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. It also included a tour of the United Nations and work with a refugee resettlement agency in Connecticut.

Of particular focus during this week-long event was the role institutions ought to play internationally as well as in local community contexts.

“A cultural bombshell–that’s the best way I know to describe the experience,” said Blackwell, a philosophy major.

“It was an amazing thing to be able to sink our teeth into operations at the U.N. and to pick the brains of fellow students and some of the brightest minds in the field,” she said.

“It was intellectually stimulating, but also a great social and networking opportunity,” agreed Wyatt, a double major in political science and philosophy.

Community action plans to aid refugees

Students were required to prepare for the workshop in advance by reading the work of many of the scholars who conducted lectures during the workshop and led small group discussions.

Students also met and discussed material with faculty facilitators and other participating students from other institutions over the Internet in the weeks leading up to the workshop. Once the workshop began in New York, students were put into groups and given the charge to apply their knowledge and skills to create “community action plans” which were designed to help the refugee resettlement agency in Connecticut.

Green said the idea for creating the collaborative consortium was to provide bright students a sense of empowerment and help them envision themselves having “the future they want” by engaging them at both national and international levels.

“It’s about helping students see all the different ways they can apply and extend their education,” said Green.

The relevance of such opportunities comes at a time when critical thinking skills required of philosophy majors are demanded by prospective employers, Green said.

Experiences like this, she said, enable students to see the direct relevance between their classroom studies and their ability to work in dynamic and important fields after graduation.

Civil rights as human rights

Next July, UALR is scheduled to host another workshop in the series titled, “Civil Rights as Human Rights,” which will involve collaboration between Oxford University, UALR, The Clinton School for Public Service, and other participating consortium schools.

Angela Johnson, a UALR senior philosophy and psychology major travelled with Dr. Green to Oxford, England, last spring to attend a workshop on “Humanitarian Action, Human Rights and Peacemaking in Violent Conflict,” which focused on the events taking place in Syria.

Another workshop is scheduled to take place in Oxford again this March to which additional UALR students have been invited to attend.

“These kind of events showcase what UALR students are doing with and through their educational opportunities,” said Angela Hunter, interim chair of the Department of Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies.

“What a wonderful way to highlight UALR’s metropolitan mission and community engagement,” she said.

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