Sign up in Support of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights!
Dear all,
In December 2008, the world will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the
signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. "The Elders"
(Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Ela Bhatt, Gro Brundtland, Jimmy Carter, Lakhdar
Brahimi, Fernando H Cardoso, Kofi Annan, Graca Machel, Mary Robinson,
Muhammad Yunus, Aung San Suu Kyi)have launched the campaign
"Every Human Has Rights."
They would like 2008 to be the year that the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights is signed by individuals.
The aim is to collect one 1 billion signatures from across the world by
the end of 2008.
Sign up!
http://www.everyhumanhasrights.org
New! Curriclum Writing Acedmy 2008 for Minneapolis and St.Paul Educators!
Download Registration form
2008 Summer Curriculum Writing Academy:
Human Rights Education in our Classrooms and Communities
Facilitators: July 28 - 31, 2008
Kristi Rudelius-Palmer 8:30am – 4:30pm
Co-Director, Human Rights Center University of Minnesota Human Rights Center
Natela Jordan 229 19th Avenue South, Room 45 (Subplaza)
Education Coordinator, Human Rights Center Minneapolis, MN 55455
The 2008 Summer Curriculum Writing Academy is a professional development model developed by the Human Rights Center based on the This is My Home pilot workshops, observations, and continuous feedback from Minnesota educators. During the 4-day Academy, educators learn about human rights and integrating human rights into school curricula as well as create their own curriculum units using the online interactive Curriculum Planning Tool.
ACADEMY GOALS:
- Introduce the concept of human rights and human rights education;
- Introduce and involve participants in using This is My Home online multi-media tools;
- Build a team of human rights educators;
- Develop or enhance human rights curriculum-building skills;
- Develop curriculum units/ lesson plans.
About This is My Home: This is My Home is a Minnesota-based, pre-K-12 Human Rights Education (HRE) initiative. In partnership with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and the League of Minnesota Human Rights Commissions, the Human Rights Center has developed, piloted, and launched one of the most innovative, emergent human rights education programs in the country. This is My Home (www.thisismyhome.org) was designed and developed to provide a systematic framework to assist educators, school administrators, education support professionals, and community members in promoting and protecting human rights by connecting students to one another and their schools, families, and communities.
The primary objectives of This is My Home are threefold: (1) to engage all members of the school community in creating a learning environment in which everyone can grow to their full potential with their human dignity and human rights upheld; (2) to motivate all members of the school community to take responsibility for promoting and protecting human rights so that student achievement, development, and performance can thrive; (3) to develop new tools for sharing and monitoring emerging and effective HRE practices.
All of our This is My Home resources are freely available to teachers and community educators and are easily accessible on the internet at www.thisismyhome.org. Our website offers curriculum units, lesson planning tools, training opportunities, an electronic newsletter, videos, a glossary of human rights terminology, downloadable posters, and links to additional resources. We also distribute hard-copy This is My Home Toolkits, which contain a CD with the curriculum units and planning tools, the This is My Home DVD: Minnesota Students Share Their Stories, posters, and the Taking the Human Rights Temperature of Your School Questionnaire.
New This is My Home resources for the 2008 Academy!
The University of Minnesota Human Rights Center developed guides for teachers and community leaders based on Close the Gap, a new 5-part documentary series produced by the Twin Cities Public Television (tpt). The Educator Guide provides curriculum resources for engaging youth in grades 8-12. The Community Guide offers key discussion activities for Human Rights Commissioners, community leaders, and other interested individuals to better understand these disparities and their causes, as well as to work to overcome them.These resources can be accessed here: http://www.hrusa.org/closethegap/main.php
This year participants have the option to earn graduate credit from the University of Minnesota. This 2-credit course will be available at the reduced rate for teachers of $388.25/credit. Credits will be issued by the Institute for Global Studies in the College of Liberal Arts. Contact your institution's advisor to determine if these credits can be applied to your degree program.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Pre K-12 classroom teachers, cultural liaisons, curriculum specialists, and administrators from Minneapolis and St.Paul Public Schools.This academy is made possible through the General Mills Communities of Color grant; therefore, we would like to encourage applicants representing and serving communities of color.
Registration Deadline: June 20, 2008. To register, email a completed application form to home@umn.edu. For questions and more information, call the Human Rights Center at 612-625-2857. Download Registration form
2008 Curriculum Writing Academy: Human Rights Education Facilitators
Kristi Rudelius-Palmer has been involved in the field of Human Rights Education (HRE) since 1986 in various capacities. She founded a University of Minnesota campus Amnesty International group, facilitated prejudice reduction workshops for teachers, taught decision groups and parenting classes for fathers in prison and for mothers on the outside, and developed a self-esteem class for young children with parents in prison. Kristi edited the first report for Article 19, a freedom of expression organization, in London and assisted economically disadvantaged individuals in obtaining legal assistance with the Minnesota Justice Foundation for two years. In 1989, Kristi became a founding Co-Director of the Human Rights Center at the University of Minnesota. She organized numerous community-wide HRE series, including a mock trial of Christopher Columbus in 1992, which was carried in newspapers throughout the world. In 1997, Kristi was a founding member of Human Rights USA and creator of the national Human Rights Resource Center and web site, which services the nation with resources and training for building a human rights movement in this country. Kristi directs the publishing of The Human Rights Education Series, produced by the Human Rights Resource Center with diverse organizational partners, and also worked with more than 100 educators and community members to develop This is My Home: A Minnesota Human Rights Experience.
Natela Jordan has worked in the field of education since 1999. Her experience comes from the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and the US with such international non-profit organizations as Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation), Central European University, and Freedom House. Natela coordinated projects on human rights and civic education and interactive student-centered methodology. She worked with teachers and school administrators to make this methodology a part of schools’ culture. Inspired by the human rights aspect of her work, she graduated from the Central European University with an MA degree in Human Rights. She organized international human rights advocacy conferences, coordinated other international human rights education events, and worked as a human rights trainer and course director. Natela joined the Human Rights Center in 2006 and now works as Education Coordinator for This is My Home.
New! Close the Gap Documentaries and Companion Guides!
To access the Close The Gap Curriculum online, please go to: http://hrusa.org/closethegap/main.php
Close the Gap Documentary Available
The Itasca Project is a business led alliance focused on strengthening the future of our Twin Cities area for all citizens. The Itasca Project produced the Close the Gap documentary to show the very real issues created by race, class and place disparities here in the Twin Cities metro area. By also profiling existing solutions addressing these issues, the goal is to inspire community members and organizations to find ways to close the gaps.
The documentary is a series of five 30 minute episodes plus a 60 minute retrospective and is available to community members on one DVD at no cost. Shipping will begin in June. To order, send an email to mindthegap@unitedwaytwincities.org including quantity ordered and mailing address. DVDs and shipping are free of charge. You may also order through United Way 2-1-1 TM. Just dial 2-1-1. Cell phone users can call 651-291-0211.
Free downloads of the series are also available through www.tccompass.org
To download flyer click here
New! 2008 Human Rights Poster Contest
Visit www.humanrights.state.mn.us for contest rules and entry forms
2007 Human Rights Day Poster Contest Winners
