Tag Archives: Civil Liberties

Scholars’ Circle – Death of Navalny and other autocratic tactics to disrupt democracy – March 3, 2024

What does the death of Russia’s high profile dissident, Alexi Navalny, mean for the future of the country? Who was Alexi Navalny and what exactly did he stand for? Navalny was not the only political dissident in Russia. Who else is resisting the government and what are their causes?

And what does Alexei Navalny’s death portend for Russian leader, Vladimir Putin? Does it suggest he’s a strongman or that he is, instead, weaker than he appears? [ dur:58mins ]

  • Steve Swerdlow, esq. is Associate Professor of the Practice of Human Rights in the Department of Political and International Relations at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Uzbekistan’s Religious and Political Prisoners and Uzbekistan’s Ethnic Minorities: Out of Sight, But Not Out of Mind. He writes extensively as a human rights monitor for Human Right Watch.
  • Robert English is Associate Professor of International Relations and Co-Director of the Central European Studies Program at the University of Southern California (USC). He is the author of Russia and the Idea of the West.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – MLK legacy on Politics and BLM movement of 21st century ; Book Author interview – By the Numbers – January 14, 2024

To commemorate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. we explore the impact of Dr. King and his memory on contemporary issues, including the role of women in the movement and the security of people of color as embodied in the Black Lives Matter movement. What is the meaning of Dr. King’s dream today? [ dur: 30mins. ]

*This was part of a panel discussion recorded January 2023. To hear the entire discussion please visit: here.

How did better understandings of mathematical concepts and the rise in numeracy rates change society, politics, philosophy and science? And what did it mean for religion? We explore how educating ordinary people, the adoption of Arabic numerals, alongside related changes transformed early modern England. [ dur: 28mins. ]

This program is produced by Maria Armoudian, Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Human rights of disabled persons in a society that favors able-bodied persons – July 9, 2023

The rights of persons with disabilities is a growing and important area of human rights. But what does it mean to ensure equal treatment under the law? What exactly is a disability, and who makes the judgment? And what do we mean by ableism? [ dur: 58mins. ]

This interview was recorded in October, 2021.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Turkey’s 2023 election and regional effects – June 11, 2023

Turkey’s election returned President Erdogan to power, despite the crises in the country. How did he win and what does his re-election mean for Turkish democracy? What are the foreign policy implications for the re-election of Erdogan. What does it mean for regional politics and for Turkey as a regional power? Will Turkey become even more interventionist in the region? [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin, Mihika Chechi, and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Women protest in Iran, a persistent struggle – April 2, 2023

After the murder of Mahsa Amini by morality police Iran has seen protests, demonstrations, and an ongoing resistance movement against its regime. What best explains the origins and persistence of this movement? What has influenced Iran’s resistant movement? We will explore the status of women and the history of women’s rights movement in Iran. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Also, Iran has a substantial number of diaspora around the world. They help frame the issues that are occurring inside its borders. What is the interaction between Iranians abroad and Iranians in Iran and the resistance movement going on right now in the nation?

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin, Mihika Chechi, and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Dr. Martin Luther King Legacy and its effect on contemporary civil rights movement- January 15, 2023

To commemorate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. we discuss Dr King’s life, his work, his legacy and his memory. We then explore the impact of Dr King and his memory on contemporary issues, including the role of women on the movement and the security of people of color as embodied in the Black Lives Matter movement. What is the meaning of Dr King’s dream today? [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Conflict Resolution in Post Communist Eurasia and Power of ideas to shape Nation States – October 2, 2022

Regions have the resilience to manage conflicts and ensure they do not spread to other countries. Our guest Anna Ohanyan examines the factors that help build this resilience. She is the author of The Neighborhood Effect: The Imperial Roots of Regional Fracture in Post-Communist Eurasia. [ dur: 30mins. ]

Then, our panel looks at the power of ideas to shape countries, foreign policies, international power structures and the world. [ dur: 28mins. ]

From our archive, originally recorded in December 2012:

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Mihika Chechi, Melissa Chiprin, and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Insight into Ethnic Conflict in Autocratic Uzbekistan and Tajikistan ; Creative Lawyers for Human Rights – September 11, 2022

Protests across Central Asia have rocked the nations of the former Soviet republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The states’ violent suppression of these movements have killed hundreds and undermined human rights protections. We explore the roots of these conflicts and what these violent crackdown mean for human rights, democracy, transparency and peace in the region. [ dur: 31mins. ]

We interview Maria Armoudian who has authored a book on international human rights and the role that lawyers have played at advancing cases against human rights abusers. [ dur: 27mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Mihika Chechi, Melissa Chiprin, and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Examining Disability and Ableism – October 10, 2021

The rights of persons with disabilities is a growing and important area of human rights. But what does it mean to ensure equal treatment under the law? What exactly is a disability, and who makes the judgment? And what do we mean by ableism? [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Cubans, Protest and Demand – August 8, 2021

We discuss the ongoing political climate in Cuba and the US response to them. How much is the US responsible for this state? And how should the US respond to the protests? [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.