Tag Archives: Human Rights

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Human Rights / Israel / Are We Warlike by Nature – July 27th, 2014

First, what can the history of human rights tell us about the struggles of today. [ dur: 15 mins. ]

  • Michelline Ishay is Professor and the director of the International Human Rights Program at the University of Denver. She is the author of The History of Human Rights: From Ancient Times to the Globalization Era.

Then, Israel’s spiritual crisis and how it effects the Middle East. [ dur: 15 mins. ]

  • Avraham Burg, former speaker of Israel’s parliament. He is author of The Holocaust Is Over; We Must Rise From its Ashes.

Finally, our panel argues that warring is a relatively new phenomenon in human societies and that human beings are not warlike by nature. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Douglas P. Fry, is Director of Peace, Mediation & Conflict Research at Abo Akademi University, Finland.  He is author of Beyond War : The Human Potential for Peace.
  • Darcia Narvaez, is Professor of Psychology at University of Minnesota. Co-author of Evolution, Early Experience and Human Development: From Research to Practice and Policy.
  • Brian Ferguson, is Professor of  Anthropology  at Rutgers University.  Co-author of  War in the Tribal Zone: Expanding States and Indigenous Warfare.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Justice Scalia / violence against women – June 22nd, 2014

In this hour, the man some call the most polarizing and controversial supreme court justice in American history — The story of Antonin Scalia and why no one predicted who he would become. [ dur: 27 mins. ]

  • Bruce Allen Murphy is a judicial biographer and professor of law at Lafayette College. His latest book is Scalia: A Court of One.

Then, on the Scholar’s Circle panel, what is driving the increased violence against women around the world and how are women responding? [dur: 30 mins. ]

  • Manisha Desai is Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies & Sociology at the University of Connecticut. She is the author of Gender and the Politics of Possibilities: Rethinking Globalization, and co-editor of Women’s Activism and Globalization: Linking Local Struggle and Global Politics.
  • Jacqui True is Professor of Politics and International Relations at Monash University. She is the author of The Political Economy of Violence Against Women and Gender, Globalization and Postsocialism.
  • Amana Fontanella-Khan writes for Slate, the Daily Beast and the New York Times. Her book is called Pink Sari Revolution: A Tale of Women and Power in India.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Global Arms Trade / ICC – June 8th, 2014

First, how the murky world of the global arms trade compromises democracy and security. [ dur: 25 mins. ]

  • Andrew Feinstein served as an African National Congress (ANC) Member of Parliament in South Africa for over seven years. He is the founding Director of Corruption Watch. He is the author of, The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade, and his political memoir, After the Party: A Personal and Political Journey Inside the ANC.

Then, the International Criminal Court has sentenced a Congolese militia leader, completing its second conviction since the court was founded 12 years ago. Why so few convictions and what should be done about prosecuting international crime? [ dur: 33 mins. ]

  • Hannah Garry is a professor of law at the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law and Director of the International Human Rights Clinic. She specializes in international human rights law, international criminal law, international humanitarian law and international refugee law.
  • Chris Mahony, is a research fellow at Center for International Law Research and Policy. He was Deputy Director of the New Zealand Centre for Human Rights Law, Policy and Practice, Faculty of Law, Auckland University. He has advised the International Criminal Court, the British and US governments, the International Centre for Transitional Justice, and the Open Society Initiative, on international justice, transitional justice and justice sector reform.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle Radio- April 20th, 2014

First, planet earth is facing a sixth extinction. Can humanity rescue the planet that it has imperiled? [ dur: 30 mins. ]

  • Annalee Newitz is journalist and author of Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction. She is the founding editor of the science and science fiction website i09.com.
  • Elizabeth Kolbert is a staff member at The New Yorker. She is the author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change, and her latest book The Sixth Extinction.

Then, on the Scholar’s Circle panel, we look at genocides. What are the causes and how we can prevent it. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Ben Kiernan is Whitney Griswold Professor of History and Director of the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University. He is the author of, Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur, and The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power, and Genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975-79.
  • Alex Hinton is Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Genocide, Conflict Resolution, and Human Rights, and Professor of Anthropology and Global Affairs at Rutgers University. He is the author of, Why Did They Kill?: Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide, and is the editor of Genocide: Truth, Memory, and Representation (The Cultures and Practice of Violence), and Annihilating Difference: The Anthropology of Genocide.
  • Simon Baron-Cohen is Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Cambridge and Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge. He is the author of, Zero Degrees of Empathy, and he is the editor of Understanding Other Minds: Perspectives from developmental social neuroscience, and The Maladapted Mind: Classic Readings in Evolutionary Psychopathology.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle Radio- April 13th, 2014

Scientists are saying the earth is changing more rapidly than we expected. Ecosystems are shifting and some species are dying out. What exactly is occurring and where are we headed? We speak with Larry Schweiger. [ dur: 27 mins. ]

  • Larry Schweiger is president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, America’s largest conservation organization. Author of Last Chance: Preserving Life on Earth

On the Scholars’ Circle panel, the global refugee crisis has reached epic proportions with tens of millions being forced from their homes. We’ll explore what can be done. [ dur: 31 mins. ]

  • Elizabeth Ferris is a senior fellow in Foreign Policy and co-director of the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement in Washington, D.C., where her work encompasses a wide range of issues related to internal displacement, humanitarian action, natural disasters and climate change. She is the author of, The Politics of Protection:The Limits of Humanitarian Action.
  • Karen Musalo is clinical professor of law at UC Hastings College of Law. and is founding Director of the Center of Gender and Refugee. She was the lead attorney of the landmark case, Matter of Kasinga. She is the co-author of Do They Hear When You Cry, and Refugee Law and Policy: A Comparative and International Approach
  • Dr. Gilbert M. Burnham is the co-director of the Center for Refugee and Disaster Response at Johns Hopkins. He has extensive experience in emergency preparedness and response. He has worked with numerous humanitarian and health development programs for multilateral and non-governmental organizations, regional health departments, ministries of health (national and district level), and communities in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. A major current activity is the reconstruction of health services in Afghanistan.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle Radio- April 6th, 2014

First, in remembrance of the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide (April 7), we revisit the tragedy with Senator Romeo Dallaire who witnessed the atrocities first-hand. [ dur: 25 mins. ]

  • Senator Romeo Dallaire is the author of, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda and They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children: The Global Quest to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers.

Finally, the Syrian conflict has now taken more than 150,000 lives and displaced more than 4 million people. We ll discuss the latest developments and possible solutions to the crisis. [ dur: 34 mins. ]

  • Fred Lawson is professor of Government , Mills College; He is the author of Global Security Watch – Syria and Why Syria Goes to War: Thirty Years of Confrontation (Cornell Studies in Political Economy)
  • Nader Hashemi is professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics, University of Denver; He is the editor of The Syria Dilemma (Boston Review Books) and author of Islam, Secularism, and Liberal Democracy: Toward a Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies.
  • Dr. Marcie J. Patton is a Professor of Politics at Fairfield University. Her publications include, ”Turkey,” “AKP Reform Fatigue in Turkey: What’s happened to the EU process?” and “The Economic Policies of the AKP Government: Rabbits from a Hat?”

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- March 2nd, 2014

Power is shifting and changing hands more rapidly than ever. What does it mean for global politics, religion, and economies? [ dur: 24 mins. ]

  • Moises Naim, Carnegie Endowment for Int’l Peace, author of The End of Power: From Boardrooms to Battlefields and Churches to States, Why Being In Charge Isn’t What It Used to Be.

On the Scholars’ Circle, what are the politics that are preventing the closure of Guantanamo Bay? What are the legal and diplomatic ramifications? [ dur: 34 mins. ]

  • David Glazier, professor of Law and fellow at Loyola Law School. Author of article: Playing by the rules: combating al Qaeda within the law of war.: An article from: William and Mary Law Review;
  • Jonathan Hafetz, professor of Law at Seton Hall University. Author of Habeas Corpus after 9/11: Confronting America’s New Global Detention System and co-author of The Guantánamo Lawyers: Inside a Prison Outside the Law
  • Peter Jan Honisberg, professor of Law at University of San Francisco School of Law, Witness to Guantanamo. Co-author of Our Nation Unhinged: The Human Consequences of the War on Terror and author of Crossing Border Street: A Civil Rights Memoir

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Jan. 19th, 2014

In this hour, is humanity outgrowing planet?

  • Paul R. Ehrlich is president of the Center for Conservation Biology and Bing professor of population studies at Stanford University, author of the Population Bomb, Human Natures: Genes, Culture, and the Human Prospect and A World of Wounds: Ecologists and the Human Dilemma.

Then, while much of the country remembers Martin Luther King, Jr. as primarily a leader of civil rights and desegregation and a great orator, our next guests say he stood for so much more. Many aspects of his life, legacy & philosophy remain either unknown or conveniently forgotten

  • David Garrow, Professor of History and Law at University of Pittsburgh, author of FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr: From “Solo” to Memphis
  • Joshua Inwood is Professor of Geography and Africana Studies in Geography Department, University of Tennessee. His publications include, Nonkilling Geography, Searching for the Promised Land: Examining Dr. Martin Luther King’s Concept of the Beloved Community,and Street naming and the politics of belonging: spatial injustices in the toponymic commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Thomas Jackson, Professor of History at University of North Carolina, Greensboro. He is the author of, From Civil Rights to Human Rights: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Struggle for Economic Justice

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Dec. 15th, 2013

Scholars’ Circle special. We spend the hour assessing how far we’ve come in protecting human rights and what else can be done. What are some of ICC’s strengths and weaknesses? [ dur: 58 mins. ]

Samuel Moyne, Professor of history, Univ. of Columbia. Author of Origins of the Other: Emmanuel Levinas between Revelation and Ethics;

Mark Drumbl, Professor of Law at Washington & Lee University and Director of Transnational Law Institute. Author of Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law

Chris Mahony, Professor of law, University of Auckland. Author of The Justice Sector Afterthought: Witness Protection in Africa

Elizabeth Borgwardt, Professor of law, Washington University. Author of A New Deal for the World: America’s Vision for Human Rights

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Dec. 8th, 2013

In this hour, we reflect on Nelson Mandela s life, legacy and the struggle for multiracial democracy in South Africa with Mandela s friend and partner in the struggle, Albie Sachs.

  • Albie Sachs, South African Human rights lawyer and co-authored new constitution of South Africa. He has authored among others, The Soft Vengeance of a Freedom Fighter, The Strange Alchemy of Life and Law.

Then, scholars note that the world is waging fewer wars but that the wars that are waged are more brutal and intractable. How far have we come in the science of making peace?

  • George Lopez  Vice President and Director of international conflict management  at US Institute of Peace and Author of Sanctions and the Search for Security: Challenges to UN Action
  • Ervin Staub, Prof. of Psychology University of Massettuces Amherst.  Author of The Psychology of Good and Evil: Why Children, Adults, and Groups Help and Harm Others
  • Norrin Ripsman, Professor of  Political Science at Concordia University. Author of Globalization and the National Security State

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