Spring Break
Activist lectures about passion, human rights
Katie Hannafin
Issue date: 10/21/08 Section: Focus
Renowned activist Charlotte Bunch discussed human rights issues with a large emphasis on women's rights and culture in the Konover Auditorium yesterday afternoon.
The lecture was called "Passionate Politics: The Intersection of Gender, Culture, and Human Rights" and was sponsored by the Raymond & Beverly Sackler Distinguished Lecture Series Program. This is the 15th human rights lecture series the philanthropist Sackler couple has sponsored at UConn.
Brinley Franklin, vice provost for university libraries, greeted the audience and Bunch was soon welcomed and thanked by President Hogan. Bunch's lecture came at a very appropriate time with the upcoming election and the student-organized "What Will You Do?" rally that took place on Dow field last week to talk about attitudes about sexual harassment and assault.
Bunch, founder and executive director of the Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers University, commended UConn on its impressive effort to make human rights a critical issue. She informed everyone that this December would bring the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which puts forth the aspects and basics of human rights as a struggle for individuals.
One of her concerns was that human rights haven't been made more of an issue in the upcoming election.
"I think the closest thing that has been addressed in terms of human rights is the talk about health care and as we know Obama considers it a right for Americans, and McCain considers it a responsibility," she said.
Her definition of human rights embodies a notion of how we want to and can have ethical relationships with each other with respect and responsibility.
Bunch's focus in human rights has been made on women's rights, for which she has been an activist, author, and organizer in the field for four decades. She said that 20 years ago violence against women was not considered a human rights issue, and her goal is to make women's rights become understood as human rights. The Women's Rights Convention has been adopted in some cities, but has yet to be made a U.S. doctrine, according to Bunch.
The lecture was called "Passionate Politics: The Intersection of Gender, Culture, and Human Rights" and was sponsored by the Raymond & Beverly Sackler Distinguished Lecture Series Program. This is the 15th human rights lecture series the philanthropist Sackler couple has sponsored at UConn.
Brinley Franklin, vice provost for university libraries, greeted the audience and Bunch was soon welcomed and thanked by President Hogan. Bunch's lecture came at a very appropriate time with the upcoming election and the student-organized "What Will You Do?" rally that took place on Dow field last week to talk about attitudes about sexual harassment and assault.
Bunch, founder and executive director of the Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers University, commended UConn on its impressive effort to make human rights a critical issue. She informed everyone that this December would bring the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which puts forth the aspects and basics of human rights as a struggle for individuals.
One of her concerns was that human rights haven't been made more of an issue in the upcoming election.
"I think the closest thing that has been addressed in terms of human rights is the talk about health care and as we know Obama considers it a right for Americans, and McCain considers it a responsibility," she said.
Her definition of human rights embodies a notion of how we want to and can have ethical relationships with each other with respect and responsibility.
Bunch's focus in human rights has been made on women's rights, for which she has been an activist, author, and organizer in the field for four decades. She said that 20 years ago violence against women was not considered a human rights issue, and her goal is to make women's rights become understood as human rights. The Women's Rights Convention has been adopted in some cities, but has yet to be made a U.S. doctrine, according to Bunch.
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