2008 Conference Agenda

Greetings
Margot Stern Strom, Executive Director Facing History and Ourselves

Mary Ann Glendon Interview
Rebecca Richman Cohen

Welcome
Martha Minow, Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Drew G. Faust, President of Harvard University

Making the Universal Declaration of Human Rights-Then and Now
What does the UDHR mean for this generation and the next generation? What made it possible to make the UDHR, given particular national, political, and cultural differences? What critiques of the ideal of universal human rights deserve continuing attention, related both to the past and the present; how do or could human rights traverse both particular and universal experiences? How should nations-and individuals-navigate the movement from the ideal to the real?

Michael Ignatieff, keynote speaker, Member of the Canadian Parliament and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Opposition

Right to education
What is the specific right to education that was part of the UDHR? What does it mean for kids in refugee camps, in under funded schools in Texas, for kids who feel excluded in France because of they cannot wear a headscarf? How does the universal human rights framework limit or enable advocacy for educating all children?

Jacqueline Bhabha, Director of the Harvard University Committee on Human Rights, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Educating in Diverse Societies
How are equity issues playing out in diverse schools? What's happening in schools with high and diverse immigrant populations? How best can schools reconcile commitments to reproducing nationhood with respect and acknowledgement of pluralism? (From Just Schools) Do schools promote integration along the lines of race, ethnicity, religion, and economic class, or instead divide students along these or other lines? Do schools with diverse student bodies encourage development of one common identity or instead foster distinctive group identities? Which of these avenues better expands opportunities or confers respect on the individuals involved?

Moderator: Adam Strom, Director of Research and Development, Facing History and Ourselves
Panel: Sir Keith Ajegbo, John R. Bowen, Viola Georgi, Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, Patrick Weil

Universality and Identity or Confrontation and Aspiration in what is called an Age of Terror and Globalization
With increasing contact inside of countries of people from different cultures, what is the aspiration that societies should have? Is it coexistence, integration, multiple jurisdictions, tolerance? What structures are most likely to produce what you think is the best thing? What is likely to produce a counter reaction? When has it worked, when has it not worked? Tell us stories about what you know have been negative versions and positive versions? What should the world know from the lessons that you have been studying about intergroup relations? How constructive is a human rights movement to the vision that you think best models the intergroup relationships?

Moderator: Martha Minow
Panel: Jocelyne Cesari, Noah Feldman, Maleiha Malik, Olivier Roy, Ayelet Shachar, Richard Shweder

Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World
Bridge discussion of the hopes behind the UDHR and the present moment, and the intensifying challenges posed by clashing of cultures inside of countries with the challenges of living a life engaged in human rights work

Samantha Power, Anna Lindh Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Introduction by Martha Minow

Closing
John Sexton, President of New York University