Graduate Conference
department of political science
The Politics of Human Rights
An Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference, March 11-12, 2010
The inaugural Department of Political Science Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference on “The Politics of Human Rights” provided an opportunity for a multi-disciplinary conversation about questions such as the foundations of human rights, the relation between human rights and cultural differences, and the role of the state on questions of human rights. The conference hosted three keynote speakers, three graduate student panels, and visitors from the Boston area and beyond. Read the complete summary.
Event Program
Video of the Event
Are All Rights Human Rights? - BC Frontrow
Susan Shell, professor of political science at Boston College, discusses recent extensions of legal rights to non-human entities. David Hollenbach, S.J., professor of theology and University Chair in Human Rights and International Justice, responds.
Islamic Particularism in Universalist Garb: The New VeilCovering Middle Eastern
Governments’ Human Rights Policies - BC Frontrow
Ann Elizabeth Mayer, associate professor of legal studies at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, discusses the resurgence of challenges to universal human rights, in the form of appeals to accommodate conflicting cultural values in the Middle East and North Africa. Intisar Rabb, Professor at Boston College Law School, responds.
Human Rights and the Use of Force - BC Frontrow
Sarah Sewall, lecturer in Public Policy and program director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, discusses the role of power in the context of politics and human rights. Ward Thomas, associate professor of Political Science at the College of the Holy Cross, provides a response.
Student Papers Presented
Panel A: The Foundations of Human Rights
- In Defense of Dignity, by Alex Reger (MA student, Political Science, University of Connecticut)
- Removing the Veil of Ignorance: A Facade of Rights, A Foundation of Presuppositions, by Jessica Bartlett (MA student, Philosophy, Brandeis)
- The Rights of Rocks: Towards an Environmental Ethic Without Intrinsicality, by Brian Smith (MA student, Ethics and Public Policy, Suffolk)
Faculty respondent: Susan Shell
Graduate student moderator: Jeff Bacon
Panel B: Human Rights and Cultural Differences
- A Case of Competing Interests: Sex Equality and Religious "Personal" Laws in India and Israel, by Kashyap Ridhi (FAS, Harvard)
- The Right to Change One's Religion: Apostasy as the Litmus Test for Religious Freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan's Constitutions, by Melinda Haring (MA Government, Georgetown)
- Identifying a Human Rights Basis for the Cultural Defense, by Bradford Adams (JD, Harvard Law)
Faculty respondent: Ann E. Mayer
Graduate student moderator: Elitsa Molles
Panel C: State Interests and Individual Rights
- Inalienable Rights: Universal and Constitutional Citizenship Perspectives on Due Process in the Deportation of Criminal Legal Permanent Residents, by Clara Long (JD, Harvard)
- Francisco de Vitoria and the Right to Travel: Political Rights, International Law, and the Ethics of Hospitality, by Michael P. Jaycox (PhD student, Theology, Boston College)
Faculty respondent: Hiroshi Nakazato
Graduate student moderator: Farah Bushashia
Sponsors
- Boston College Department of Political Science Graduate Student Association
- Boston College Department of Political Science
- Boston College Clough Center for Constitutional Democracy
- Boston College Program in Islamic Civilization and Societies
- Boston College GSAS Dean’s Office
- Boston College International Studies Program
- The Department of Theology
- Boston College Center for Human Rights and International Justice
Executive Committee
- Co-Chairs: Rebecca Clark, Jeff Bacon
- Secretary: Brenna McMahon
- Treasurer: Rebecca Clark
- Keynote Ambassador: Yael Levin
- Public Relations: Elitsa Molles
- Event Manager: Kate Chappell
- Members at Large: Kim Stewart, Farah Bushashia