Human Rights Resources - EduCultureEduCulture

The page below is ARCHIVED information related to a past initiative of Global Source Education, the parent organization of EduCulture. Though these are not current projects of EduCulture, we feel there are valuable resources and information for educational purposes.

“Education, of course, is an arena of hope and struggle- hope for a better life, and struggle over how to understand and enact and achieve that better life.”
~William Ayers (Teaching for Social Justice)

[This resource list is extensive but by no means meant to be an exhaustive list of resources on human rights education.]

Human Rights Here and Now: Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

A publication of the Human Rights Educators’ Network of Amnesty International USA, the Human Rights USA Resource Center, and the Stanley Foundation. Intended for use both by community groups and teachers in elementary and secondary schools. It provides background information, ideas for taking action, and interative exercises to help people learn about hte human rights guaranteed in the UDHR. It consititues a starter kit for human rights education: background information on human rights history, principles, and issues; strategies for teachiing human rights; 15 activities for a wide variety of age groups (K-adult); and essential human rights documents.

The Human Rights Education Handbook: Effective Practices for Learning, Action, and Change

By Nancy Flowers with Marcia Bernbaum, Kristi Rudelius-Palmer, and Joel Tolman. A Publication of the Human Rights Resource Center and the Stanley Foundation.
The Handbook brings together the theoretical thinking and practical experience of educators who are working in many parts of the world to build a culture of human rights. It provides working definitions for human rights education and outlines goals, audiences, and content for this rapidly growing field. At the heart of this manual are practical chapters on the art of facilitation and a compendium of effective methodologies for HR education in both formal and informal settings. These chapters are supplemented by documents, workshop models, sample activities, and resource lists.

Economic and Social Justice: A Human Rights Perspective

By David A. Shiman. A Publication of the Human Rights Resource Center and the Stanley Foundation. This is Topic Book 1 in the HR Education Series, and a companion to Human Rights Here and Now. Explains the differences between economic, social, and cutural rights in an historical context from the civil rights movement to human rights movements. Includes various HR documents, including an abridged text of the UDHR, a glossary of HR terms, and resource lists.

Educating for Social Responsibility: Teacher-designed Curricula for Peace Education, K-12 Reardon, B. (ed.) (1988) New York: Teachers College Press.

Education for Leadership and Social Responsibility. Nemerowicz, G. & Rosi, E. (1997) Washington, DC: The Falmer Press.

Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior Resource Handbook. Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation, Inc. (1994) Brookline: Author

Human Rights Education: the Fourth R. Enloe, W. & Willems, G. (1994) Chicago: Amnesty International USA, Human Rights Educators’ Network

On Human Dignity: the Need for Human Rights Education, Tibbets, F. (1996) Social Education, Vol. 60 #6, 428-431.

Articles on Human Rights Education by William Fernekes in Social Education, www.socialstudies.org

The Kid’s Guide to Social Action, by Barbara Lewis, Free Spirit Publishing, 1998

Teaching for Social Justice, Edited by W. Ayers, J.A. Hunt, & T. Quinn, The New Press, New York, 1998

Speak Truth to Power

An education and advocacy package (book, handbook, video, play, website) in collaboration with Amnesty International and Umbrage Editions. Book by Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, play by Ariel Dorfman, www.speaktruthtopower.org

Resources on Human Rights Related Topics and Issues

The University of Minnesota Human Rights Resource has developed an excellent student activity called Taking the Human Rights Temperature of Your School. The survey uses criteria from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to frame questions that assess the human rights conditions and climate of your school. This activity can be found on-line at: http://www.hrusa.org/hrmaterials/temperature/default.shtm

The Art of Peace: Nobel Peace Laureates Discuss Human Rights, Conflict and Resolution

Edited by Jeffrey Hopkins. In November 1998 nine Nobel Peace Laureates convened at the University of Virginia to share their views about the importance of basic human rights, their concerns about conflicts that arise when these rights are denied, and their practical ideas for achieving reconciliation. At the core of their agenda is the conviction that an ethical concern for the welfare of others is essential for personal, political, social, and economic balance. The book includes short biographies of each of the laureates. Each presentation is followed by responses from the participants as well as questions from the audience.

A Call to Service: a Witness to Idealism

By Robert Coles. (1993) Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.A primer on social responsibility from an internationally recognized authority on the inner lives of children, who has inspired many in education. A great book for discussing idealism in the context of community service, civil society, citizenship, social movements and international work.

Ethics for the New Millennium

By His Holiness The Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama discusses a Buddhist view of ethics with a universal lens for addressing global issues in the next century and beyond. This book is a great pathway to engage a dialogue in any classroom or educational circle about the human condition and what it takes to cultivate humanity in a global society, from one who is felt by many to be one of our greatest models. Its no accident this book was a NY Times Bestseller for months.

Freedom From Fear

By Aung San Suu Kyi. The moving collection of writings of a courageous leader of Burma’s National League for Democracy who was put under house arrest by the ruling military junta that took over Burma during the process of a democratic election that she eventually won. Winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, Aung San Suu Kyi has become a global leader on human rights, peace and social justice. A primer for any study of Burma.

The Human Rights Reader

Ishay, M. (1997) New York: Routledge. A comprehensive anthology of primary source material for the study of human rights throughout the growth of Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Greek, and Roman civilizations, through the Enlightenment and Industrial Age, and up to the present. A recommended tool of study for any human rights education.

The Human Rights Reader:
Major Political Essays, Speeches, and Documents, from the Bible to the Present

Micheline Ishay, ed., Routledge, New York: 1997. A comprehensive anthology of primary source material for the study of human rights throughout the growth of Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Greek, and Roman civilizations, through the Enlightenment and Industrial Age, and up to the present. A recommended tool of study for any human rights education.

In the Footsteps of Gandhi: Conversations with Spiritual Social Activists

By Catherine Ingram. (1990) Berkeley: Parallax Press. Twelve interviews with a variety of inspirational leaders, including The Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Cesar Chavez, Joanna Macy, Ram Dass, Joan Baez and Gary Snyder. A great source of wisdom to help examine issues of social justice and social responsibility.

Iqbal Masih and the Crusaders Against Child Slavery

By Susan Kuklin. A journey through the history of child labor and slavery through the lens of Igbal Masih, a Pakistani boy who under bondage was forced to work in a carpet actory. He became an international human rights activist by risking his life to tell his story and work to end the system of child slavery in his country and around the world. Groups of American and European middle school students actively took up his cause and raised tremedous awareness of the plight of children like Iqbal. A great primer for a study of the rights of the child. Recommended for grades 4 and up.

Irrepressible Spirit: Conversations with Human Rights Activists

By Susan Kuklin. (1996) New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. A cultural and biographical survey of human rights issues inspired by the work of the international NGO Human Right Watch. Through meetings with human rights practitioners and professionals from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas author introduces you to an entire division of labor of human rights work, from those who work on the ground to those who work behind the scenes to address international human rights violations. One of few book like this written for secondary school students. A great primer on human rights education.

State of the Peoples: a Global Human Rights Report on Societies in Danger Cultural Survival (1993) Boston: Beacon Press.

Talking Peace: a Vision for the Next Generation

By Jimmy Carter. (1993) New York: Dutton Children’s Books.This former President sets a model for global citizenship to young people through his reflections on working for conflict resolution and peace during office and currently through The Carter Center. Jimmy Carter discusses issues of war, peace, global conflict, mediation, The Middle East Peace Process, and human rights. A primer for teaching about global citizenship and social responsibility.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, An Adaptation for Children by Ruth Rocha & Otavio Roth, United Nations Publications