Social Justice
Advancing human rights and social justice
Around the world, social justice and human rights are more salient than ever, issues like the treatment of women and minorities, the status of refugees and immigrants, equal rights for LBGTQ+ persons, and humanitarian concerns in conflict areas.
Associate Professor Marie Berry is empowering those fighting injustice by bringing together women activists to strengthen their causes with research-backed strategies. Korbel alumna Dian Agustino is among that community of activists. She came to Korbel from Indonesia to learn effective ways to address her country’s most pressing human rights issues, specifically gender-based violence. During her time here, Agustino learned from other activists, working at a local immigration detention center and interning with an organization helping Palestinian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon.
Faculty Spotlight
Selected Courses
INTS 4364
Global Poverty and Human Rights
About this Course
This course explores the many dimensions of global poverty and human rights and well-being of people around the world. Three particular areas are emphasized and explored in detail. The first is the exact dimensions and extent of globalization. The second is the exact nature of another complex thought called poverty. The third area explores the connections between globalization, poverty, and human rights. After rigorous discussion of the conceptual foundations, we focus on the U.N. millennium development goals for poverty reduction in particular. At the end we will be able to explore the analytical foundation of alternative policies, strategies and evaluate these for formulating alternative strategies addressing human rights issues and global poverty reduction.
INTS 4939
Genocide and the Human Condition
About this Course
The well known Holocaust scholar, Daniel Jonah Goldhagen has argued that genocide is worse than war and we look at the mas killings of the past one hundred years he is probably correct. This course not only examines genocide comparatively by studying the Holocaust and genocide in Rwanda, Cambodia other countries and regions of the world but focuses on the question of if it can be ended. Does the popular phrase "Never Again" have any meaning or will genocide continue and even escalate in the twenty first century.
INTS 4670
Gender, Security and Human Rights
About this Course
This course examines the gendered dimensions of security and human rights, with a particular focus on periods of violence and insecurity. Gender equality has been at the heart of human rights and development efforts over the past half-century. Legal and normative instruments have been created to address the ongoing marginalization of women and girls around the world, including the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the 1995 Beijing Platform of Action. More recently there has been increasing attention to the importance of “gendering” discussions of international security. For instance, UN Security Council Resolution 1325, passed in 2000, is widely seen as a landmark framework for ensuring women’s inclusion in the post-war peace process.
Faculty Publications
Contraband Corridor
The Mexico–Guatemala border has emerged as a geopolitical hotspot of illicit flows of both goods and people. Professor Galemba's book seeks to understand the border from the perspective of its long-term inhabitants, including petty smugglers of corn, clothing, and coffee. Challenging assumptions regarding security, trade, and illegality, Galemba details how these residents engage in and justify extralegal practices in the context of heightened border security, restricted economic opportunities, and exclusionary trade policies. Read more.
Black Patriots and Loyalists
We commonly think of the American Revolution as simply the war for independence from British colonial rule. But, of course, that independence actually applied to only a portion of the American population—African Americans would still be bound in slavery for nearly another century. Professor Gilbert asks us to rethink what we know about the Revolutionary War, to realize that while white Americans were fighting for their freedom, many black Americans were joining the British imperial forces to gain theirs. Read more.
Related News Stories
Summer Institute Brings Women Activists Together for Training and Sisterhood
Last year, when Farida Nabourema arrived at the University of Denver for the Inclusive Global Leadership Initiative’s summer institute for women activists, she had her entire life packed in two suitcases. She came to the summer program not to hide or seek refuge, but to learn from the latest research on women-led movements.
Human Rights Student Builds Skill Set to Effect Change Back Home in Indonesia
Dian Agustino’s human rights work began at an Islamic boarding school in her native Indonesia. The students at the school were part of the country’s majority population, and with intolerance toward religious minorities growing throughout the region, peace building was Agustino’s mission.
Professor's Research Investigates Wage Theft Among Colorado Day Laborers
Galemba’s work is driven by immigration and its deep impact on the Denver community. And while wage theft is an issue affecting many underrepresented groups across the country, Denver’s Latino population is particularly hard hit.
