We would like to inform them that the application deadline for conference delegates has been extended to Sunday, March 9th, 2008. We’re also happy to share that our speakers this year include Nicholas Kistof and Mark Haris.

All the best,
Elizabeth Nielsen and Gauthami Soma
Co-Chairs
Northwestern University Conference on Human Rights

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“Globalization and the Universality of Human Rights”

April 10-13, 2008

The fifth annual Northwestern University Conference on Human Rights (NUCHR) is a national student conference on “Globalization and the Universality of Human Rights,” which will take place on Northwestern’s Evanston campus on April 10-13, 2006. The Conference will examine the impact of globalizing forces on the tension between cultural relativism and the universality of human rights in four key areas: cultural and religious tensions, multinational corporations, international justice, and health. NUCHR will provide the funding to bring talented undergraduate student leaders and activists from colleges across the country to attend a three-day summit. Students will interact with distinguished speakers and panelists, comprised of top academics, activists, and policy-makers in the field.

As the largest student-organized and student-attended human rights conference in the United States, the conference is dedicated to fostering social activism and raising awareness of international human rights issues by uniting student leaders from across the country with renowned activists, academics, and policy makers over a three day summit. In the past, the conference has focused on issues such as American interventionist policy, American policy towards HIV and AIDS in the developing world, human trafficking, and torture. We have featured distinguished speakers such as Romeo Dallaire, Richard Holbrooke, Bernard Kouschner, Stephen Lewis, John Miller, and Cherif Bassiouni.

NUCHR views social entrepreneurship as a fundamental component of our goals. We consider critical thinking and social entrepreneurship as two parts of a singular process. Our conference begins by informing students of the complexities in various human rights issues. By engaging with distinguished professionals in the field, students will gain the foresight for the second component — social entrepreneurship. On a tangible level, on the third day of the conference we hope to have a break-out session, tentatively referred to as “Challenges to Solutions” in which young social entrepreneurs in each of the four areas will be featured. Finally, Mark Hanis, will be closing the conference!

To apply to attend the Conference as a student delegate (including funding for travel and housing expenses) and for more information on NUCHR, please visit our website: http://www.cics.northwestern.edu/NUCHRweb/index.html . Applications are due on March 9, 2008.

If you have any additional questions please feel free to contact the co-chairs of this year’s conference, Elizabeth Nielsen and Gauthami Soma, via e-mail conferenceonhumanrights@u.northwestern.edu or phone 612.695.7944.