2006 HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE:
HUMAN RIGHTS IN ASIA
MAY 12 – 13, 2006

The Human Rights Program of the Center for International Studies announces a two day conference on Human Rights in Asia on Friday and Saturday, May 12 and 13, 2006. The conference will bring together an international array of scholars and activists to explore some of the most pressing human rights issues and challenges facing the region today.

The conference will provide a forum in which questions regarding the validity of claims to “eastern” or Asian values as not suited to human rights and democracy will be discussed and debated, with due emphasis given to the means by which human rights is or should be advocated in Asian countries.

The conference will take place at the University of Chicago International House, 1414 East 59 th Street, and is free and open to the public. For more information please contact Maureen Loughnane at 773-834-0957 or email human-rights@uchicago.edu.

Draft Schedule:

Friday May 12

3:30-3:45pm - Opening Remarks; Bruce Cumings, Professor of History, University of Chicago

3:45-5:50pm - Panel I: Asian Values

Invited panelists:

• Daniel A. Bell, Professor of Political Philosophy and Ethics, Department of Philosophy, Tsinghua University ( Beijing)
• Jack Donnelly, Andrew Mellon Professor of International Studies, University of Denver
• Kwok Kian Woon, Associate Professor, Vice-Dean (Academic) and Head, Division of Sociology, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore
• Hahm Chaibong, Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California

6:00 – 7:00pm - Keynote Speaker: John Kamm, Founder and Chairperson, The Dui Hua Foundation; introduction by Susan Gzesh, Director of Human Rights Program, University of Chicago

Saturday May 13

9:30 – 10:30am - Screening of French documentary, “"Prisoner of Lhasa." The film features the life in prison of Ngawang Sangdrol, one of the singing nuns of Drapchi prison, and John Kamm, with special reference to the effort that went into securing her early release from prison and departure for the USA.

11:00 – 12:30pm - Panel III: LGBTQ Rights

• Miho Matsugu, Assistant Professor, Chinese and Japanese Studies, Grinnell College
• Laurence Wai-Teng Leong, Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore
• Svati Shah, Assistant Professor and Faculty Fellow in Gender and Sexuality Studies, NYU

12:30 – 1:30pm - Lunch

1:30 – 3:00pm - Panel IV: Civil and Political Rights

• Jeremy Woodrum, Campaign Director, US Campaign for Burma
• Youquin Wang, Lecturer, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicag
• David Hawk, U.S. Committee on Human Rights in North Korea

3:30 – 4:30pm - Arts and Human Rights Advocacy in Asia

• Kay Chernush, Freelance Photographer on human trafficking in India
• Amreeta Mathai, 4th year Student Activist

Closing with Film Screening – University of Chicago Student Delegation to Burma