Introducing students to human rights issues
An annual series of lectures (Ringvorlesung) was initially established by the Chair, which brought together an impressive roster of both national and international human rights experts to introduce students to a broad range of contemporary human rights issues. More recently, we have sought to embed human rights teaching more directly in the curricula of different degree programmes.
At Bachelor’s level, the Interdisciplinary Seminar on Human Rights, co-ordinated together by the past and present Chairholders, provides students with a broad background understanding of human rights issues and the opportunity to develop their own research projects in an area of particular interest. At Master’s level, a specialist course surveys national and international human rights regimes, providing students with an advanced-level understanding of the contemporary (geo) politics of human rights. The Chair members are actively involved in the Master in European Governance. This master provides advanced-level training in political science to educates experts in European public policy.
Even before the foundation of the University, the Centre Universitaire de Luxembourg participated in the Venice-based European Master’s programme in Human Rights and Democratisation. This involvement continues through to the present under the auspices of the Chair, with the university actively participating in the activities of the programme and annually hosting students who come to spend their second semester with us and complete their theses under the supervision of a University of Luxembourg faculty member. Within the framework of this programme, we are also a member of the Global Campus on Human Rights, encompassing almost 100 collaborating universities across four continents. This global network of over 100 universities trains and empowers the next generation of human rights and democracy professionals
A national forum for debate
The societal role of the Chair derives centrally from its capacity to act as an important national forum for debate and discussion. The university, as an institution, must be a privileged site for the critical discussion of major contemporary issues, allowing for the free expression of ideas and the rigorous scrutiny of competing arguments on the basis of the evidence provided. The Chair seeks to play an important role within that vital institutional mission, creating a space in which a diversity of voices may be heard and, through this, providing a vehicle for the better understanding of the challenges which confront us as both national and global citizens.
The Chair has regularly organised seminars and workshops on topical issues, while both Chairholders have also been regularly invited by national media to comment on human rights and wider political issues. In the early years of the Chair, major events were organised that explored such themes as the role of human rights and human dignity in relation to finance and the place of human rights within the higher education sector. The Chair has continued to organise events which address key societal challenges in more recent years, tackling such subjects as the future of multilateralism, systemic racism in comparative perspective, and climate change viewed particularly as a human rights and governance issue. Each event seeks to engage with a broad range of relevant stakeholders – drawn as appropriate from academia, government, civil society, the business world, or other sectors – in terms consistent with the Chair’s central role as a ‘bridge- builder’.
News & events
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How does civil society shape the framework for the promotion and protection of human rights?
ArticleNovembre 2022Research Newsby Research Luxembourg