Using human rights education to (re)shape US higher education diversity and inclusion programs

• In Event: Peace and Human Rights Education and Activism: International and Indigenous Intersections

Proposal

How can diversity initiatives in US-based institutes of higher education benefit from an understanding of the history, implementation, and globalism of Human Rights Education (HRE)? This paper examines the legacy of HRE in the US alongside that of diversity and inclusion programs in US higher education in order to see how and where intersections exist and can be built upon. I attempt to see if some of the limitations of diversity and inclusion (D&I) work towards achieving justice can be mitigated by the principles, processes, and promises of HRE.

This paper begins by addressing the place, purpose, and future of diversity programs in institutions of higher education. I do this to understand why, despite some years of these programs existing, we could still have so many members of our academic community (students, staff, and faculty) who still feel like the university is not a welcoming place for them. In particular, I look to understand this phenomenon by examining the history of diversity programs in higher education which attached onto a trend started by the corporate sector in the 90s. Although these programs have been around for a number of years on many campuses, it can be argued that as an institution across higher education, diversity and inclusion work is still young, still in development. This may explain some of the disconnect we see on campuses, where research shows there is a wide gap between how students feel about campus climate and how their university leadership feels (Inside Higher Ed, 2016).

I contend in this work that one of the reasons why progress on diversity work has been slow at the university level has been because of a lack of concrete ideological framework in which to ground it. Many programs connect themselves to the legacy of the fights for ethnic studies, African American studies, Chicano studies. But instead of having a meaningful and concrete end goal like the movements to create these disciplines, diversity programs are most often based on generic and amorphous aims, which can be difficult to interpret and therefore difficult to implement. I wish to suggest that these programs are often meek and ineffectual because of the fact that they follow the limiting and limited corporate legacy of diversity programs.

I suggest that the Human Rights Education framework should be implemented by diversity and inclusion initiatives in institutes of higher education so as to provide the theoretical foundation to delineate 1) clear objectives and goals, 2) methods to measure progress, and 3) a shared language and ideology for advocacy on behalf of marginalized populations.

The 2011 United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training includes 14 articles which could serve as the clear guiding principles to any diversity office seeking to organize and increase impact of its programs. This adoption would be worth the effort because if would result in three meaningful changes:

1) It would give us a shared vocabulary and ideology in which to ground university initiatives for equity;
2) It would allow for a necessary adoption of human rights principles beyond the university, at a time when people are resorting to identity-based struggles for justice;
3) And as a result, in a time of need, it would reconnect us back to the global community, from which we have been separated for too long due to our inability to adopt the human rights framework in a widespread way.

I use this theoretical paper to suggest that universities can and should take the lead in re-framing and re-claiming that way we are able to fight for our rights, and an adoption of the human rights education framework by diversity programs is the right, and most natural, place to start.

Jaschik, S., & Lederman, D. (2016). The 2016 Inside Higher Ed survey of college and
university presidents. Washington, D.C.: Gallup.
The United Nations. (2011). United Nations declaration on human rights education and
training. Retrieved from
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Education/Training/Pages/UNDHREducationTraining.aspx

Author

• Ria DasGupta, University of San Francisco