Digital Commons Network^™

Creating Shared Equity Leadership: How A Culture Of Equity-Mindedness Transforms Institutional Capacity Toward Greater Collective Outcomes, Gerica Brown, Ione Damasco, Justin Keen, Leslie Picca, Nancy Mchugh

Learning Teaching Forum

As the University of Dayton seeks to distinguish itself through curricular innovation and creating a holistic, integrated and relationship rich learning environment for our students it is evident that doing so with an equitable mind frame is the secret sauce for success. Engaging all students in a meaningful and holistic learning experience where all students participate in rich development opportunities and persist to graduation at higher rates requires a deeper understanding of the why. (ex. Why are some students not engaging? Why do some students fall through the cracks? Why are some students unsatisfied with their University of Dayton …

Virtual Academic Coaching (Vac): A Practical Technology For Student Engagement, Jessica Gregor, Paul Gregor

Learning Teaching Forum

Virtual academic coaching (vAC), distinct from the roles and responsibilities of post-secondary educators or counselors, is a novel method of higher education student development and retention, and is quickly becoming established at both public and private universities throughout the United States and abroad. Although relatively new to the canon of student success in higher education, virtual coaching is foundationally based in longstanding tenets of adult education and relies on principles which educators and counselors have recognized since the formalization of the post secondary classroom. Positive research into efficacy of the virtual academic coaching profession lends credibility to its potential for …

Thinking Outside The Box For Experiential Student Learning: Development Of Remote Experiential Learning And Volunteering During The Pandemic, Amy Christopher

Learning Teaching Forum

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, experiential learning for health care professional programs struggled to find clinical rotation sites and provide students in the didactic curricular phase opportunities to apply health education outside of the classroom. Many healthcare sites and community health screening events were prohibited during an extended period of time due to pandemic isolation. As a health educator, exploration of remote experiential learning took creative planning to ensure students were able to apply their medical knowledge in real-life situations, give back to their community according to Marianist charisms, and fulfill healthcare-related volunteer service hour requirements.

More information in …

Marianist Holistic Education: Bridging Divides For The Common Good, Katrina Kelly

Learning Teaching Forum

This interactive session seeks to rediscover and redefine the essence of holistic education within the Marianist tradition, with a steadfast commitment to bridging divides and advancing the common good. Key objectives include benchmarking perspectives of both students and staff on the facets of holistic education imbued with the Marianist spirit and integrating pedagogical strategies that incorporate ongoing assessments and dialogues to uphold these principles effectively. The session includes small group discussions, observing and sharing feedback on behaviors indicative of the five core elements defining the Marianist approach to education, synthesizing collective observations, and culminating in creating a comprehensive repository of …

Building Antiracist Communities Of Practice That Result In Transformative Learning Spaces: A Social Education Project, Aaliyah Baker, Marisol Morales

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In killing rage: Ending Racism (1995), bell hooks talks about her writing of this work as being “fundamentally optimistic”, as ‘courageously and fiercely critical”, and as “forging a politics of solidarity”. The creation and evolution of a cross-institutional anti-racism community of practice was drawn to that path. In this workshop, we demonstrate how creating antiracist spaces and connecting with others allow us to explore the role of racism in our lives, our institutions, and our nation. We aim to build the capacity to support a commitment to racial justice in community-engaged work by naming anti-black racism as a human rights …

Settler (International) Law And Displaced Transnational Indigenous (African) Peoples In Canada: Presumed Equal But Obviously Separate, Veronica Fynn Bruey

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Documenting and validating Indigenous Peoples collective experiences with colonial violence, land dispossession, forced displacement, systemic racism, and ongoing exclusion from the nation-building process is fundamental to the idealised Westphalian state such as Canada’s constitutional monarchy. The United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951 make no mention of Indigenous Peoples prosecuted and forcibly displaced by slavery, systemic colonial violence, or neoliberal capitalism (vis-à-vis globalisation). Although the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), 2007 does not define an Indigenous person it stipulates their right to belong and determine their own identity. In Canada, indigeneity is …

Unraveling The Complexities Of The Coloniality Thought In Africa’S Post-Colonial Identity, Christophe Dongmo, Christophe Dongmo

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In African history, modernity has endowed whiteness with ontological density far above blackness as identities. Since modern Western thinking is controversial, colonialty operates through radical lines that divide social reality into two realms, the realm of "this side of the line" and the realm of "the other side of the line.” For some, there are doubts about African’s ignorance, knowledge, and power. At the outset, the so-called age of reason, or enlightenment, as commonly referred in the West, coincided with slavery, slave trade, and colonisation.

The starting hypothesis for the inquiry is that decoloniality seeks to unmask, unveil, and reveal …

Sarah Bartman And Demystifying African Women History: Feminist Engagement And New Epistemologies From Africa, Babere Kerata Chacha

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

I was recently awarded a Sarah Bartman fellowhip by the University of Cape Town and in my inaugural lecture, I posed a critical question. How should we commemorate Sarah Bartmann legacy in history and culture in contemporary Africa? It is important to make our students to understand the history of sexism and oppression and the many barriers and biases that women have historically faced. Historical interpretation of, or representations of women as victims, projecting victimhood onto meta-historical narratives allows for imagining the trajectories of communities along a ‘zigzag’ historical timeline, wherein the present is portrayed as a juncture similar to …

Unequal Impact: Climate Change And The Rights Of Women And Minority Groups In Africa, Michael Addaney, Yvonne Claire Dumenu, Victor Kwadwo Boseah

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The 2021 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change observed that “vulnerability of ecosystems and people to climate change differs substantially among and within regions […], driven by patterns of intersecting socio-economic development, unsustainable ocean and land use, inequity, marginalization, historical and ongoing patterns of inequity such as colonialism, and governance.” The uneven distribution of climate change impacts is influenced by historical and spatial injustice stemming from systemic discrimination, inequality and marginalization, imperialism, slavery, and colonialism. Sudden and slow onset climate impacts such as rising temperatures and sea levels, increased flooding and drought, ocean acidification, as well as the …

Actionable Gender Mainstreaming: A Framework For Women’S Inclusion In Development Projects In Fragile And Conflict-Affected States, Susan Weaver

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Identified as "key enablers" of development by the 2015 UN Women led “Global Review” on implementation of UNSCR 1325, the World Bank is uniquely poised to support the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda due to its focus on women’s inclusion and needs by mainstreaming gender in development projects. Due to limited investigation on how Bank financing promotes UNSCR 1325, this paper works to untangle if and how projects in fragile and conflict-affected states (FCAS) are gender mainstreamed (GM). By, analyzing Bank mainstreaming activity in project documentation of sixteen Sub-Saharan African countries from 1990-2014 via textual analysis and quantitative modeling, …

Ubuntu, Anti-Corruption Principle, And The Protection Of The Right To Health In South Africa During The Covid-19: The Case Study Of The Solidarity Fund (Sf), Marianne Séverin

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In the COVID-19 context, all States had to protect the right to health of their people by implementing emergency measures to mitigate the negative effects of this global pandemic. South Africa declared COVID-19 a National Disaster (March 15, 2020) under the Disaster Management Act, 2002, N°57. The government has full authority to adopt emergency measures, including the creation of a Solidarity Fund (March 23, 2020) to respond to the coronavirus’ “health, humanitarian and social consequences”. In a context of corruption that is familiar to South Africa (the country scored 44 out of 100 points [Transparency International, 2020]), the Presidency has …

Advancing Access To Justice In Sub- Saharan Africa And Latin America: Innovative Strategies And Methods., Adaobi Egboka

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Access to justice in sub-Saharan Africa is a priority for many stakeholders who aim to support communities that have been impacted by Africa's history of colonization. Ensuring access to justice for all individuals, regardless of their socioeconomic background or cultural heritage, is essential for upholding human rights, promoting social cohesion, and supporting sustainable development throughout the continent. NGOs and other justice actors have actively provided access to justice in many countries but have relied on donor funding for their services. However, donor funding is decreasing in many regions, and governments are increasingly closing civic spaces, making it challenging for NGOs …

Keynote 2 — What Is The Mandate Of This Moment?, Amara Enyia, Danielle Poe

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

A conversation between Amara Enyia and University of Dayton College of Arts and Sciences Dean Danielle Poe.

Today, Africans and people of African descent are connecting in unprecedented ways. New international mechanisms are making space for collective visioning and action; new manifestations of the impacts of racial capitalism, climate disaster, and the politics of “development” are spurring broad participation in movements for change. As African heads of state finally catch on to the calls for reparations that have emanated from civil society and grassroots organizations for years, they are now engaging with their counterparts in the Caribbean and elsewhere to …

Social Transformation And Africa’S Regressive Policies And Laws On Lgbtqi+ Rights, Nwabisa Sigaba

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Most struggles for LGBTQI+ rights play out at the national level. However, the question of sexual and gender minorities’ rights periodically appears as a point of friction in international relations as well. This paper will first analyse the question of international efforts to defend LGBTQI+ rights in countries of the Global South, with a particular focus on Western countries’ endeavours in Africa. Combining policy analysis, critique and recommendations, it asks how and when international actors should and should not intervene. Furthermore, African countries have considerably different ways in which gender and sexuality are constructed, with postcolonial and neo-colonial relations, anti-racist …

Collisions At The Intersection: Intersectionality Of Labor Trafficking, Trauma, And The 'Resource Curse' Phenomena Within The Cobalt Mining Industry In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Patrick L. Kerr

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

First proposed in the early 1990s, the “resource curse” phenomenon describes situations in which countries/regions that are resource-abundant- e.g., metals, minerals- are economically outperformed by countries that are resource-deficient. The resource curse concept also commonly refers to situations in which resource-rich developing regions/countries suffer rather than flourish because of exploitative, extractive industries perpetrated by resource-deficient countries. Rooted in colonialism, this phenomenon has been identified across industries in several African nations. Cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a prominent example. Although DRC’s cobalt deposits were discovered in 1914, the past decade has introduced a new surge …

Transforming Gender Norms In Rural Mali By Opening Spaces For Action, Kelly Bohrer, Anna Taft, François Chauvet, Kessia Kouriba, Hawa Yalcouyé, Moussa Tembine

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Communities in the Tommoguiné Region of Mali are actively pursuing development despite economic challenges, insecurity, and isolation from many opportunities. Historically, the marginalization of women and girls has held back some of these efforts and denied certain rights to some of the population. Currently, a transformation of norms surrounding women’s roles in public life and of practices harmful to women and girls is taking place, inspired by a Women’s Literacy, Leadership, and Enterprise program generated through a transnational collaboration between local communities, a Malian linguistic association, and The Tandana Foundation, a Dayton-based non-profit organization. Instead of reinscribing colonial dynamics, this …

African Right To Identity As A Right To Development: A Media Right Agenda, Olunifesi Adekunle Suraj, Gift Oluwatosin Olalusi, Olawale Olaleye

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The Right to Development is still a highly contested concept in academic and political circles. However, it is evident that irrespective of the divide of the debate, all known declarations including the United Nations, the UN Millennium Declaration, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights among others are yet to have a lasting impact on the liberation and the overall development of Africa and African descent. Hence, in order to find solutions around the right to development from the African perspective, this paper aims to reconcile the divergent views on the right to development and propose a …

Plus Ça Change, Plus C'Est La Même Chose: The Ongoing Decolonisation’S Mechanic Inside The Franc Zone, Gerard Kamga

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

My purpose in this paper is to provide insights into the mechanics behind the statuquo ante prevailing within the franc zone even though most African countries in general and former French colonies in particular obtained their “independence” from France in the early 1960s following decades of colonisation. Such statuquo is rendered by the formula “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose” loosely translated as the more it changes the more it remains the same. In the upcoming developments, l will portray the extent to which French colonialism in Africa has never stopped and was simply merged with the current …

Gender And Rights: Global Contestations, Susan Weaver, Satang Nabaneh

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The anti-gender movement, which develops discourse and actions in opposition to the concept of gender, gender equality and gender studies, is increasingly apparent and effective globally. Moral entrepreneurs, such as religious and community leaders and the media, deploy counter-mobilization and conservative rhetoric that aims to undo progress made in the legal, political, economic and social realms. This anti-gender movement is also transnational, evidenced in the growth of right-wing populism and authoritarianism in different parts of the world specifically linked to attacks on feminism, women’s human rights, and minorities. The recent U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health …

The Climate Emergency Before The Inter-American Human Rights System: Evolution And New Horizons, Thalia Viveros Uehara

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

This presentation will provide an overview of the evolution of climate change as a critical human rights issue, specifically within the framework of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Occupying a central role in the legal, political, and social landscapes of Latin America, these institutions have been instrumental in establishing and enforcing (potentially transformative) normative standards that offer protection to populations most at risk from climate-related impacts. Current initiatives will be highlighted for their role in strengthening resilience within vulnerable communities and mitigating global warming's progression. There will be a strong emphasis on …

Patriotism, Pandemic, And Precarity: How The Alt-Right And White Nationalist Movement Used The Pandemic, Arthur J. Jipson

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

This workshop will explore how the so-called Alt-Right and White Nationalist movement used conspiracy theories around the origin and challenge of the COVID-19 Pandemic to recruit members, advance their causes, and create social and cultural discord in an effort to create legitimacy for their racist and white supremacist attacks on community. After a discussion of the current state of the Alt-Right and White Nationalist movement, the workshop will interrogate the various online tools used by these groups to attack and dismantle community and human rights initiatives. The workshop concludes with an interactive activity that helps participants explore how these efforts …

Corporate Accountability In Transitional Justice: Reflections On An Ongoing Social Lab (Roundtable), Tatiana Devia, Avery Kelly, Kaushik Sunder Rajan

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

This roundtable describes and reflects upon the Corporate Liability and Sustainable Peace (CLASP) Lab, a “social lab” convened to advance corporate accountability in post-conflict and transitional justice settings around the world. Launched in February 2021, the CLASP Lab is a virtual forum in three languages, bringing together more than 40 lawyers and community activists from 25 countries in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East to share experiences and devise strategies for holding corporations accountable for human rights violations, as part of processes of transitional justice.

The Rights Of Children And Families: Local Initiatives In The Miami Valley, Kelly S. Johnson, Raymond L. Fitz, Vanessa Ward, Jan Lepore-Jentleson

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Dayton’s Committee on the Place-Based Two-Generation Approach to Poverty completed a working paper titled “A Call for Community Long-Term Recovery Plan” in January of 2021, arguing for an approach to recovery that is strategic, efficient, equity-focused, and regional. Practitioners and theorists connected to this document will address challenges and opportunities for addressing the rights of children in this area, particularly addressing the ways a regional approach can help to dismantle the legacy of historical injustices as we try to build back better.

Interesting Times: Returning To Blended Activism In A Culture Of Impunity, Eugene R. Sensenig

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Presentation

The Shortcomings Of Corporate Accountability In Post-Conflict Colombia: Land, Rivers And Animals, Isabella Ariza Buitrago, Luisa Gomez Betancur

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Although the notion of sustainable peace requires acknowledging the role played by all actors, transitional processes around the world have inadequately addressed or completely ignored the direct and indirect participation of economic actors. In particular, Colombia's transitional justice regime left out corporations entirely. A skillshare between Colombian lawyers and US-based human rights attorneys showed some of the gaps that let corporations continue in impunity for profiting, benefiting from, or directly financing the conflict. Other than harming and deeply fracturing communities, the shortcomings of corporate accountability in post-conflict Colombia also leave land, rivers, and animals without redress. This paper explores some …

Documenting Human Rights Violations: An Analysis Of Press Reporting On The Mexican Disappearance Crisis, Maria Terra, Yolanda Burckhardt

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The global pandemic has transformed many structures, including the way in which human rights academics and practitioners carry out their work. This project is an example of human rights research using methods that can be applied remotely from any part of the world, and even replicated in other contexts or experiences.

The initiative is one of the projects from the Observatory on Disappearances and Impunity in Mexico led by Barbara Frey (University of Minnesota), Leigh Payne (Oxford University), and Karina Ansolabehere (UNAM-México), focused on the enforced disappearances crisis occurring in Mexico. The work included an extensive database created by coding …

Does Human Rights Derogation Limit Covid-19 Infections?, Brian K. Gran, Reema Sen

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The purpose of this project is to model and understand socio-legal responses to the spread of COVID-19—in particular, emergency measures that derogate from states’ human rights commitments. Derogation of human rights in response to COVID-19 is unprecedented, according to some experts (Scheinin 2020). This project investigates whether combinations of conditions, such as moderate human rights derogation in combination with strong health infrastructures, reduce degrees of virus transmission and promote prevention. Its preliminary findings indicate that suspension of some rights appears crucial to limiting COVID-19 infections, but suspension of many rights has limited impacts, raising questions for practices of human rights …

Holistic Well-Being And Humanitarian Workers During Covid-19: Concepts, Challenges, And Recommendations, Nicholas Sherwood

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated conflict dynamics and humanitarian disasters around the world, including Syria, Yemen, and East Africa. Humanitarian efforts designed to address these dynamics and disasters are also falling prey to the fallout of COVID, most notably increases in psychological distress experienced by humanitarian workers (HW) operating on the front lines of humanitarian zones. As such, new and innovative practices must be explored to support HW as they continue their desperately needed work; this imperative is further bolstered by calls in international human rights-based documents (e.g., Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant …

Norm Diffusion Or Norm Backsliding? A Text Analysis Of Anti-Lgbtq Rhetoric, Christopher Patane, Marc S. Polizzi

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

How are counter-norms manufactured, and what are their components? Current literature on norm diffusion largely views the process as linearly progressive. In other words, norms progress towards greater inclusion. However, notable cases such as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s controversial use of traditional values in the UN Human Rights Council demonstrates a potential backlash to this progression. Building on our previous case study work of Russian anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and its spread to the United States, in this paper we examine the timing and content of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric using text analysis. This allows us to model the sequencing of messaging and whether …

Witnessing Anew: Human Rights Advocacy For Migrants At The U.S. Southern Border In Covid-19 Times, Ellen Maccarone

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In this paper I provide a case study of transnational migrant advocacy done by the Kino Border Initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shortly before the pandemic I spent a week with KBI for an immersion experience part of which focused on the ideas of human rights advocacy and witnessing. “Witness” in this context has both a spiritual/moral dimension and an experiential one that can form a foundation for advocacy. Using accounts of migrants to inform and humanize changed when interpersonal witnessing became impossible during the pandemic. This increased the levels of human rights abuses experienced by migrants and limited the …