Digital Commons Network^™

Counter-Diffusion: Does Russian Propaganda Wind Up In America?, Christopher F. Patane, Marc S. Polizzi

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Does the norm diffusion process work in reverse? Specifically, does the success of the Russian government in building counternarratives and counternorms to reinforce its authoritarian government mean they have the ability to diminish successful human rights advocacy in the United States? This project examines whether the rhetoric used to justify anti-LGBT policies in Russia are broadcast and adopted by anti-LGBT groups in the United States. In the United States, public support for LGBT civil rights is often cited as a success story in the adoption and diffusion of human rights norms. Often, this is used as evidence of broadening norm …

How Can Human Rights Activism Help Tackle Economic Inequality? Lessons From Mining Affected Communities In South Africa, Allison Corkery

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The dramatic rise in socioeconomic inequality produced by neoliberal globalisation has provoked a crisis of confidence in the human rights community and inspired a wave of debate about whether human rights have anything meaningful to offer in advancing economic justice. The pessimistic view argues human rights are inadequate for challenging socioeconomic inequality because they are too closely aligned to Western liberalism and too uncritical of the rise of capitalism. The more optimistic view does not dismiss these critiques entirely. It argues that they are only valid for particular (arguably dominant) types of human rights praxis, however. Failing to acknowledge this …

The Rise Of ‘Right-Wing’ Human Rights Rhetoric: A Palestinian & Israeli Case Study, Leah Wilson

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Human rights are historically understood as ‘liberal’ rhetoric, yet the following study will present an unprecedented turn by an Israeli ‘right-wing’ organization to human rights language and methodologies as a means to advance their goals. For context, the study will review how ‘liberal’ organizations in the region have employed rights-based frameworks, dating back to the rise of the first intifada in the late 1980’s. Specifically, the study focuses on three organizations that utilize the Israeli court system for their work: ACRI (Association for Civil Rights in Israel), Adalah (The Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel), and HaMoked. Human …

The Impacts Of Warming Coffee: The Climate Change-Coffee-Migration Nexus In The Northern Triangle Of Central America, Connor Lynch

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

As climate change continues to threaten every corner of the world, millions of people find their livelihoods and food security at risk as a result of a warming planet. With their human right to livelihood and adequate nutrition at threat, some make the difficult decision to emigrate in search of economic security. The climate change-migration nexus is illustrated in this poster presentation which shows how slow-onset effects of climate change jeopardize the production of coffee in the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA), a region that is particularly vulnerable. Thousands of people who depend on coffee production around Guatemala, Honduras, …

Fall Artslive Concerts Showcase World Traditions, University Of Dayton

College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

Music is often called a universal language. While probably true, it’s also a fact that every cultural tradition has its own distinctive language and music. Several of these traditions are celebrated this fall in chamber music concerts at the University of Dayton.

The Passing Of A Friend, Sarah Burke Cahalan

Marian Library Blog Archive

A tribute to the life of Brother John Samaha, S.M., Marianist and University of Dayton Alumnus.

Optothermal Microbubble Assisted Manufacturing Of Nanogap-Rich Structures For Active Chemical Sensing, Farzia Karim, Erick S. Vasquez, Yvonne Sun, Chenglong Zhao

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Guiding analytes to the sensing area is an indispensable step in a sensing system. Most of the sensing systems apply a passive sensing method, which waits for the analytes to diffuse towards the sensor. However, passive sensing methods limit the detection of analytes to a picomolar range on micro/nanosensors for a practical time scale. Therefore, active sensing methods need to be used to improve the detection limit in which the analytes are forced to concentrate on the sensors. In this article, we have demonstrated the manufacturing of nanogap-rich structures for active chemical sensing. Nanogap-rich structures are manufactured from metallic nanoparticles …

Gluten Saved My Marriage, Jon Ziegler

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

"I'm going on a gluten-free diet," my wife announced. I stared blankly in response. The room remained silent for an awkwardly long period of time. I could only assume she was waiting for a reaction-most likely a particular reaction. Maybe she was waiting for congratulations, or sympathy. Maybe she was waiting for me to say I was going to support her by going on a gluten-free diet myself. I wasn't even sure what a "gluten" was, but the word "diet" attached to it had me quite sure that I didn't want to be free of it.

Students In Index Gallery, Kathryn Niekamp

Materials from the University of Dayton Magazine Website

Micah Zavacky's Printmaking 1 class installed their projects in Index Gallery.

Pre-Service Teachers And Middle School Students: A Collaboration For Social Justice Art Education, R. Darden Bradshaw

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Our lives are mediated through the visual which informs, in multiple and conflicting ways, our views, our beliefs, attitudes and mores, our choices, and thereby our resulting actions. This barrage of the visual impacts the postmodern student encountered in K-12 education. Students readily gain access to information that was once the sole domain of adults yet the prevailing system of education has not adapted. Visual culture is seldom used as an engagement strategy in school despite its ubiquitous role as hidden curriculum and ever-present place in the world beyond the school.

Social justice education underscores humanizing pedagogy as it examines …

The Human Right To A Healthy Environment: Pushing The Boundaries In The Inter-American System, Sarah Dávila-Ruhaak

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The connection between the environment and human rights is not a surprising one. The enjoyment of human rights depends on a person’s ability to live free from interference and to have his or her rights protected. The interdependence of human rights and the protection of the environment is manifested in the full and effective enjoyment of the rights to life, highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, adequate standard of living, adequate food, clean water and sanitation, housing, culture, freedom of expression and association, information and education, participation, effective remedies, and the rights of indigenous peoples. Without adequate access …

Memoria Y Resistencia: Sharing Ud Experiences At The Encuentro To Close The School Of The Americas, Mary Niebler, Christina Baker

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

At UD, our Catholic and Marianist values inform us to uphold the human rights of all people, especially those whose agency has been diminished by unjust laws and corporate government policies. Guided by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, including solidarity with the poor, we seek ways to join together to bring about a more peaceful and just world. The annual SOA Watch Encuentro, a peaceful protest to close the School of the Americas (SOA), is such a movement.

Established in 1946, the SOA has operated at Fort Benning, Georgia since the 1980s. Technically closed in 2000, it immediately reopened …

Achieving Energy Justice In Low Income Communities: Creating A Community-Driven Program For Residential Energy Savings, Anya Galli Robertson, Kevin Hallinan, Jennifer Hoody

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The cost of residential energy the U.S. is unequally distributed, with low income households paying higher rates and spending 16.8% of their income on utility bills compared to 3.5% of all U.S. Residents.[1] Researchers have found that bringing the housing stock up to the efficiency of the median household would reduce excess energy cost by as much as 68%.[2] However, access to opportunities to reduce residential energy consumption and costs such as tax incentives and utility rebate programs tends to be biased toward wealthier, white homeowners. Additionally, low income residents are most likely to be renters, and residence owners have …

Caste, Economic Inequality, And Climate Justice In India, Dadasaheb Tandale

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

This paper examines the deepening of economic inequities in India as a result of caste and climate change. Caste as a structure of disadvantage and discrimination determines social, economic, and political status in India. Access to the non-agricultural labor market, financial resources like banking and microfinance resources, and rural cooperatives is shaped by one’s position in the caste hierarchy. Further, the social mobility of the rural poor, migration trajectories, and navigation of the urban labor market are shaped by caste networks in India. In recent years, climate change has also adversely affected various caste groups in India. The change in …

Gender, Research, And Advocacy: What We’Ve Learned And What Work Lies Ahead, Alexandra Cosima Budabin, Natalie Florea Hudson, Sinead Mcgrath, Jessica Pierson, Jamie Small, Julie Arostegui Lemaster

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

From the global Women’s Marches to the #metoo movement and SDG 5, women’s rights and gender equality are clearly among the most urgent issues for the international human rights movement today. Long-held commitments and established language on women’s rights and gender equality are under threat at all levels of governance and in issue areas ranging from sexual violence to reproductive health to political participation. If history has made one thing clear, it’s that women’s rights are fragile and constantly at risk of being extinguished for political purposes. This panel will explore the following four themes from the conference in light …

Human Rights, Environmental Justice, Social Justice, Faith Values And Ethics: Building Stronger Partnerships For The Common Good By Understanding The Differences, Theresa Harris, Leanne M. Jablonski, Sarah Fortner, Malcolm Daniels

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Partnerships between human rights practitioners, local communities, scientists, engineers, and health professionals have shown potential to address deeply rooted, systemic human rights concerns. These collaborations are essential for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and for engaging the perspectives and expertise of all constituents. However, even when the individuals in these partnerships or the organizations they represent have common goals, their motivations, analyses, and solutions often come from different perspectives. Members of good will can inadvertently alienate one another when attempting to work together. The fields of human rights, social justice, environmental justice, and ethics have each developed their …

Pope Francis, Human Rights, And The Crises Of Our Time, John Sniegocki

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

My paper/presentation will explore the holistic understanding of human rights contained in Catholic social teaching, with a focus on how Pope Francis applies this tradition to some of the major crises of our time. Particular attention will be given to issues of economic inequality, ecological devastation, migration, violence, and the rise of neo-fascist populist movements around the world. Francis’ integrated analysis of the common roots of these problems and his proposed constructive responses will be explored and assessed. Strong emphasis will be placed upon his understanding of the critical role to be played by grassroots movements and widespread popular mobilization.

Community Based Global Learning, Anthony N. Talbott, Molly Maccready, Matt Maroon

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

This panel explores frameworks for effective implementation and assessment of community-based learning. Relationships between universities and community partners must be just and reciprocal—meeting student learning outcomes and improving the capacity of the partner organizations. Case studies of both international and US-based community engaged learning will be presented.

Human Rights And Economic Democracy: Reinvigorating The Human Rights Movement, Curtis T. Kline

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

A 2018 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that in order to avoid a seemingly inevitable ecological collapse that would bring intense suffering especially on the most marginalized and excluded sectors; the world needs to develop “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society”. There are many local experiences which demonstrate the possibilities of achieving these needed changes. There are a number of community organizations and associations, social movements, and municipal efforts, among others, with creative visions on this front. In Jackson, Mississippi, for example, Cooperation Jackson strives to be a means …

Fear And Resistance Far From The Border: Human Rights And Student Engagement In Immigrant And Refugee Communities In Dayton, Ohio, Theophile J. Majka, Miranda Cady Hallett

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Similar to articles 23-27 of the UDHR, articles 25-31 of the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families specify equal access by immigrants to educational, vocational & health/social services and equality of living and working conditions and employment contracts.

Beginning in 2007, Professor Majka has involved students in his immigration classes in research on the challenges and obstacles immigrants and refugees in the Dayton area experience relevant for those areas specified by the Convention. Joined by students in Professor Linda Majka classes, students arranged and conducted interviews with representatives …

Partnering With Faith Communities: Challenges Of Religious And Secular Literacy, Rob Brodrick, Kelly S. Johnson, Anwar Khan, Leocadie Lushombo, Edith Tapia

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Partnering with Faith Communities: Challenges of Religious and Secular Literacy

While many scholars have noted the necessity of a grasp of the complexity of religious belief for engagement in international relations, human rights, and humanitarian work, the topic of religious belief remains fraught and underdeveloped in human rights activism. Concerns include the conviction that religion must be treated as private in order to preserve an inclusive public life; evidence that religious communities may oppose the human rights' groups commitments on LGBTQI and women's rights; and anxieties that various religious groups will exclude or manipulate those who are not members and …

Deep Fakes: Preserving Truth & Human Rights In An Era Of Truth Decay, Virginia Kozemczak

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Lawmakers, technology companies, and the general public are increasingly concerned about the prevalence of “deep fake” videos. Often shared on social media platforms, these digitally altered videos are made possible with recent advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Although altered and faked media content is not necessarily a new issue, images and videos can now be altered quickly, cheaply, and more convincingly than ever before. An underlying concern is that platforms will be overwhelmed with believable deep fakes, leaving Internet users struggling to discern fact from fiction. Yet a future in which no one call tell what is real …

Faking The News: Antiwar Activists, The Italo-Ethiopian War, And The Practice Of Human Rights, Caroline Waldron Merithew

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In “Faking the News,” I bring past and present together to underscore lessons already learned by antifascist antiwar activists from the 1930s. These activists used, what they termed, "Authentic News," to combat the propaganda Benito Mussolini's regime was making up about the Italo-Ethiopian war. How might knowing about how people faked the news,and faked out fascism, in the past shape current and future human rights actions and help us go against the grain today for a better world tomorrow?

Facing Human Rights: Theorizing Out Of The Experience Of Suffering, Patrick Ahern

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In contending that “the freedom of philosophy is nothing but the capacity to lend a voice to unfreedom,” Adorno recognized that the role of philosophy is to illuminate the deformity of that which is deformed in the structures of power and the institutions that preserve the status quo. A critical treatment of those concepts that obfuscate the realization of emancipation led Adorno, along with Horkheimer, to claim that, “the purpose of human rights was to promise happiness even where power is lacking.” In other words, the language of human rights served to stifle the experiences of the oppressed classes under …

Decolonizing Human Rights: Sovereignty. Disruption. Tactics., A. Kayum Ahmed

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Despite its emancipatory potential, human rights remains locked in a form of epistemic coloniality that defers to Euro-American knowledge and reinforces anthropocentric exceptionalism. In order to employ human rights as a source of emancipation, human rights must itself be emancipated—it must be decolonized. Drawing on the notion of 'decoloniality' as a framework that advances radical possibilities by delinking from structural racism, patriarchy and class embedded in capitalism and Western modernity, a typology of human rights as sovereignty, disruption, and tactics is developed as a way of understanding human rights from the position of the colonized.

Biafra And The Politics Of Humanitarian Consumption, Chi-Chi Ayalogu

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The Nigeria-Biafra War (1967-70) is overwhelmingly represented by photographs of malnourished, sickly looking and often protein-deficient children, iconic and complex images that encapsulate the narrative of an impoverished black Africa in the western imagination. While these photographs reveal the grievous, inhuman atrocities that took place in Biafra, they have come to be negatively associated with the entirety of black Africa, as they tend to validate inaccurate ideas of homogeneity on the continent. Yet despite their homogenizing effect, Biafran leaders re-appropriated images of suffering for propaganda use, specifically to elicit a humanitarian response and thereby procure aid and resources from denizens …

Why Love Matters For Human Rights, Lena Khor

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Human rights are typically thought of as a matter of justice, but I argue that at its core, human rights are a matter of love. To develop this argument, I analyze select literary representations of human rights at work including Dave Eggers’ What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, a Novel (2006) and Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World (2003). My concept of love builds on the vision of “open love” proposed by French philosopher Henri Bergson in The Two Sources of Morality and Religion …

The Human Right To Science, Brian K. Gran, Anne Bryden, Mark Frezzo, John Dale

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Human rights may be game changers to science. Science is under pressure. The ability to do science, to gain scientific educations, and to make and implement public policies based on science are under attack globally. Harms from doing science continue despite greater attention. Individuals are harmed in the name of science and scientists are persecuted for doing their work. The human right to science may change these scenarios. The human right to science belongs to everyone. Discrimination along lines of nationality, gender, skin color, beliefs, and other markers is not permitted. The human right to science bolsters other rights, including …

Does The Right To Equality Extend To Economic And Social Rights?, Gillian Macnaughton

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

We are familiar with ‘equality before the law' and ‘one-person-one-vote’ as standards of the right to equality in international and domestic law. These standards address equality of civil and political rights. This paper considers whether the right to equality in international human rights law extends to economic and social rights as well. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and human rights.” On its face, this article appears to require equality of all rights – including economic and social rights. Yet, many human rights scholars maintain that …

Central America, Human Rights, And Displacement, Nelson Portillo, Jeanne Rikkers, Amelia Frank-Vitale, Abby Wheatley, Miranda Cady Hallett

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

While migration and displacement are not new phenomena in the region, parts of Central America are experiencing a crisis of displacement. This crisis has emerged due to the compounding effects of multiple factors: environmental degradation and climate change, economic upheavals caused by neoliberal reforms, political instability (especially in Honduras and Nicaragua), and violence stemming from corruption and organized crime. With a particular focus on factors related to violence and the deterioration of the rule of law, participants in this round table will describe and discuss the roots of displacement, the methodological and political challenges in documenting these migratory flows, and …