Northwestern University Conference on Human Rights (NUCHR)

Our Vision and Mission

The Northwestern University Conference on Human Rights (NUCHR) is dedicated to promoting the universality of human rights, which can only be achieved by recognizing the difficulty in consensus, issues of cultural relativism, and the potential paradoxes in implementation and practice.

Through programming events, student-organized seminars and the culminating conference, NUCHR raises awareness of international human rights issues and fosters social activism at Northwestern and beyond. The three day undergraduate student-organized conference unites student delegates from across the country with distinguished academics, activists and policy-makers from around the globe to address a unique aspect of human rights each year. We provide a mechanism for critical discourse in order to challenge assumptions and broaden perceptions on the chosen topic.

History

The Northwestern University Conference on Human Rights (NUCHR) is the largest undergraduate student-organized and student-attended conference on human rights in the United States. In the past, the conference has focused on issues such as human rights and humanitarian aid, globalization and the universality of human rights, torture, human trafficking, American policy towards HIV and AIDS in the developing world, and American interventionist policy abroad. NUCHR has featured distinguished speakers including Nicholas Kristof, Nicolas De Torrente, Dirk Salmons, Mark Hanis, Dr. Sheri Fink, Romeo Dallaire, Richard Holbrooke, Bernard Kouschner, Stephen Lewis, John Miller, and Cherif Bassiouni.

2010 Topic and Date

This academic year, the conference will be held from January 21-24, 2010 at the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Illinois. Entitled "Urban Slums: The Shadow of the Humanitarian Generation,” the topic will examine the phenomenon of urban slums both locally in the United States as well as abroad. We wish to question whether or not the inhabitants of these slums can be guaranteed human rights, and what the responsibility of the international community as well as state sovereigns are to slum populations. Discussions of the recognition of migrant populations, public health, economic development and national sovereignty will be crucial to the topic.

NUCHR Website: http://nuchr.net

NUCHR email: conferenceonhumanrights@u.northwestern.edu