Month: November 2013

Performing Human Rights: Creative Expression as a Means of Engagement

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This is a call for participation in an innovative, performance-based project to raise awareness about human rights and earn independent study credit in Human Rights (Human Rights Institute)

Syrian actor, director and human rights activist (Visiting Professor in Dramatic Arts and the Human Rights Institute) will lead a dynamic, interactive independent study project to raise awareness about a human rights through performance in non-traditional venues. The project will take place over the Spring Semester 2014, including weekly meetings to contextualize and interpret a body of human rights documentation, develop a theatre production, and perform it in a variety of campus locales/venues.

The goal of the independent study project is to provide students with an opportunity to engage creatively to raise campus awareness on an international human rights issue that the group defines as important.

Content:  A group of 10-15 students will work on materials collected from different sources to develop a creative performance.  Participants will be encouraged to provide related materials, texts, photographs, paintings, musical themes (songs), video materials, web links, etc. relating to the subject.

Program: The first three months of the semester will be devoted to weekly meetings (time and frequency to be determined by the group) in which the program is developed. At the end of the semester,  participants will perform in a variety of venues across campus.

The group should be committed to the entire duration of the project and three credits of independent study in Human Rights (HRTS) will be earned by those who participate fully in the project.

For more information and guidelines on how to register for the Independent Study, please email Jeremy Pressman, Director, Middle East Studies.

Request for Applications: Understanding Social Movements

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USAID’s Democracy Fellows and Grants (DFG) program, managed by the Institute of International Education (IIE), has just published a new grant opportunity for researchers to support USAID’s understanding of social movements, with the goal of determining how USAID can identify, understand, and support the informal networks, systems, and leadership that have characterized the social movements of the Arab Spring. We wanted to let you know about the grants, since your research and expertise may be relevant, and hope that you will review the grant solicitation.

The successful applicant will receive an eight-month, $50,000 grant to draft a case study review of social movements in the Middle East and North Africa region, present the case study at a workshop for peer review and for USAID’s Center of Excellence for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG Center), and finalize the document based on feedback. The full request for applications (RFA) and all application instructions are available on DFG’s website at this link: http://www.iie.org/Programs/USAID-Democracy-Fellows-and-Grants-Program. Applications are due on December 10, 2013 at 11:59 PM EST.

Any questions on the RFA should be emailed to dem.grants@iie.org; IIE will publish all questions (without attribution) and answers on the DFG website, so that all applicants may benefit.