The Four Freedoms and Human Rights Education

Early bird registration ends on October 15 for the Sixth International Human Rights Education Conference, this year hosted on December 17-19, 2015, by The University College Roosevelt (UCR) and Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) in Middelburg, the Netherlands.

Here in the U.S., we think of the Roosevelts as quintessentially American, but the Dutch also claim the Roosevelt family!  The Roosevelt Study Center in Middleburg, which hosts scholars of US-European relations, is one example.  Among other things, the Center is co-sponsor of the annual Four Freedoms awards, honoring global heroes that exemplify Franklin Roosevelt’s vision.  In September 2015, the Freedom Medal was awarded in New York to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and next year, the awards will be delivered in Middelburg.  University College Roosevelt, a liberal arts college in Middelburg that aims to inspire its students to be global citizens, is another manifestation of this Dutch-Roosevelt connection, underscoring Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s influence far beyond US borders. 

According to the conference website:  “Deeply inspired by Roosevelt’s speech on the Four Freedoms, the University College Roosevelt and HREA invite you to participate in this exciting event and reflect on how the Four Freedoms can be translated to today’s world. The conference will join together as many people working in the field of human rights as possible, with some focus on the UN and the UN World Programme for Human Rights Education. This conference, being the sixth annual edition, will continue to encourage a forum for the exchange of ideas and information and facilitate open discussion on Human Rights Education amongst participants.”  More information about the conference is available here.