Human Rights Series

Lectures about historic and modern-day human rights issues around the world.

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Bearing Witness: Captivity, Protest, and Survival I
Stacey Bredhoff
March 8, 2007
00:39:34
This lecture series is based on the touring National Archives exhibition, Eyewitness. The exhibit incorporates lectures from historians and/or eyewitnesses to episodes in history from WWII to the Civil Rights Movement.
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Freedom on Fire: Human Rights Wars
Samantha Power
December 9, 2003
01:29:46
John Shattuck, former assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor, and current CEO of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, discusses his new book, Freedom on Fire: Human Rights Wars and America's Response, with Pulitzer-prize winning author Samantha Power.
Modern Slavery: MIT-BBC Symposium
Jagdish Bhagwati
May 14, 2005
00:44:16
In an effort to shine light on this issues of forced labor, enforced prostitution and human trafficking, MIT's Program on Human Rights and Justice at the Center for International Studies partners with the BBC World Service Trust, an independent BBC charity that promotes development through the innov
Bystanders to Genocide
Samantha Power
February 3, 2003
01:39:24
Samantha Power and Elizabeth Neuffer examine the US responses to genocide since the holocaust.
Data, Dollars, and Unintentional Subversion of Human Rights
Thomas I. White
February 12, 2007
01:21:15
Thomas White argues that one of the unanticipated consequences of some recent decisions in the IT industry is a disregard for the importance of privacy as a fundamental human right.
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Abolitionism and Human Rights in the U.S.
Angela Davis
March 7, 2003
01:25:24
Political activist Angela Davis talks about abolitionism and human rights in the United States.
Creating an Impact in Human Rights
John Prendergast
May 17, 2007
00:34:54
John Prendergast, a Clinton administration adviser and avid human rights activist, discusses his involvement in a number of peace processes throughout Africa.
Creating an Impact in Rights Activism
Marc Freedman
May 17, 2007
00:51:40
The Georgia Nonprofit Summit presents Marc Freedman as he discusses changes and transformations affecting our work, our communities and the world.
Urgency of Repairing US Human Rights Policies
Karin Ryan
December 6, 2006
01:27:01
Curt Goering, senior deputy executive director of Amnesty International USA; and Karin Ryan, director of the Carter Center's Human Rights Program, examine prospects for reasserting US commitments on human rights.
Heralding Freedom: The Gulag and Human Rights Today
Jimmy Carter
December 12, 2007
01:31:13
The Jimmy Carter Library presents a panel discussion of Heralding Freedom: a discussion of the Gulag, the American civil right movement, and human rights. The Soviet Gulag prison system imprisoned millions of innocent people during its infamous history.
Dear John: Addressing Child Sex Exploitation
Shirley Franklin
August 21, 2007
00:56:08
Dear John, a public education campaign under Atlanta Women's Agenda (AWA), aims at ending the commercial sexual exploitation of children, is a collaboration by Mayor Shirley Franklin, the Juvenile Jus
Why Africa Matters
Nicholas Kristof
November 26, 2007
01:17:37
The New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof discusses economic and human rights developments in Darfur and other African nations.
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Women to Women: Journey to Darfur
Gloria White-Hammond
November 17, 2005
01:23:31
Linda Mason, Liz Walker and Gloria White-Hammond discuss their experiences and thoughts about the future of Darfur and its people and what the United States can do.
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Crisis in Darfur
Jennifer Leaning
December 9, 2004
01:27:42
Jennifer Leaning of the Harvard School of Public Health, Eric Reeves of Smith College, Alex de Waal of the Global Equity Initiative at Harvard, and William Schulz of Amnesty International discuss the crisis in Darfur. Gail Harris, a journalist for both NPR and PBS, moderates their discussion.
Lost Boys of Sudan: Inside Sudan's Civil War
Mark Bixler
January 25, 2007
00:40:17
Mark Bixler, author of The Lost Boys of Sudan and staff writer at The Atlanta Journal Constitution, discusses the Sudanese conflict and challenges facing refugees.
Gloria White Hammond: Liberating Sudanese Slaves
Gloria White Hammond
June 7, 2004
00:19:50
Gloria White Hammond, inner city minister and pediatrician, discusses her work that helped liberate more than 9,000 Sudanese slaves as part of a ministerial coalition.
This Far By Faith: Francis Bok Speaks Out
Francis Bok
April 21, 2003
00:50:08
Francis Bok speaks to Harvard Law School students and community members about the horrors of slavery from his own experience, and shares how his faith helped to keep him alive.
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A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Ishmael Beah
March 6, 2007
00:52:35
Ishmael Beah tells his story in the new book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.
Struggle for Freedom and Justice in South Africa
Desmond Tutu
October 30, 2007
01:29:03
Desmond Tutu, Margaret Marshall, and Richard Goldstone examine the long road toward freedom and justice in South Africa. Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. moderates.
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Mercy: Dying of AIDS in Africa
Lara Santoro
September 10, 2007
00:53:12
Lara Santoro, a veteran journalist, discusses her first novel, Mercy, a tragic and powerful story of what it is like to die of AIDS in Africa.
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Chasing the Crescent Moon: Sickle Cell Disease
Kwaku Ohene-Frempong
July 26, 2008
00:59:06
A genetic disease mostly affecting those of African descent, sickle cell produces debilitating pain and a life sometimes cut short, especially for the undiagnosed.
Tibet: Lens on Human Rights in China
Lobsang Sanjay
March 26, 2008
01:13:19
Lobsang Sanjay explores Tibet's situation in order to illuminate the shortcomings and strengths in international law and politics.
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Maya Angelou: Responsibility to Speak for Freedom's Sake
Maya Angelou
May 9, 1982
00:58:11
Maya Angelou receives the Ford Hall Forum's 1982 Louis P. and Evelyn Smith First Amendment Award.
Harry Belafonte: Civil Rights and Human Rights
Harry Belafonte
March 15, 2002
01:36:59
Singer and actor Harry Belafonte reflects on America's painful history of racial injustice and comments on the challenges that remain in advancing human rights at home and abroad.
Civil Rights and Human Rights
Julian Bond
October 19, 2006
00:59:33
Julian Bond, chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, discusses civil and human rights.
Researching Civil Rights: Challenges Met and Yet to Come
Gary Orfield
May 11, 2007
01:20:27
Gary Orfield, of the Civil Rights Project, and Theodore Shaw, of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, examine how researchers and legal advocates can further the aim of advancing civil rights in knowledge and policy.
Civil Rights Movement Series
Civil Rights Movement Series
38 Lectures
Lectures examining the Civil Rights Movement from Brown v. Board of Education to the civil and human rights initiatives today.
Global Health Equity and the Future of Public Health
Paul Farmer
April 4, 2005
01:10:31
Paul Farmer, a world-renowned infectious disease specialist who has been called a public health Robin Hood, discusses global health equity and the future of public health.
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State of the World's Children
Jeannie Grussendorf
March 15, 2007
00:51:52
Jeannie Grussendorf, a lecturer in political science at Georgia State University, discusses the role that private donors, governments, and international organizations play in ensuring health care, education and safety for the world's children.
Global Health Crises and Child Survival
Nils Daulaire
October 18, 2005
01:20:15
A panel of experts discuss the global health crisis, focusing on child survival. This lecture is part two in a three part series of discussions from the National Press Foundation's "Increasing Health Risks in Our Globalized World: A Conference for Journalists."
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Global Health Issues and Challenges
Ernest Darkoh
October 26, 2005
00:45:47
A panel of internationally renowned medical experts and two producers from the six hour PBS documentary RX for Survival: A Global Health Challenge, discuss global health issues and challenges with award-winning journalist Jon Beaupre.
Why We Must Rise to the Global Health Challenge
Philip J. Hilts
October 25, 2005
01:22:31
Philip J. Hilts, health and science reporter and author of the companion book for the PBS Rx for Survival series, speaks at a supplemental public outreach event sponsored by the series.
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Combating Global Poverty
Paul Farmer
February 6, 2005
01:28:45
A panel discuss strategies to help eliminate the spread of disease and hunger in the developing world.
Combating AIDS: The Human Rights Perspective
Mary Robinson
December 10, 2002
01:57:05
This forum examines HIV/AIDS as a human rights crisis On December 10, Human Rights Day, 54 years after the 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the General Assembly of the United Nations. HIV/AIDS has become the greatest health crisis in human history.
Eliminating Poverty: Attainable Goal or Unrealizable Dream?
Peggy Dulany
May 17, 2005
01:29:52
This is the sixth forum in a special discussion series entitledThe World We Want, which focuses on the search for real solutions that will lead to a better world. Participants explore the following questions:
Jeffrey Sachs: Ending Global Poverty
Jeffrey Sachs
March 5, 2002
01:31:23
Jefferey Sachs discuses the challenge of ending the poverty that afflicts so much of the world today.
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Morris Dees Jr.: Founding the Southern Poverty Law Center
Morris Dees Jr.
March 25, 2004
01:21:26
Morris Dees Jr. discusses the founding of the Southern Poverty Law Center and talks about his experience with this group.
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Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World
Kati Marton
December 4, 2006
00:49:11
Marton offers a haunting tale of the wartime Hungarian diaspora, and the nine Hungarians who achieved world fame who are profiled in the book including: Nuclear scientists Leo Szilard, Edward Teller, Eugene Wigner, game theorist and computer pioneer John von Neuman, photojournalists Robert Capa and
Alanson B. Houghton: Ambassador of the New Era
Jeffrey Matthews
January 26, 2006
01:03:16
Jeffrey J. Matthews provides a clear and concise account of Alanson B. Houghton's diplomatic experience during the 1920s, and consequently, a fresh assessment of US foreign policy during a pivotal decade in world history.
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Lessons from the Holocaust
Alan L. Berger
November 6, 2003
00:55:44
Alan Berger, the Raddock Chair of Holocaust Studies at Florida Atlantic University, talks about educating students for altruism, and the lessons that can be learned from Holocaust rescuers. Berger is introduced by Philip Cunningham, executive director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning.
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Bearing Witness: Captivity, Protest, and Survival II
Murray Lynn
March 22, 2007
01:31:23
Murray Lynn shares stories of his ordeal and survival through WWII Auschwitz concentration camp. Dr. Catherine Lewis, Kennesaw State University, moderates.
Torture and Detention, Justice and Power
Christopher Pyle
April 2, 2008
01:39:10
Christopher Pyle and Andrew Bacevich discuss new definitions of justice and national security in our post 9/11 world, where anti-terror policies including torture, rendition, and indefinite detention
Chain of Command: From 9/11 to Abu Ghraib
Seymour M. Hersh
October 29, 2004
01:22:25
Seymour Hersh discusses his recent book Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib as well as the Bush Administration's "war on terror," its intelligence failures, and what he describes as the lies and obsession that led America into Iraq.
Defending Guantanamo Bay Detainees
Thomas B. Wilner
March 30, 2006
01:22:40
In a program cosponsored by Amnesty International USA, three lawyers currently defending prisoners in Guantanamo Bay talk about who the detainees are and why the United States continues to hold them.
Slavery and the Making of America Series
Slavery and the Making of America Series
37 Lectures
Lectures curated around WNET's Slavery and the Making of America and WGBH's Africans in America.
Abolition and Garrison Bicentennial Series
Abolition and Garrison Bicentennial Series
26 Lectures
Lectures curated around Abolition and the bicentennial of William Lloyd Garrison's birth.
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Why Terrorism Works
Alan M. Dershowitz
December 4, 2002
01:28:43
Renowned criminal defense and civil rights attorney Alan M. Dershowitz shares insights from his new book, Why Terrorism Works, on understanding and responding to terrorism.
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Living with Terror: How To Reduce the Threat
Sam Nunn
April 5, 2004
00:53:19
Former Senator Sam Nunn explores the topic, "Living in a World of Terrorism: Reducing the Threats from Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons."
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Nuclear Terrorism: Preventing the Ultimate Catastrophe
Graham T. Allison
September 9, 2004
01:18:47
Graham Allison, founding dean of Harvard's JFK School of Government and director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, presents a feasible blueprint for eliminating the possibility of nuclear terrorist attacks completely.
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Facing Up to Evil in an Age of Genocide and Terror
Os Guinness
March 2, 2005
01:10:01
Journalist Os Guinness discusses evil as evidenced in human history. How we understand evil is not merely an academic question for philosophers or a matter of personal morality; it is has powerful significance for our national politics and policies.
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Tracing the Dollars Behind the Terror Network
Loretta Napoleoni
May 11, 2005
01:40:59
Italian journalist and expert in terrorism Loretta Napoleoni follows the money to describe the 1.5 trillion dollar international economic network that fuels the new economy of terror. What is the relationship between Western national economies and those run by non-state actors?
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Development and Prevention of Bioterrorism
Jeanne Guillemin
March 23, 2005
01:31:15
Lecturing from her book Biological Weapons: From the Invention of State-Sponsored Programs to Contemporary Bioterrorism, Jeanne Guillemin explores the circumstances under which governments have undertaken major biological weapons programs and explains why such weapons were never deploye
Crab Wars: Horseshoe Crabs, Bioterrorism, and Health
William Sargent
June 6, 2005
00:58:30
William Sargent, environmental author and NOVA consultant, reveals intense debates currently surrounding horseshoe crabs.
Human Rights and Terror
Michael Ignatieff
October 30, 2002
01:13:59
Michael Ignatieff discusses his recent work, which combines eyewitness accounts of modern war with an historian's insight into the constancy of human conflict.
Human Rights in Iraq and Beyond
Ann Clwyd
November 15, 2006
01:14:03
Ann Clwyd, the UK's Special Envoy on Human Rights in Iraq, discusses human rights in the world today. For more than 25 years, Ann Clwyd has been a staunch supporter and campaigner for human rights around the world.
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Unholy War: Terror In the Name of Islam
John Esposito
May 8, 2002
01:03:48
Considered "the most influential Islamic Scholar in the United States" by the International Herald Tribune, John Esposito discusses his latest book, Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam, which sketches the activities and influence of Osama bin Laden, surveys the doctrines and practice of j
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Anouar Majid: Piracy, Terrorism and the Question of Islam
Anouar Majid
March 11, 2004
00:47:59
Dr. Anouar Majid, professor and chair of English at the University of New England, discusses the United States' first major contact with the Muslim World in the Barbary War and the parallels to our own time.
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Who Defended the Country?
Elaine Scarry
October 22, 2003
01:17:07
Elaine Scarry, professor of English at Harvard University, looks at the security failures of September 11th, 2001, and their implications for our national safety and well-being.
Recovering from 9/11
Edward M. Kennedy
September 10, 2004
01:17:47
Senator Edward M. Kennedy introduces Kenneth R. Feinberg, the special master administering the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. Mr. Feinberg discusses his efforts to compensate the families of victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Homeland: Emotional Aftermath
Dale Maharidge
October 13, 2004
00:54:52
Reporting from middle America in the tradition of James Agee and Walker Percy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning team of author Dale Maharidge and photographer Michael Williamson discuss Homeland, a troubling and revealing narrative of the impact of 9/11 on our nation.
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Terrorist Next Door: Militia Movement and Radical Right
Daniel Levitas
April 2, 2003
01:14:47
Daniel Levitas discusses his new book The Terrorist Next Door. Georgia Perimeter College presents Levitas, writer of the The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right, which was nominated for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.
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Bioviolence: Preventing Biological Terror and Crime
Barry Kellman
October 4, 2007
01:00:31
Barry Kellman, discusses his book, Bioviolence: Preventing Biological Terror and Crime, and describes how diseases such as smallpox, anthrax, or ebola might be used for hostile purposes. His book explores developers of disease weapons including rogue states and groups such as Al-Qaeda.
Iraq: An Endgame
Dan Reiter
January 17, 2008
01:22:08
Dr. Reiter spells out the challenges and options in Iraq and places them in a broad framework to help others evaluate alternatives and arrive at their own answers.
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Seymour E. Goodman on Technology and Terrorism
Seymour E. Goodman
November 7, 2007
00:19:27
Professor Goodman's research focuses on international technological development, technology diffusion, and related public policy issues. Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT) and PBA present Dr.
Monitoring the Threat: The Center for Disease Control
Julie Gerberding
October 24, 2007
00:36:21
Dr. Julie Gerberding discusses business at the nation's headquarters for monitoring disease threats, the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
Doctors Without Borders in Niger
Richard Knox
November 5, 2005
01:34:15
Milton Tectonidisas and Jonathan Spector describe Plumpy'nut, a revolutionary new approach that Doctors Without Borders is using to treat malnourishment in Niger; and they discuss what this technique could mean for how the organization will respond to nutritional crises and famine in the future.
Corporate Responsibility and Human Rights
Orin Smith
December 17, 2002
01:26:40
In the wake of the upheavals in corporate America, Orin Smith, CEO of Starbucks; Richard K.
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Educating for Human Rights and Global Competency
Felisa Tibbitts
February 10, 2009
01:38:57
Felisa Tibbitts, of Human Rights Education Associates, and Ed Gragert, of the International Educational Resource Network (iEARN), examine the relationship of Human Rights Education and Global Competen
Epic Journeys of Freedom
Cassandra Pybus
February 22, 2006
01:09:28
Historian Cassandra Pybus traces the lives and adventures of the runaway slaves who absorbed the dreams of liberty from their masters during the American Revolution and fled to the British to find fre
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Charles E. Cobb Jr.: On the Road to Freedom
Charles E. Cobb Jr.
February 19, 2008
00:56:51
Charles E. Cobb Jr., a prominent black journalist and reporter for NPR and PBS' Frontline, discusses On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail. The book is a guide to over 400 historic sites in America linked to the Civil Right Movement.
First Amendment and Freedom of the Press
Anthony Lewis
February 13, 2008
01:03:18
Former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis discusses the implications of the US Constitution's First Amendment on the press.
Afghanistan and Freedom of the Press
Christopher Lydon
November 7, 2002
01:29:00
Christopher Lydon, former host of The Connection, leads a discussion on the importance of American citizens having a sense of the full picture in order for them to participate in democracy.
Answering Only to God: Faith and Freedom in Iran
Jonathan Lyons
April 15, 2003
01:11:32
Jonathan Lyons discusses his book Answering Only to God: Faith and Freedom in Twenty-First-Century Iran.