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Invitation to Develop Courses and Position Proposals related to
"Human Rights and Human Dignity"

The Advisory Board of the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies invites faculty members to explore curricular development and expansion and possible EKI faculty appointments that support topics related to "Human Rights and Human Dignity." The Advisory Board expects that expanding our offerings in topics related to this area will entail a combination of new faculty members bringing pertinent expertise and/or freeing up existing faculty members to develop and teach these courses. Human rights and human dignity can be considered in the following contexts:

  • History
  • Culture
  • Religion
  • Politics
  • The arts
  • Scientific discovery
  • Development
  • The environment

Some human rights and human dignity issues that might be addressed include:

  • Prioritization and conflict between individual and group rights
  • Ethnic conflict
  • Genocide
  • Peace
  • Health, medicine, and reproduction
  • Disability
  • Aging
  • Representation of difference
  • Power and perception
  • Embodiment
  • Cultures of abuse

In addition to the topics listed above, proposals for other related topics are welcome. Faculty should consult guidelines for developing new areas of interdisciplinary study and faculty position proposals at http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/dean/eki/facultyresources/.

Rationale:

Addressing human rights and human dignity is an important part of a liberal arts education inextricably linked with Grinnell College's tradition of social responsibility. Human dignity and rights issues have relevance for nearly every discipline and cross disciplinary boundaries. They address important current concerns, offer opportunities to explore the historical record and invite interdisciplinary collaboration of faculty and students in teaching and learning. They directly address the Guidelines for Developing New Areas of Study under the Expanding Knowledge Initiative (see the link above). The Advisory Board conceives of "Human Rights and Human Dignity" in broad terms that can support proposals from every division and that can cross divisional lines. This area is pertinent to existing concentrations, the curricular concerns of our three centers, and to the missions of the Rosenfield and Peace Studies Programs. Human dignity and rights issues are central to a number of areas of developing interdisci plinary interest at the college

Facilitator: Wayne Moyer

Date: Monday, February 25, 2008

Attending:
Yvette Aparicio
Lawrence Aspler
Betsy Erbaugh
Brigittine French
Kathy Kamp
Jean Ketter
Kent McClelland
Liz Queathem
Samuel Rebelsky
Henry Rietz
Ralph Savarese
Susan Strauber
Maria Tapias
Val Vetter
Martha Voyles