Institutionalizing Accountability

Accountability gaps–regulatory, institutional, social, and cultural–emerged as a consistent theme across all of the 12 University of Minnesota Human Rights Lab projects. In the Human Rights Lab Conference, faculty and student participants will share the accountability challenges they observed and two expert guest speakers will talk about the working across disciplines and accountability in human rights. The Human Rights Lab Conference will highlight the strength that it has because of its interdisciplinary nature and ability to draw on expertise and best practices from different fields.

The Human Rights Lab Conference marks the close of the two-year launch of the University of Minnesota Human Rights Lab, In the Lab, faculty and graduate students from across disciplines investigated and modeled ways that cutting-edge research could be used more effectively with NGOs, communities, institutions, and policymakers to reduce inequalities in the enjoyment of human rights. The Human Rights Lab pilot program was made possible by a Grand Challenge Exploratory Research Grant for 2016-2018.

In addition to University of Minnesota faculty and students, two invited experts will offer keynote presentations reflecting on the value of this type of engagement for efforts to protect and promote human rights in the United States and around the globe:

• Professor Martha F. Davis is Professor of Law at Northeastern University, where she teaches Constitutional Law, US Human Rights Advocacy and Professional Responsibility. She is the Associate Dean for Experiential Education and a Faculty Director for the Law School’s Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy and the NuLawLab.

• Dr. Karina Ansolabehere is a Professor at the Latin American School of Social Sciences - Mexico (Flacso México) and a researcher with the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Dr.  Ansolabehere is also a partner on one of the first Minnesota Human Rights Lab projects.