Discover how science can aid human rights at Summer Seminar Series on Personal Development

The Case Western Reserve University Macromolecular Student Organization will host the Summer Seminar Series on Personal Development June 5 from 3 to 4 p.m. in Clapp Hall, Room 108. The seminar will feature a talk by Theresa Harris, senior program associate in the Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Harris will present a talk titled “Science and Human Rights: Making the Connection.” Since the early 1980s, AAAS has applied rigorous scientific methodologies and innovative technological tools to human rights research and documentation. Examples include:

• The use of forensic science to identify the “disappeared.”
• The use of statistical evidence to document systemic human rights violations in international tribunals and truth commissions.
• The use of remote sensing such as satellite photography to document human rights violations as evidence for international criminal and regional human rights courts.

Harris will describe these and other examples of the many ways in which scientists and engineers have contributed their expertise to human rights efforts and will highlight opportunities to get involved through initiatives such as the On-call Scientists network. She also will discuss the AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition, a network of scientific associations and individual scientists that works to strengthen the connections between science and human rights. Harris’ interests include the implementation of internationally recognized human rights principles in domestic practice and the intersection of information technology, human rights and law. Prior to joining AAAS she led Human Rights USA as its executive director, where she represented survivors of human rights violations before United States courts, the Inter-American human rights system and United Nations human rights mechanisms. Harris has served on the Board of Directors of Amnesty International USA and is a member of the governing body of the World Organization Against Torture.