Learn about the Human Rights Crisis from On-the-Ground Practitioners in Discounted SBS Community Classroom Course

By Lori Harwood, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
May 12, 2022
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Subject: Learn about the Human Rights Crisis from On-the-Ground Practitioners in Discounted SBS Community Classroom Course
Date: May 12, 2022

This summer, University of Arizona employees can take the non-credit course "Human Rights Crisis: The War in Ukraine" – from May 16 to July 1 – offered through the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Community Classroom Program at a 30% discount.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a massive, fast-moving humanitarian crisis. Millions of Ukrainians are internally displaced or fleeing the country as refugees. Russian human rights activists have also fled their country, as have others opposed to the war and tightening autocratic rule.

Taking a human rights perspective, this online course offered by the Human Rights Practice Program will focus on the regional history and politics leading to the February 24 Russian military invasion of Ukraine, and the leadership strategies/tactics of Putin and Zelensky in the crisis. It will examine the roles and actions of the U.S. and other NATO countries in response. Participants in this community class will follow along with a University of Arizona class on these topics and can take part in as many of the class activities as they choose. Students will:

  • Take part in video conferences and webinars with leading journalists, Ukrainian cultural icons, the only Ukrainian judge on the European Court of Human Rights, Ukrainian human rights attorneys, activists gathering evidence for war crimes, those driving Ukrainians out of conflict areas by mini-van, and many more.
  • Learn about such critical issues as war crimes and genocide, conflict-related sexual violence, Ukrainian cultural resistance, Putinism, propaganda and disinformation, and Ukrainian history, language, and identity.
  • Work with others on real-world projects to help those affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This class will be co-instructed by Olena Tanchyk, former dean of the faculty of economics at Donetsk State University of Management. Tanchyk will pull from her personal experiences with the 2014 Russian invasion of the Donbas and more recent invasion in Mariupol where she now resides, to facilitate a first-hand account of this humanitarian crisis. University of Arizona co-instructor Mette Brogden is a medical and cultural anthropologist with long experience in resettling refugees and addressing severe trauma in survivors of mass human rights violations.

To learn more, go to the Community Classroom website. You can also review the schedule of speakers. If you have questions or want the registration code for employees, please email sbs-communitymatters@email.arizona.edu.

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