ISU Human Rights Day set for March 14

Indiana State University’s (ISU) Human Rights Day Committee has scheduled the 2023 Human Rights Day for 9 a.m.-2:45 p.m., on Tuesday, March 14.

New York Times bestselling author Kelsey Timmerman will be this year’s featured keynote speaker.

The event, which will take place in the Hulman Memorial Student Union, begins at 9 a.m., with a welcome from ISU President Dr. Deborah Curtis, Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett and Vigo County School Corporation officials. WTWO Assignment Manager/Reporter Nicole Krasean will serve as emcee.

The keynote session will begin at 9:20 a.m., and conclude at 10:30 a.m. Timmerman will also provide a question and answer session.

Timmerman has reported from more than 60 countries and written about topics such as sweatshops in Bangladesh and slavery in Ivory Coast. He specializes in educating his audience and readers through humor and storytelling while encouraging all to think globally and act locally.

Timmerman is also the co-founder of The Facing Project, a national community storytelling nonprofit organization that has collected more than 1,500 stories. He is currently working on a book on regenerative agriculture that will be published by Patagonia Books in 2023.

His topic of discussion on March 14 will be “Going Global: Searching for community and justice in our globalized world.”

“We are all connected, from what we wear to what we eat,” he said. “Our skills, passions, experiences, trials and tribulations uniquely put each of us in a position to produce a positive impact on people and the planet.”

The first breakout sessions of the day follow Timmerman’s presentation at 10:35 a.m. and will include “Human Rights and Reproductive Justice,” by Dr. Jeannie Ludlow; “Workers’ Rights are Human Rights,” by Allison Duerk; and “The Death Penalty in the United States,” by Abraham J. Bonowitz.

Following the first breakout sessions, those in attendance will have time for lunch before the second sessions begin at noon. The second sessions will include “LGTBQ+ Issues,” by Dr. Katie Lugar and William Edwards; “Social and Economic Rights and the U.S. Constitution,” by Dr. Anne D’Orazio; and “Affordable Housing is a Human Right,” by Katrina Babb and Raye Rackman.

The third breakout session will begin at 1 p.m. and feature “War Crims and Human Rights in the War in Ukraine,” by Dr. Barbara Skinner; “Why Diversity and Inclusion Matters,” by Dr. Alex Kenney; and “From School to Community: Empowerment Through Student Engagement,” by Alvina Mastakar, Arya Odhayamangalam and Sara Zachariah.

The final breakout session will begin at 2 p.m. and feature “Language Rights: The Case of Amazighi in Morocco,” by Mahmoud Abdel-Rahman; and “The Death Penalty in the United States,” by Bonowitz.

In addition, ISU and the CANDLES Holocaust Museum & Education Center will offer a virtual event with Dr. Arthur Caplan, founding head of the division of medical ethics at the New York University School of Medicine at 6 p.m., Tuesday, March 14. Dr. Caplan will discuss how the Holocaust is used and misused in today’s ethical, political and scientific debates.