Members of the University of Essex’s Human Rights Centre have taken centre stage in a new video showcasing the impact and legacy of its teaching, research and work around the globe.
Released to mark International Human Rights Day, the video, which features some of the Centre’s most notable human rights practitioners, explores what makes it a world-leading institution, relied upon for its expertise by international organisations including the UN.
Featuring academics from the School of Law, Department of Government and Department of Language and Linguistics, the video shows that an inter-disciplinary approach to human rights, as well as a real commitment to practice and theory, has created a centre whose work is renowned around the world.
With 80 members drawn from departments across the University, the Essex Human Rights Centre offers an inter-disciplinarity not seen at other UK universities specialising in human rights.
Famed too for its work ‘in the field’, the Centre has established itself as an institution where research is informed by practice. It has hosted three UN Special Rapporteurs – all interviewed in the video – including the current Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Iran, Dr Ahmed Shaheed.
Chair of the Centre, and current Chair of the UN Human Rights Committee, Professor Sir Nigel Rodley, describes the Centre’s members as “a remarkable collection of scholar-practitioners.”
The Centre, which helped the University secure a Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2009 in recognition of its human rights work, attracts students from around the world. In 1983 it established the UK’s first ever postgraduate course in international human rights law and now offers a suite of undergraduate and postgraduate schemes.
Speaking of its more than 2,000 graduates, Professor Paul Hunt refers to the “wonderful, diverse cohort of former students from Essex who are now populating the ministries of justice, and the UN specialised agencies and civil society.”
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For further information please contact the University of Essex Communications Office, telephone: 01206 873529 or email: comms@essex.ac.uk.