Call for application for human rights courses via distance education
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From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2001 18:43:09 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: Call for application for human rights courses via distance education
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Frank Elbers <[email protected]>
Call for application for human rights courses via distance
education
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSES ORGANISED BY HREA
"Research and Evaluation in the Human Rights Field" (7 January-5 April
2002)
and
"Human Rights Advocacy" (4 February-3 May 2002)
***PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE. ALL CORRESPONDENCE SHOULD BE
ADDRESSED TO: <[email protected]> OR +1 617 249-0278 (FAX)
Dear List members,
Please find below the announcement of two distance education courses
that HREA will organise during January-May 2002. The courses are part
of a pilot project in which six courses will be developed and offered
to human rights activists and NGO staff via distance learning
mechanisms. The project is generously supported by the Dutch Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and the Constitutional and Legal Policy Institute
(COLPI). Participation is free of charge.
Further details can be found in the announcement and application form.
Please note that the number of participants is limited to 25 for each
course. DEADLINE OF APPLICATION: 7 NOVEMBER 2001.
Best regards,
Frank Elbers
Programme Director, HREA
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CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSES
"RESEARCH AND EVALUATION IN THE HUMAN RIGHTS FIELD"
(7 JANUARY-5 APRIL 2002)
"HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCACY"
(4 FEBRUARY-3 MAY 2002)
Organised by Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) with financial
support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
Constitutional Legal Policy Institute (COLPI).
ABOUT HREA
Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) is an a-political,
non-governmental organisation whose main mission is to support efforts
aimed at introducing human rights concepts and values into educational
curricula and teaching practices. HREA is dedicated to quality
education and training to promote understanding, attitudes and actions
to protect human rights, and to foster the development of peaceable,
free and just communities. HREA works in partnership with education
agencies, NGOs, governments and inter-governmental organisations to
implement training programmes for teachers, NGO staff, jurists and
other professionals involved in human rights work. Current and past
partners include, inter alia, the Constitutional Legal Policy
Institute (COLPI), Council of Europe, Croatian Ministry of Education,
HURIDOCS, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and
UNESCO. HREA is registered as a non-profit organisation in the
Netherlands and the USA. More information on HREA can be found at
http://www.hrea.org.
DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSES
HREA intends to offer short, specialised courses for human rights
workers via distance education. In the next two years HREA will offer
six courses as part of a pilot project to develop a distance learning
institute for human rights professionals. With the generous financial
support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
Constitutional Legal Policy Institute (COLPI), HREA is able to offer
these pilot courses free of charge. The first two courses that will be
organised are:
* Evaluation and Research in the Human Rights Field
(7 January-5 April 2002)
Instructor/facilitator Felisa Tibbitts, Director HREA
* Human Rights Advocacy
(4 February-3 May 2002)
Instructor/facilitator Yonko Grozev, Vice Chairman Bulgarian
Helsinki Committee
Other courses that will be offered in 2002 and 2003 are The Basics of
Training; New Developments in International Human Rights Law;
Programme Development; Conflict Mediation & Transformation; and Human
Rights Advocacy (in Russian). The course topics were determined on the
basis of a global survey administered in December 2000 to which over
1,000 human rights activists and educators responded.
GOALS/OBJECTIVES
Human rights workers often find themselves leading departments or
organisations, when they have had no special training in management or
project administration. Staff members of human rights organisations
are hard pressed to stay current on special topics in the human rights
field. In general, there is little formal training that can prepare
human rights workers for the practical challenges they face in their
work. This is also a dilemma faced by managers of non-governmental
organisations worldwide.
Currently, many one-week or multi-week summer courses and trainings
are available for human rights workers. However, existing courses
usually focus on the various systems of human rights protection. Many
other practical and specialised human rights topics are unaddressed.
Moreover, such international summer courses require extended travel
and significant funds from participants, thus limiting participation
in the courses to the fortunate few.
Offering human rights professionals short, specialised courses via the
Internet should overcome some of the barriers that prevent many from
participating in continuing education such as a lack of time and/or
lack of funds to travel to regional or national workshops/trainings.
Overall goal is to strengthen the capacity of human rights NGOs.
LEARNING MODEL
The courses encompass a total of 60 hours of reading, on-line working
groups, interaction with students and instructors/facilitators and
assignments, and will be offered over a three-month period.
Instructors are highly experienced practitioners from human rights
organisations from around the world. E-mail will be the main medium
for the courses. The courses are based on a participatory, active
learning approach, with an emphasis on peer-to-peer learning. The
courses are non-academic, although it is expected that participants
will have (advanced) degrees in certain fields before they became
practitioners. The courses are part of a pilot project to explore the
possibilities of distance education for human rights professionals;
they are currently not accredited.
COURSE CONTENT
COURSE 1E: RESEARCH AND EVALUATION IN THE HUMAN RIGHTS FIELD
Human rights activists and educators will be introduced to the
fundamentals of research design, qualitative and quantitative methods,
data collection and applications for improving programming. Learners
will participate in exercises to develop basic research skills,
analyse research studies, and will practise designing a research or
evaluation project. Course participants will also becom better
"consumers" of such studies. Participants are encouraged to come to
the course with a research or evaluation project idea that can be
developed within the course.
Course outline
-------
Week 1. Introduction of participants, logistics and familiarising with
technology
Week 2. Introduction to research purposes and application in the human
rights field
Week 3. Overview of research methods
Week 4. Analysis of cases
Week 5. Survey design
Week 6. Statistical and quantitative measurement
Week 7. Observations and the use of artifacts
Week 8. Interviewing process
Week 9. Qualitative analysis
Week 10. Research/instrument design
Week 11. Presenting research results
Week 12. Managing the research/evaluation process
Final assignments due by Week 15.
-------
COURSE 2E: HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCACY
Human rights activists will be introduced to proven methods of
advocating human rights at the local, national, regional and
international levels. Students will become equipped with the skills
and tools to design and implement effective advocacy campaigns.
Participants are expected to come to the course with ideas about
advocacy projects that they would like to implement with their
organisation. In addition to the required reading, interim and final
assignments and group discussions, there will be presentations by
representatives of international and regional human rights
organisations (e.g. Amnesty International, International Helsinki
Federation for Human Rights).
Course outline
-----------
Week 1. Introduction of participants, logistics and familiarising with
technology
Week 2. Introduction to approaches to and methods of advocacy
Week 3. Identifying policy issues and selecting an advocacy objective
Week 4. Developing and delivering advocacy messages
Week 5. Building alliances
Week 6. Effective presentations and means of dissemination; designing
a campaign
Week 7. Case study 1 using international fora and mechanisms
Week 8. Continuation case study 1
Week 9. Case study 2 advocacy in a national context
Week 10. Continuation case study 2
Week 11. Presentation of cases by participants
Week 12. Presentation of cases by participants
Final assignments due by Week 15.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS/FACILITATORS
Felisa Tibbitts - is Director of Human Rights Education Associates
(HREA). Ms. Tibbitts has Master's degrees from Harvard University in
Public Policy and in Education with a specialisation in research
methods. She has worked as an evaluator and researcher in the United
States, Europe and Asia since 1989, where she has been involved in
classroom-based research, needs assessment, programme evaluation,
training and workshop evaluation, and assessment design. Ms. Tibbitts'
clients have included the Ford Foundation, the National Science
Foundation, the Annenberg Foundation, the University of Maryland and
SIDA. She has published extensively, and contributed to several
evaluation guides, including "Evaluation in the Human Rights Education
Field Getting Started" (1997, second edition is forthcoming in 2002).
Yonko Grozev - is Vice Chairman and Head of the Legal Department of
the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, a member organisation of the
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF). Mr. Grozev
studied law at Sofia University, which he graduated in 1991 and at
Harvard Law School, where he graduated an LL.M programme in 1995. He
has been a member of the Sofia Bar Association since 1993. Since 1995
he is also a guest lecturer at Sofia University, where he teaches a
class on International Human Rights Law. He has participated as a
trainer in human rights training programmes for practicing lawyers in
Bulgaria, Georgia, the Netherlands, Russia and Ukraine. Mr. Grozev is
actively engaged in human rights litigation, both in Bulgaria and
before the European Court of Human Rights. Mr. Grozev had published
academic and press articles on freedom of expression, criminal
justice, privacy, police and human rights.
WHO SHOULD APPLY
The courses are intended for staff members of human rights/social
justice organisations. Participants should have a good written command
of English (any proof, e.g. certificate, diploma of English language
proficiency should be enclosed with the application) and have high
competence and comfort with computer and Internet use. The number of
participants is limited to 25 per course. HREA aims to ensure equal
gender and geographical distribution across the selected participants.
Participants are requested to send:
- a copy of their CV (2-3 pages)
- a completed Application Form (see below)
- two letters of recommendation
- a cover letter stating their motivation for participating and
personal goals in the course
The application has to be submitted no later than Wednesday, 7
November 2001. Applications can be sent either via e-mail
([email protected]) or fax (+1 617 249-0278). All decisions on
applications will be made by HREA's International Advisory Committee.
Applicants who have been selected will be notified by 21 December
2001.
Application can be requested via e-mail by sending a message to
<[email protected]> or can be downloaded from
http://www.hrea.org/courses/
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