Programs: Science and Policy
http://shr.aaas.org//coalition/AreasofActivity/Information_Resources.html
AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program
AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition
Welfare of Scientists | Science Ethics and Human Rights | Service to the STEM Community | Service to the Human Rights Community
Area of Activity V: Education and Information Resources
Co-Chairs: Mark Frezzo (Sociologists Without Borders)
Sam McFarland (Affiliated Scientist)
The Education and Information Resources is devoted to identifying, compiling and developing resources and creating opportunities for exchange to establish a stronger foundation for productive, and collaborative between the scientific and human rights communities.
Rationale
To encourage and facilitate efforts to bridge the scientific and human rights communities, the Coalition will need to identify, compile, and develop resources and create opportunities for exchange to establish a stronger foundation for productive, collaborative work on human rights. Crucial for this project is the exchange of information on scientists’ understanding of what science can bring to human rights work and what human rights practitioners can bring to science. Other topics to be explored include what the scientific method entails, what the human rights approach requires, and the role the media traditionally has played in conveying information produced by both communities.
Available Resources
Syllabi on Science and Human Rights
A list of syllabi for courses and teaching modules, with PDFs attached, on science and human rights.
Science and Human Rights: A Select Annotated Bibliography
A bibliography of selected citations that illustrate interest in science and human rights within various scientific disciplines and among scientific associations.
Partnerships: Scientists Working With Human Rights Organizations
Examples of collaborations between scientists from a variety of disciplines and human rights practitioners that cover economic, social, and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights.
Bibliographic Database on Science and Human Rights [coming soon]
A searchable keyworded database using Zotero software that includes material from the annotated bibliography along with many more citations.
Current Projects
The working group’s programmatic activities are carried out along two parallel tracks: pursuit of the Coalition’s overarching initiative and specialized area of activity projects. These activities are envisioned to be mutually supportive and reinforcing, with progress on one enhancing the likelihood of progress in another. The group is currently pursuing the following projects.
A Primer: Options and Opportunities for Scientists to Use Article 15
Goal: |
To facilitate and encourage scientists and scientific associations to incorporate the right into their education, research and policy activities.
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Activities: |
Conduct focus groups to identify potential applications of Article 15, including in the areas of equitable access to science, science education, funding for R&D, international cooperation, and the rights of scientists; based on the outcome of the focus groups, develop a primer outlining the content and significance of Article 15, and detailing examples of how scientists can use and apply Article 15 in their work. |
Outputs: |
A practical online guide for incorporating Article 15 into the daily practices of scientists who may be employed among a variety of institutions. |
Human Rights Modules for Science Curricula
Goal: |
To develop flexible human rights modules for incorporation into university-level science curricula. |
Activities: |
Phase I: Research and develop modules to introduce human rights into science curricula at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Phase II: Pilot the modules in a cross-section of classrooms and solicit feedback from professors. Phase III: Introduce Coalition members to the modules via a workshop, if funding is available, and solicit feedback. The first workshop is anticipated to take place in Summer 2011. After feedback has been incorporated, the module will be available online via the Coalition website. Phase IV: Update the modules and develop additional modules as necessary. |
Outputs: |
Modules will be made available online and feedback will be solicited via a web-based survey. If funding can be secured, the group will offer short-course(s) introducing the module(s) to Coalition members and other interested individuals. |
Progress
The working group identified the following priorities for 2009:
- Develop a series of case studies that describe ongoing collaborations between science and human rights organizations
- Compile a representational, searchable bibliography on science and human rights
- Survey Coalition members, AAAS affiliates and human rights organizations to determine the information resources they would find most useful
- Solicit input and materials, research existing models and develop human rights modules for science curricula
- Compile a list of science and human rights activities within the United States and abroad for distribution to Coalition members, including workshops, conferences, and webinars.
Since July 2009, the group has developed a searchable database of materials on science and human rights, and posted the following resources on the Coalition website: an annotated bibliography based on related materials, eight case studies of scientists working with human rights groups, and a list of 67 syllabi and three training modules integrating human rights and a wide variety of general and discipline-specific science curricula. The syllabi list and bibliography were complied with the assistance of a Science and Human Rights Program intern. The group anticipates updating these materials on a regular basis. This group has also researched science funding opportunities that incorporate human rights criteria into their grant requirements, and will move forward with a campaign to increase the number of grants that incorporate explicit reference to human rights standards. This group has had moderate success inviting members to join a googlegroup listserv to facilitate discussion and collaboration. They have requested assistance in promoting the listserv group membership and in investigating other technologies for online networking.
Further information
For further information about the working group’s objectives and activities, click here.
If you wish to find out more about this working group and how your association can participate, please contact the working group co-chairs.
(page updated 02/01/2012)
