Media Contact: Micki Leventhal, 312-344-7383; mleventhal@colum.edu
Chicago, April 2003 -- Columbia College Chicago, the country's premier visual, performing and media arts college will host, in collaboration with its community partners, an international conference examining issues of human rights and ways in which the arts and media are, or can be, engaged in furthering human rights agendas.
The conference, Dignity Without Borders: Art, Media and Human Rights, will take place May 2 and 5--8 at the Chicago Hilton and Towers and at selected venues on Columbia's south loop campus. Most events are free and open to the public. For further information call 312-344-7675 or visit http://humanrights.colum.edu.
"The conference is to function as a catalyst to bring the human rights stakeholders together, explore and examine terms, goals and mutual interests," says Rose Economou, conference coordinator and professor of journalism at Columbia. "We intend to provide a forum for networking between scholars, educators, artists, media makers, social justice activists and other interested audiences – thereby stimulating ideas that will move forward beyond the scope of the conference and develop collaborations and partnerships that will address the issues of human rights on a global level.
"Dignity Without Borders is being organized in partnership with educators, humanists, students from Columbia College Chicago and other educational institutions, representatives from local and national human rights organizations, artists, journalists, documentary filmmakers, community leaders and victims of human rights abuse," adds Economou. "It includes community forums, workshops for educators, film and video screenings, exhibitions, and performances and addresses three main themes: Crimes Against Humanity; Violence Against Women and Children; State and Corporate Abuse; and Religious, Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Intolerance."
Conference highlights include: a keynote panel moderated by NPR's Scott Simon on "Diplomacy, War, Collateral Damage, Global Policy Challenges and Human Investment"; a keynote panel on "Crimes Against Humanity: Human Rights Abuse, International Law and The Media" moderated by Charles Madigan, Perspective Editor of the Chicago Tribune, and featuring Cherif Bassiouni, Salim Muwwakil, Zafra Lerman and Bart Brown; a panel discussion among visual artists on "Art and Human Rights: Destined to Collide?" exploring the question of whether artists have a responsibility to respond to human rights abuses; a briefing on "Africa, AIDS and Global Responsibility" moderated by Roger Simon of U.S. News and World Report; a participatory dialogue on "The Human Rights Struggle: Exploring the Transformative Power of Arts and Media"; concurrent sessions on "Compromising Civil Liberties in a Time of Terror" and "Meditation and Intentional Prayer as an Alternative to War" and presentations by documentary photographer Peter Turnley and NPR's The Kitchen Sisters.
Women's and children's issues are the focus of a series of programs on Wednesday, May 7 when scholars, artists and activists will address issues including: "Rape, Mutilation and Violence Against Women--What Everyone Should Know," "The Trafficking of Women and Children: Prevention, Protection and Prosecution," "Listening to Women's Voices: Exploring Art, Media and the Humanities," and a keynote address by Cook County Public Guardian Patrick T. Murphy who will present "A Status Report on the Treatment of Children in Foster Care."
The conference will also feature a photographic installation by internationally renowned artist Despina Meimargalou that explores "the humanity of religious women as they struggle to do God's work in the face of persecution and oppression." The exhibition, which opens at Columbia's A + D Gallery, 72 East 11th Street on Friday, May 2 with an artist's reception, runs through May 16.
A Human Rights Film Festival -- organized by the Michael Rabiger Center for Documentary at Columbia College Chicago -- will open on Monday, May 5 with a preview screening of an episode of The New Americans, an extraordinary new multi-part series for PBS by Kartemquin Films, the producers of Hoop Dreams. The New Americans puts a human face on the harrowing journeys of today's immigrants, revealing human rights abuses and the personal impact of the global economy. A discussion with the filmmakers will follow the screening. On Tuesday the festival will screen three films on forgiveness, reconciliation and healing, followed by a panel discussion and on Wednesday "Big Issues/Short Films" will wrap up the film festival with the screening of excerpts from student and faculty work.
Dignity Without Borders is sponsored by the McCormick Tribune Foundation with grants from the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Illinois General Assembly and the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation.