Conference Attendees are Welcome to Attend Any Panel on Any Track

IMMIGRATION AND THE AMERICAN DREAM

THURSDAY, April 28, 2011, 11:15 AM - 12:45 PM
Room: Washington College of Law 602

This panel will examine the Obama administration’s complex perspective on immigration and migration, including the adoption of Arizona’s SB 1070 law and its use as a model for other states, the DREAM Act, and the broader movement for immigration reform.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:

- Angela Kelley, Vice President for Immigration Policy and Advocacy, Center for American Progress
- Alan M. Kraut, Professor of History, American University College of Arts & Sciences
- Sarah Paoletti, Practice Associate Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School
- (MODERATOR) Jayesh Rathod, Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law

RELEVANT ARTICLES:

- "Hypocrisy Unmasked: Continuing Resolution Exposes Conservatives as Pro-Politics and Anti-Solutions" by Angela Kelley and Marshall Fitz
- "Immigration Reform and the 112th Congress" by Angela Kelley
- "Smarter Enforcement, More Targeted Measures: Immigration Priorities in 2011" by Angela Kelley and Marshall Fitz
- "Immigration: Is Obama the New Lincoln?" by Alan Kraut
- "From Arrival to Incorporation" Edited by Alan Kraut, Elliot Barkan, and Hasia R. Diner
- "American Immigration and Ethnicity" Edited by Alan Kraut and David A. Gerber
- "Silent Travelers: Germs, Genes, and the Immigrant Menace" by Alan Kraut
- "Human Rights Should Not be Graded on a Curve" by Sarah Paoletti

TREATY RATIFICATION: Important or Obsolete?

THURSDAY, April 28, 2011, 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Room: Washington College of Law 402

While the United States has ratified three of the core UN human rights treaties, is ratification of additional treaties important or even necessary? This panel will explore this debate and discuss prospects for creating mechanisms for greater implementation and accountability of US human rights commitments at home.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:

- Jamil Dakwar, Director, Human Rights Program, American Civil Liberties Union
- Steven Groves, Bernard and Barbara Lomas Fellow, Heritage Foundation
- Janet Lord, Senior Partner, BlueLaw International LLP
- Melissa Waters, Professor of Law, Washington University Law School
- June Zeitlin, Director of CEDAW Education Project, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Education Fund
- (MODERATOR) Julie Mertus, Professor, American University School of International Service

RELEVANT ARTICLES:

- The Obama Presidency and Human Rights: What Does the Future Hold? Guantanamo Closed? An End to the Military Commissions?
- The UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW): Issues in the US Ratification Debate
- The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Background and Policy Issues
- Five controversial Treaties to be wary of in 2011
- Do Human Rights Treaties Make a Difference?
- Strengthening Engagement with the International Human Rights Machinery

Reproductive Rights, Sexuality, and Public Policy

THURSDAY, April 28, 2011, 4:15 PM - 5:45 PM
Room: Washington College of Law 602

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:

- Matt Nosanchuk, Senior Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Department of Justice
- Nancy Polikoff, Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law
- Jessica Waters, Assistant Professor, American University School of Public Affairs
- (MODERATOR) Tony Varona, Professor of Law, Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs, American University Washington College of Law

REVISITING CIVIL RIGHTS AS HUMAN RIGHTS

FRIDAY, April 28, 2011, 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Room: Butler Board Room

This panel will look at emerging perspectives on reframing civil rights as human rights, including the prospect for creating a national human rights institution that incorporates both civil and human rights issues. The panel will also examine specific issues which straddle both frameworks such as racial profiling, juvenile life imprisonment without parole and minority rights.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:

- Julie Fernandes, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Division, United States Department of Justice
- Margaret Huang, Executive Director, The Rights Working Group
- Fernando Garcia, Executive Director, Border Network for Human Rights

RELEVANT ARTICLES:

- "Flip-flopping About a Bad Policy" by Margaret Huang
- "Bringing Human Rights Home" Edited by Cynthia Soohoo, Catherine Albisa, and Martha F. Davis
- "A different kind of voter ID law at issue" by Julie Fernandes

ECONOMIC CRISIS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

FRIDAY, April 28, 2011, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Room: Butler Board Room

This panel will use a human rights lens to examine the Obama Administration’s policies in addressing high unemployment, health care, the foreclosure crisis and the growing income distribution gap in US society.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:

- Radhika Balakrishnan, Executive Director, Rutgers Center for Women's Global Leadership
- Ellen Dorsey, Executive Director, Wallace Global Fund
- Maria Foscarinis, Executive Director, National Law Center for Homelessness and Poverty
- Thadabantu Iverson, Lecturer and Coordinator, Labor Studies Program, Indiana University Northwest
- (MODERATOR) Mary Gray, Department Chair, Mathematics and Statistics, American University College of Arts and Sciences

RELEVANT ARTICLES:

- "U.S. Should Uphold Homeless Promises to U.N." by Maria Foscarinis
- "The economic crisis is a human rights issue" by Radhika Balakrishnan and Diane Elson
- "Human rights and the economy crisis" by Michael Honey
- "To Big to Fail? Homelessness Increases as Help Decreases" by Maria Foscarinis
- "Homelessness, Human Rights and the United States" by Maria Foscarinis
- Ellen Dorsey and Paul Nelson. 2008. New Rights Advocacy: Changing Strategies of Development and Human Rights NGOs. Georgetown University Press.