Sevda Clark, United Kingdom
Sevda Clark is a human rights lawyer, policy analyst, and Lecturer at the Thomas More Law School. She is admitted in the Supreme Court of NSW. Before joining the Law School, Sevda worked as a legal policy analyst at the Attorney-General’s Department advising on human rights law.
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Sevda was also a Principal Research Officer for the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights at the Department of the Senate, Parliament House Canberra. As Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Oslo, she advised governments and non-governmental organizations on the normative development and implementation of human rights law at the international and domestic levels. She acted as Expert advisor to the United Nations during the drafting of the Third Optional Protocol the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure and represented the National Institute for Human Rights in Norway at the Working Group sessions in Geneva, making oral and written submissions on the development of the treaty.
Sevda’s research and policy development work to date revolves around diagnosing the law and policy gaps in protecting the rights of marginalized groups at the intersection of multiple disadvantages. The legal subjectivity of women, children and people with disability have been the thread with which she has woven her research and practice in human rights law over the past decade.
For more information on Sevda’s work, visit the links below:
Google Scholar Page: https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=QaTur7cAAAAJ&hl=en
Dr Colm Ó Cuanacháin, Ireland
Colm has a PhD in human rights education from the University of Leicester. He worked as principal of a primary school in Ireland where he focused on curriculum development in the area of human rights education.
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Colm worked in human rights and development education with Comhlámh – the Irish Association of Development Workers and Volunteers and was Secretary General of Amnesty International Ireland. Colm worked on human rights education programmes at international level including as head of campaigns with ActionAid International and as senior director with Amnesty International. He returned to Ireland in 2020 to take up a role at Dublin City University with Fighting Words, with a focus and creative education and creative writing in education. Colm is the Executive Director of Fighting Words.
Sylvie Condette, France
Sylvie is a full Professor of Sciences of Education and Training at the University of Lille – France. She belongs to the Unit Research CIREL. She is responsible for a master’s degree in the promotion of human resources in educational institutions.
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Sylvie’s research focuses on citizenship education. She is particularly interested in the defence of students’ rights, the development of critical thinking, the commitment of the various school actors in favor of mutual respect and human rights. Her scientific projects also concentrate on conflicts regulation, struggle against school bullying and the implementation of mediation. Sylvie is an associate editor for Human Rights Education Review (HRER), and an editor for the French Journals: Education Comparée.
For more information on Sylvie’s work, visit the links below:
(https://cirel.univ-lille.fr/)
Nancy Flowers, United States
Nancy Flowers is a consultant and writer in the field of human rights education. As a consultant she has worked with governments, UN agencies, universities, and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations.
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As an author, curriculum developer, and editor of the University of Minnesota Human Rights Education Series, she has edited, written, and contributed to many publications. She is a co-founder of Human Rights Educators USA, the first national network for the promotion of human rights education in the United States.
Susan Gollifer, Iceland
Sue E. Gollifer is a lecturer in the Department of International Studies of Education at the University of Iceland. She holds a doctorate in Human Rights Education from the University of Iceland.
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Her research areas include transformative pedagogies to develop social and ecological wellbeing; human rights and teacher education; and internationalization of higher education.
For more information on Sue’s work, visit the links below:
Orcid profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6603-4161
Gollifer, S. E. (2022). Inertial constraints to educational change: The case of human rights education in Iceland. Netla. https://netla.hi.is/greinar/2022/alm/18.pdf
Gollifer, S. E. (2022). Challenges and possibilities for transformative human rights education in Icelandic upper secondary schools. Human Rights Education Review. https://doi.org/10.7577/hrer.4981
Helen Hanna, United Kingdom
Helen Hanna is an academic, trainer and education consultant, based at the University of Manchester, with over 10 years of professional experience in higher education in the UK and internationally. Helen is an editor for Human Rights Education Review.
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Helen is passionate about primary and secondary school citizenship education, education rights, and educational inclusion, particularly of migrant learners and those from racial, ethnic and cultural minorities, and in contexts affected by conflict and social unrest. Helen is also passionate about using creative research methods, such as picture books, photography and filmmaking.
Helen has completed funded research in England, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Israel, Canada, Kenya, Hong Kong and Thailand. I have worked as an academic in the UK, Hong Kong, Mainland China and Thailand, and as a teacher in Russia. Helen regularly presents at international conferences and has also written and peer reviewed for publications including Compare, Children’s Geographies, Literacy and BERA Research Intelligence. Helen is an academic writing consultant for British Council Thailand and a displaced scholars’ and women’s employability trainer for the non-profit London Institute of Social Studies. Furthermore, Helen is the Co-convenor for the British Education Research Association Special Interest Group on Comparative and International Education.
For more information on Helen’s work, visit the links below:
Personal blog: https://drhelenhanna.blogspot.com/
University of Manchester profile: https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/helen-hanna
Co-convenor of BERA Comparative and International Education SIG
Editor of Human Rights Education Review
Editorial Board member of Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education
Yuka Kitayama, Japan
Yuka Kitayama is Professor of education at the Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, in Japan. Her research focuses on issues of equity and social justice in education, and she has a particular interest in educational policies and practices relating to citizenship, identity, and nationalism.
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She is currently working on a research project on civic engagement among high school students,and an international comparative study on neoliberal educational reform and social justice in public education. Her recent publications are: Kitayama, Y., Hashizaki, Y. & Osler, A. (2022) ‘The ethics of care as an educational approach: Implications for education for democratic citizenship’ Educational Studies in Japan, 16, 31-44; Kitayama, Y. & Imai, K. (2022) ‘Navigating academic pathways in the era of neoliberalism: educational trajectories of second-generation immigrant youth in Japan’ in Gube, J., Gao, F., & Bhowmik, M. (Eds.) Identities, Practices and Education of Evolving Multicultural Families in Asia-Pacific. Oxon, Routledge.
For more information about Yuki’s work, visit these links:
Researchmap (web platform on researchers and publications based in Japan) –
https://researchmap.jp/kitayamayuka?lang=en
Researchgate – https://osaka-u.academia.edu/YukaKitayama
Academia.edu – https://osaka-u.academia.edu/YukaKitayama
André Keet, South Africa
André currently holds the Research Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation (CriSHET) and is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Engagement and Transformation at Nelson Mandela University. André is a former Visiting Professor at the Centre for Race, Education and Decoloniality, Carnegie School of Education, Leeds Beckett University, UK and the 2018 Marsha Lilien Gladstein Visiting Professor of Human Rights at the University of Connecticut.
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André served as Director and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and on the Commission for Gender Equality before joining the university sector.
Since entering the higher education field, André has held professorial positions at the universities of Pretoria, Fort Hare and Free State. He has served as a transformation advisor and practitioner in various capacities in the sector. Andre’s research and postgraduate supervision focuses on critical approaches to the study of higher education.
For more information on André’s Work, visit the links below:
Nelson Mandela University profile: André Keet – Chair for Critical Studies in Higher Education Transformation (mandela.ac.za)
Prof André Keet – Engagement and Transformation (mandela.ac.za)
Frauke Matz, Germany
Frauke Matz holds the chair for English (as a Foreign) Language Education at the English Department of the University of Münster, Germany. She has also worked as a full-time secondary teacher both in England and Germany (teaching languages and history).
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Her research interests include cultural learning, teaching with literary texts (analog and digital) in EFL classrooms, oracy in language education (including speaking and listening assessment), but she also works in the field of human and children’s rights education and peace education as inherent part of language learning.
For more information on Frauke’s work, visit the link below:
University of Münster profile: http://www.go.wwu.de/matz
Audrey Osler, IAHRE Co-Chair, United Kingdom
Audrey Osler is professor emerita of human rights education and citizenship at
the University of Leeds, UK, with substantial experience of research in divided and post-conflict societies. In addition to human rights education, Audrey is widely known for her research on teachers’ lives and careers, racial justice, citizenship, and children’s rights.
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She has been a visiting professor at the University for Peace,
Costa Rica; Utah State University and the University of Washington, Seattle, USA;
and Beijing Normal University and the Education University of Hong Kong, China. She has served as advisor to the Council of Europe, UNESCO, and various national governments.
Her books include Human Rights and Schooling: An Ethical Framework for Teaching about Social Justice (Teachers College Press, 2016) and Where are you from? No, where are you really from? exploring empire, identity and belonging through family history (Virago, 2023). She is founding editor-in-chief of the award-winning Human Rights Education Review and co-editor, with Beate Goldschmidt-Gjerløw, of Nordic Perspectives on Human Rights Education (Routledge, forthcoming 2024). Her work is translated into many languages, including Chinese and Japanese. She has always enjoyed commuting between cultures, people and languages, was based in Norway 2010-2023, and enjoys international cinema and hiking.
For more information on Audrey’s work, visit the links below:
Virago Book’s profile: https://www.virago.co.uk/contributor/audrey-osler-5/
Jefferson R. Plantilla, Japan
Jefferson R. Plantilla is a Researcher of the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center (HURIGHTS OSAKA) in Osaka, Japan. He works on the regional (Asia-Pacific) program of HURIGHTS OSAKA which is mainly on human rights education. He conducts research on human rights education programs and activities in the Asia-Pacific, organizes international projects on developing human rights teaching and learning materials and publishes reports and books on human rights and human rights education.
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Jefferson edits the Human Rights Education in Asia-Pacific (annual publication) and edited training materials (Business, Human Rights and Northeast Asia – A Facilitator’s Training Manual, Human Rights Lesson Plans for Southeast Asian Schools, Human Rights Education in the Northeast Asian School Systems – Resource Material, South Asian Teachers and Human Rights Education – A Training Resource Material, Human Rights in Asian Cultures – Continuity and Change [co-editor]) and also the annual Human Rights Education in Asian Schools (1999-2010). He attends as a resource person various human rights workshops and conferences being organized by institutions in Asia since late 1990s. Prior to his work at HURIGHTS OSAKA, he was Legal/National Coordinator, Structural Alternative Legal Assistance for the Grassroots (SALAG) 1985-1992 in the Philippines and Project Coordinator, Asia-Pacific Regional Resource Center for Human Rights Education (ARRC) 1992-1995 in Bangkok, Thailand.
For more information on Jefferson’s work, visit the links below:
Kristi Rudelius-Palmer, IAHRE Co-Chair, United States
Kristi is a Human Rights Education Consultant and completed her Ph.D. on “Stories as Theories: Illuminating Human Rights Education Through the Narratives of Human Rights Educators” from the University of Minnesota. She is a co-founder of Human Rights Educators USA and the University and College Consortium for Human Rights Education.
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Kristi is collaborating with human rights advocates, educators, and young people to create innovative programs and models of human rights teaching, dialogue, civic engagement, service learning, and reflection in classrooms and communities throughout Minnesota, the United States, and globally.
Kristi’s research centers on the often invisible voices and experiences of human rights activist educators, whose resilience and hope shape an alternative, equitable, collective narrative of our history, evolution, and future in the U.S. The phenomenon this study seeks to better understand is the conception of human rights education through the lived experiences of elders in the field.
For more information on Kristi’s work, visit the links below:
Human Rights Educators USA profile: https://hreusa.org/steeringcommittee/kristi-rudelius-palmer/
University of Minnesota profile: https://connect.cehd.umn.edu/mississippi-river-heritage/
O’Brien Award Article: https://law.umn.edu/news/2015-11-16-kristi-rudelius-palmer-wins-obrien-award-human-rights-education
Farzana Shain, United Kingdom
Farzana Shain is George Wood Professor in Education at Goldsmiths, University of London and Visiting Professor of Sociology of Education at Keele University. Farzana’s research interests are in the areas of: educational inequalities; social justice and education; race and racisms; gender and education; education policy and politics; and the educational implications of 9/11 and the ‘war on terror’.
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Farzana has published widely in the field of sociology of education on issues of social justice and education and racialized and gendered inequalities.
Farzana’s works include The New Folk Devils: Muslim Boys and Education (Trentham: 2011), The Schooling and Identity of Asian Girls (Trentham: 2003), and Neoliberalism and Education Rearticulating Social Justice and Inclusion, (Routledge: 2015) which was co-edited with Kalwant Bhopal. She is also the author of a forthcoming book (2023) with Bristol Policy Press, Generation 9/11: British Muslim girls and Education in England, which draws on the research she conducted as a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow (2017-2019). In addition to being a member of the International advisory Board of Human Rights Education Review, Farzana was one of the Executive Editors of the British Journal of Sociology of Education (2015-2022).
For more information on Farzana’s work, visit the links below:
Goldsmith website: https://www.gold.ac.uk/educational-studies/staff/shain-farzana/
Marta Stachurska-Kounta, Norway
Marta Stachurska-Kounta is an associate professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway, where she teaches courses in social studies. She holds a PhD in history from the University of Oslo with a thesis titled “Norway and the League of Nations 1919-1939. A Small State’s Quest for International Peace”.
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She also has a background in philosophy and language studies. Her research interests include international and global history, human rights education, and post’ and decolonial perspectives on education. She is currently the Managing Editor of the journal Human Rights Education Review.
For more information on Marta’s work, visit the links below:
University of South-Eastern Norway profile: https://www.usn.no/english/about/contact-us/employees/marta-magdalena-stachurska-kounta
Recent publication: ‘On the Coattails of Empire: Norway and Imperial Internationalism in the Time of the League of Nations’, Journal of Modern European History (2023).
Hugh Starkey, IAHRE Treasurer, United Kingdom
Hugh Starkey is Emeritus Professor of Citizenship and Human Rights Education at IOE, UCL’S Faculty of Education and Society. His research interests are education for democratic citizenship and human rights education (EDC / HRE) developed in an intercultural perspective.
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From 2019 – 2024 he was co-convenor, with Audrey Osler of the World Educational Research Association’s International Research Network on Human Rights Education that developed into the International Association for Human Rights Education.
His latest book (2021), co-authored with Lee Jerome, is Children’s Rights Education in Diverse Classrooms: Pedagogy, principles and practice. He has led major European-funded projects on citizenship and human rights education and has acted as a consultant for several governments and the Council of Europe, UNESCO, European Commission and the British Council. His 25 successful former doctoral students researched in contexts including East Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Europe.
For more information on Hugh’s work, visit the links below:
University College London profile and list of publications: https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/48417
Some of Hugh’s work for children’s rights are on his publisher’s website at: https://www.bloomsburyonlineresources.com/childrens-rights-education-in-diverse-classrooms
Piers von Berg, United Kingdom
Piers von Berg is a Senior Lecturer in the College of Law, Criminal and Social Justice at Birmingham City University. His research centers on citizenship and human rights education at university and youth justice. More broadly, he is interested in theories and innovative methodologies for teaching and learning at higher education, and the effective participation rights of children and young people.
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Before studying for his EdD at the Institute of Education at University College London, he practiced at the Bar of England and Wales (2010-2018) and worked on technical assistance projects in the Caucasus and Central Asia (2000-2006).
For more information on Piers’ work please see:
Birmingham City University profile: https://www.bcu.ac.uk/law/about-us/meet-our-staff/piers-von-berg
Latest publication: How research into citizenship education at university might enable transformative human rights education | Human Rights Education Review (humanrer.org)
International Association for Human Rights Education 