Courses and workshops

Educational resourses

The Human Rights Academy

Courses and workshops
Why are participating methods so important?

Main Focus

The Human Rights Academy is a non-governmetal organization that shall work to strengthen the respect for the international human rights in Norway, as well as in other countries, The fundament are the human rights as they are defined and interpreted in the UN documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the UN’s World Programme for Human Rights Education (2005 - ongoing).

The academy's most important mean is education in and information about human rights, multicultural understanding and

       
     Lillian Hjorth                Gunn Bjørnsen           Eugenia Khoroltseva

peaceful conflict resolution. The Human Rights Academy’s work
is fundamented in the respect for life and dignity of every human being. Encouragement and strengthening of the democratic processes, including freedom of speech and development of a civil society based on pluralism, cultural diversity and dialogue are important tasks. 

 

Means

• Seminars, courses, workshops and other educational activities on the subjects of human rights, multicultural understanding and conflict resolution

• Spreading of information and activities done in order to attract attention to human rights issues, multicultural understanding and questions of conflict resolution

• Advisory and expert activity

Target  groups

Teachers, pupils and students, refugees and immigrants, employees in the social and educational spheres, journalists, activists and persons working in the non-governemtal sphere, the business community.

The Human Rights Academy was founded in February 2008, but started its activities in June 2007, then organized as a network of colleagues, experts and persons interested in the subject of human rights education.
 

Lillian Hjorth (1962)

Born and living in Oslo. Lillian is a political scientist by education (University of Oslo). From 1997 to 2007 she worked for the Norwegian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, in the department for information and human rights education. She was also the editor of the "MR-magasinet" (The Journal on human rights). Through her work in the Helsinki Committee Lillian has gained ten years of experience in organizing and implementing human rights education programs both in Norway and abroad.This has included organizing and lecturing at the many Human Rights Schools, which are nine-days training sessions for young people in human rights, multicultural understanding and conflict resolution. Such human rights school have been organized both in Norway, in the countries of the Balkan peninsula, in Russia (the region of the Barents sea and Ingushetia), in Belarus and in the US. In 2005 Lillian lectured at the Bjørknes International College. From 1993 to 1997 she worked in the Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Labour. 

Lillian is the author of the following books: "Bygg broer, ikke murer" (Build bridges, not walls) (in cooperation with Enver Djuliman, 2007). This book contains 100 exercises on the subjects of human rights, multicultural understanding and conflict resolution and is translated into the Bosnian-Serb-Croatian languages. The book "Lesebok for levende"  (Reading book for the living) (in cooperation with Vigdis Hjorth, 2003) is available both in the Norwegian and Danish languages. Lillian is also the author of the human rights course online that is the initiative of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and “Travel for Peace AS” (Risoer, Norway). This course is available online. She is the editor and director of the documentary “Must  we inherit hatred?” based on the experiences of a human rights school in Serbia in 2003. The documentary is available both in the Norwegian and English languages.

Gunn Bjørnsen (1963)

Social anthropologist by education, Gunn is a graduate of the Tromso University in Norway. Today Gunn is a PhD scholar at the The Faculty of
Media and Journalism at Volda University College. The topic for her research is multiculturalism in journalism. From 2000 to 2006 Gunn was the head of the journalism program and taught anthropology and media science at Bjørknes International college/The University of Queensland. Gunn has worked at the Faculty of Journalism at Oslo University College for several years and has taught “Intercultural communication and anthropology” at Agder University College. Gunn is the author of several scientific articles and reports

Eugenia Khoroltseva (1976)

Sociologist by education, Eugenia graduated from the Oslo University in 2006 having completed her master in the International & Comparative education. Master thesis on Human rights education & its role in modern Russia is available in English at: http://wo.uio.no/as/WebObjects/theses.woa/wa/these?WORKID=48528.  Her master thesis is an invitation to discussion about the challenges of human rights education and its implementation not only into the modern educational system in Russia, but also into mentality of people living in this country today.

Eugenia had participated in several projects led by the Norwegian Helsinki committee, mostly related to human rights education and engaging herself nowadays in the informational project of the Norwegian Organisation for asylum-seekers.

She comes originally from the Buddhist republic in Russia, Kalmykia where in 1998 she graduated from the Kalmyk State University as teacher of the English and German languages.

Courses and workshops

The Human Rights Academy offers you lectures, workshops and courses of different kind: from a one-hour lecture till a one-week course. There is also a possibility to make up long-lasting agreements where activities are attached to a concrete time period.

       

Further follow the themes of the possible lectures and courses. They can be combined, or taken on its own. The Human Rights Academy uses a good deal of participative pedagogy methods in its work, and exercises can easily be integrated in most of the themes mentioned below.
 

Human rights

• Introduction into human rights

• History of human rights

• History of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• The international system of human rights

• Women, children, refugees and other vulnerable groups and their rights

• Social and political rights, Economic, Cultural and Social rights

• How are human rights related to me personally?

• The United Nations and human rights education

• Civil society

• Human rights and dilemmas

• Let’s analyse the situation with human rights
   

Multicultural understanding

• Year 2008, the Norwegian Year of the cultural diversity

• The Norwegian society – a multicultural society

• Identity and culture

• Composition of self-identity

• Stereotypes and prejudices

• Our understanding of the others

• How much of otherness can we tolerate?

Peaceful Conflict resolution

• Conflict- a part of our reality

• Conflict: only negative?

• Conflicts and feelings – the spiral of a conflict

• Peaceful conflict resolution

Why are participating methods so important?
 

Because...
what we are able to remember is:
 
95 % of material we share with others
80 % of what we learn and do ourselves
70 % of what we discuss with others
50 % of what we see and hear
10 % of what we read

 

Kontakt: Lillian@mr-akademiet.no
Telefon: 97065530 -
Adresse: Blindernveien 5, 0361 Oslo, Norway
Organisasjonsnummer: 992471514