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Human Rights Series Will Explore Sources, Achievements, Challenges

WHEELING — A new People’s University series will explore what is called collectively “human rights.”

The Ohio County Public Library, in partnership with the Wheeling Academy of Law and Science Foundation, has invited a diverse array of scholars from the fields of philosophy, history, sociology, law, science, technology and communications to present different perspectives on the development of human rights from the ancient to the modern worlds, while also comparing American and international views. The series will conclude with a look at the challenge of sentient non-humans, including animal rights and artificial intelligence.

Classes will meet at 7 p.m. in the library’s auditorium beginning Tuesday. All classes are free and open to the public. Patrons may attend as many classes as they want.

The full schedule for the People’s University is as follows:

∫ Tuesday –“Sources: Ideas and Critiques”

Instructor Dr. Darin McGinnis will explore the philosophical sources of the strains of political thought that, together, produce a shared idea of human rights, as well as many of the consequences that could or have followed from them. McGinnis is associate professor of philosophy at Wheeling Jesuit University.

∫ Nov. 6 — “Achievements: Enlightenment Ideas and the American and French Revolutions”

Instructor Dr. Elizabeth Andrews Bond will explore how new ideas of natural rights and equal rights associated with the Enlightenment were formulated, shared and spread. She will examine what it meant for the American and French revolutionaries to identify and codify human rights. Bond is assistant professor of history at The Ohio State University.

∫ Nov. 13 — “Achievements: U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights”

Instructor Dr. Anne Marie Lofaso will explore the virtues and shortcomings of this document from a values perspective. Lofaso is the Arthur B. Hodges Professor of Law at West Virginia University College of Law. Her scholarship focuses on human rights in the workplace.

∫ Nov. 20 — “Extensions: Social Movements”

Instructor Dr. Mark Frezzo will introduce participants to the social movement perspective on human rights. Frezzo is associate professor of sociology at the University of Mississippi.

∫ Nov. 27 — “Deviations and Challenges: Tyranny –Communism, Fascism and Totalitarianism”

Instructor Dr. Joshua Arthurs will explore the development and meaning of communism and fascism and critically dissect the related concept of totalitarianism. He also will apply this historical lens to present-day challenges to liberal democracy. Arthurs is an associate professor of history at WVU and a fellow of the American Academy in Rome.

∫ Dec. 4 — “Extensions and Achievements: The Postwar Period”

Instructor Dr. Jay D. Aronson will explore the emergence of the modern human rights framework in the wake of World War II and the Holocaust. He will talk about significant human rights agreements. Aronson is the founder and director of the Center for Human Rights Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He also is a professor of science, technology and society in CMU’s history department.

∫ Dec. 13 — “Extensions: Animal Rights”

Instructor Gary L. Francione will discuss the concept of rights and how it applies in the context of our relationship with nonhuman animals. Francione is a distinguished professor of law at Rutgers University School of Law in New Jersey. He also is an honorary professor (philosophy) at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England.

∫ Dec. 18 — “Challenges: Artificial Intelligence”

Instructor Dr. David J. Gunkel will consider what has been previously regarded as unthinkable: whether and to what extent robots and other artifacts of our own making can and should have any claim to moral and legal standing. Gunkel is a distinguished professor of communication technology at Northern Illinois University.

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