Human Rights Studies
First in Human Rights
The University of Dayton established the nation’s first undergraduate human rights studies program in 1998. More than one hundred students have graduated from the program and pursued careers as human rights advocates and academics or humanitarian professionals in legal, governmental and nonprofit sectors.
The Human Rights Studies Program offers a B.A. in human rights studies, an interdisciplinary pre-professional degree firmly grounded in traditional liberal arts. Students, faculty, and staff participating in the program enter into it guided by their fundamental commitment to respect and promote the dignity of each human person. The program also offers a minor in human rights studies that students can integrate with any degree in the College of Arts and Sciences and even across units, making degrees in business, engineering or education all the more distinctive.
Promoting Respect and Dignity
Excellence in the classroom and robust experiential learning opportunities allow our students to explore and advocate for the human experience in today's world.
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Aligned with the University of Dayton's mission to be an anti-racist institution, a recent racial wealth gap simulation was an opportunity for students to learn how political systems uphold racism and to engage in thoughtful conversation outside of the classroom.
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Satang Nabaneh, a lawyer and social justice advocate with broad experience in the law and practice of human rights, joined the University of Dayton Human Rights Center last month as its new director of programs.
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A key component of the Vietnam Legacies Project explores the University of Dayton in a wartime setting, showcasing protests, personal stories and the greater effects of the war on campus. An initiative of the UD Human Rights Center, the project includes a virtual exhibit launched during the 2020 fall semester, as well as a two-day online symposium in October that addressed the impact of the war in the U.S. and attracted more than 40 panelists and attendees.
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