The Mildred Fish-Harnack Human Rights and Democracy Lecture is an annual event designed to promote greater understanding of human rights and democracy, and enrich international studies at UW–Madison. The lecture brings to campus a person who contributes to the cause of human rights through academic scholarship and/or active leadership.
Upcoming Lecture
MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2024, 4-5:30 P.M. | Pyle Center or Join Us Virtually | Event is free and open to the public.
The Territory as a Victim and Subject of Law in the JEP
Belkis Florentina Izquierdo Torres – Aty Seikuinduwa. Indigenous woman from the Iku people of Colombia. Judge of the Chamber for the Recognition of Truth and Responsibility and Determination of Facts and Conduct and Vice President of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) in Colombia. Lawyer from the National University of Colombia, master’s in public administration with emphasis in governance and public policies from the Higher School of Public Administration. She has worked as an auxiliary magistrate of the Superior Council of the Judiciary, advisor to the Presidency of the Republic of Colombia, consultant to the United Nations Development Program and legal advisor to different public and private entities.
***The lecture will be given in Spanish and translated to English***
Sponsored by the International Division, Human Rights Program, Global Legal Studies Center, Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the Latin American, Caribbean & Iberian Studies (LACIS) Program
About the Lecture
The lecture is named after a Milwaukee native who was a UW–Madison student in the 1920s. While living in Germany, Fish-Harnack assisted in the escape of German Jews and political dissidents. She is the only American civilian executed under the personal instruction of Adolf Hitler, for her resistance to the Nazi regime. Established in 1994, the lecture is presented by the International Division, along with the Human Rights Program and Global Legal Studies Center.
Past Speakers
2023: Shannon Speed (Chickasaw), “Rethinking Violence Against Indigenous Women Through a Lens of Human Rights”
2022: Rebecca Donner, “Mildred Harnack: An American Graduate Student at the Center of Berlin’s Underground Resistance to Hitler”
2021: David Kaye, “From Monopoly to Autocracy: A Human Rights Agenda for the Global Internet”
2018: Navi Pillay, “Current Challenges and the Future of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”
2017: Farhana Khera, “Upholding America’s Promise for All,”
2016: Viviana Krsticevic, “Judging and Gender in the International Realm”
2015: Obiora Chinedu Okafor, “The International Law of Secession and the Protection of the Human Rights of Oppressed Sub-State Groups: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”
2012: Rashida Manjoo, “After the Violence: The Dream of Another Reality”