7th Chicago International Education Conference

NOVEMBER 7

8:00-8:30 AM  Registration, Information Tables and Light Breakfast

8:30-9:00 AM   Welcome

Andy Graan (Assistant Director for Programs, Center for International Studies)
Troy Peters (Director of Programs, Center for International Studies)
Izabela Grobelna (Community Engagement Coordinator, Chicago Cultural Alliance)

9:00-10:00 AM   Keynote Address⁠—“A New Prescription: Enhancing the Lens Through Which We See the World”

Karen Robinson (Senior Education Manager, RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights Education Project & Speak Truth to Power)

10:00-10:15 AM   Break

10:15-11:15 AM   Keynote Address—Focused on the future of learning, the WONDER team collaborates with education institutions and communities to formulate systemic strategies for positive change

Trung Le (Co-Founder, WONDER, by DESIGN)

11:15-12:15 PM   Lunch (provided with registration)

12:15-1:15 PM   Breakout Session 1

1:25-2:35 PM   Breakout Session 2

2:35-2:45 PM   Evaluations and Program Conclusion

Attendees had the opportunity to choose from the following breakout sessions:

1) Teaching Problem Solving through Archaeology

Presented by Carol Ng-He, Continuing Education Program Developer, The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago

In this session, teachers learn how archaeologists analyze salvage sites in present-day Sudan. Teachers participate in a lesson using archaeological principles and methods that deeply engage problem-solving skills. Based on a lesson idea from the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), teachers learn how to use discarded materials as a creative teaching strategy to help students develop observational, inferential, and interpretational skills. The goal of the session is to demonstrate how archaeologists reconstruct the way people lived in the past, and help to answer questions about our culture and society. In this session, teachers learn how archaeologists analyze salvage sites in present-day Sudan. Teachers participate in a lesson using archaeological principles and methods that deeply engage problem-solving skills. Based on a lesson idea from the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), teachers learn how to use discarded materials as a creative teaching strategy to help students develop observational, inferential, and interpretational skills. The goal of the session is to demonstrate how archaeologists reconstruct the way people lived in the past, and help to answer questions about our culture and society.

2) Perspectives on Human Rights Teaching

Presented by Santiago Meija, Ph.D. Candidate & Pedagogy Program Student Coordinator, Department of Philosophy, University of Chicago

In the 90s, the UN declared that the decade from 1995 to 2004 was the “UN Decade of Human Rights Education”. Ever since, there has been an explosion of programs and resources across the globe to teach, or facilitate the teaching of, human rights. With this proliferation of resources has also come a proliferation of perspectives on how human rights should be taught and of the goals that human rights education is meant to achieve. In this session teachers will be introduced to a number of resources to teach human rights which provide a window to some of these perspectives and goals. We will see strategies that are best suited to raise awareness and basic knowledge about human rights, to transform the students’ own moral sensibilities, and to empower them to use the language of human rights in advocacy. Teachers will examine the strengths and limitations of each of these approaches. We will also discuss some particular aspects of human rights that, perhaps for good reason, are often missing in nearly all of these programs, such as the structural differences and potential hierarchies between different kinds of human rights, the contradictions in America’s stance towards human rights, and the political nature of human rights discourse. ​The session will equip teachers with a number of resources that can facilitate their teaching of topics related with human rights and will help them to make more informed choices about how they would like to approach these topics with their students.

3) If These Bones Could Talk: Forensic Anthropology in Human Rights Investigations

Presented by Maureen Marshall, Outreach and Campus Programs Coordinator, Center for East European and Russian/Eurasian Studies, University of Chicago

Novels and television shows such as “CSI” and “Bones” have helped to usher in a “forensic anthropology craze” in American popular culture and the scientist-detective has become a familiar hero who uses “scientific techniques” (or technology) to solve crimes in the interest of justice. Yet, since the human rights advocacy of Asociación Civil Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo (Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo) led to collaboration between American forensic anthropologists and Argentinians, the discipline has developed along new paths and effectively transformed the practice of forensic anthropology. The role of forensic anthropology in human rights investigations has become collaborative and international in scope, yet in each post-war context forensic anthropology is called on to address very distinct local problems. This session will present background on the development of forensic anthropology in human rights investigations and examine case-studies of how forensic anthropology has been used to create very different local solutions to reconciliation and justice. The session will provide educators with resources and ideas for teaching forensic anthropology in science, art, and social science classrooms, as well as information on career paths in forensic anthropology.

4) ​A Problem Well Put is Half Solved: Middle East Crises in the High School Classroom

Presented by Alexander Barna, Outreach Coordinator, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Chicago

If we have any hope of understanding the complex problems of the contemporary Middle East and perhaps one day solving them, we need to be able to ask the right questions. In this breakout session we will explore the important skill of question asking and question framing as a crucial step in the any problem solving method. This session will also feature special guest Tyler Blackwell, the Director of the Center for Arabic Language and Culture. From 2011-2013 Mr. Blackwell worked at the US Department of State in the office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, and he will provide us with real-world examples of how problem solving strategies are applied in the context of diplomatic negotiations.

5) Healthy Habits and Community Tour: The Bronzeville Children’s Museum & the Pullman Historical Site

A program offered by the Chicago Cultural Alliance

Chicago Cultural Alliance’s cross-cultural tours visit ethnic museums and cultural centers across the city providing experiential learning on a wide range of subjects including immigration, environment, and family. In this tour, we will visit the Bronzeville Children’s Museum where students can learn through play about healthy habits and science. Then we will travel to the Pullman State Historic Site for a view of a 20th century industrial community. The tour offers an opportunity to imagine the importance of healthy habits for young people and their community. Please note that the bus tour includes a to-go lunch. The bus departs from the UChicago campus at 11:30am and returns at 3pm.

Due to space limitations, advanced registration is required to take the bus tour.