Supported by the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo, the 4th Lecturer Workshop on Teaching Human Rights was jointly organized by the SHAPE-SEA Program, ASEAN University Network-Human Rights Education (AUN-HRE) and the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies (IHRP), Mahidol University, Thailand. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizers had to get creative in conducting the workshop. An online platform was used, instead of the originally planned face-to-face event in Bangkok.
Capacity Building in Teaching Human Rights in Southeast Asia
The Education Committee under the SHAPE-SEA Program has undertaken several Lecturer Workshops on Teaching Human Rights to strengthen the capacities of lecturers teaching human rights. The objectives of these Workshops are to build capacity of university lecturers in effectively teaching human rights, enhance capacity in learning methods and designing course/syllabus, as well as providing a platform for mutually learning and sharing experiences among participants.
The question of academic freedom is a very important topic that constitutes an essential element in all the workshops.
Learning and developing skills and knowledge
The 2020 Workshop was divided into two parts. One part covered a wide range of topics ranging from human rights fundamentals to international human rights standards and mechanisms, gender and sexualities and environment, among others. The second part covered practical skills for teachers and lecturers of human rights at university level. At the end of the workshop, participants developed syllabuses and practical exercises that can be integrated into their teaching and courses.
The workshop accommodated 22 participants from six Southeast Asian countries; Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. All the participants were university lecturers with a diverse academic background and expertise.
The NCHR will continue to contribute to the capacity building of university lecturers teaching human rights in this region.