UNCA to Host Talk on Western Human Rights Values

UNC Asheville will host a talk on "Are ‘Western’ Human Rights Values Offensive? (And If So, To Whom?)" by Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, in UNCA’s Owen Conference Center. The talk is the first in UNCA’s Belk Human Rights Lecture Series. The event is free and open to the public.

Howard-Hassmann is a professor of sociology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and is the associate director of McMaster University’s Research Institution on Globalization and the Human Condition. Author of several books on human rights, she recently completed "Compassionate Canadians: Citizens Discuss Human Rights." Howard-Hassmann is now conducting research on the question of what the Western world owes Africa.

Upcoming talks in the series include "Accountability and Transparency in the Pursuit of Rights and Standards" by Edward Weisband of Virginia Tech on March 7 and "Human Rights: A Cultural Project" by Makau Mutua of the University of Buffalo School of Law on March 21.

The talks are cosponsored by the WNC Chapter of the United Nations Association and the WNC Chapter of the World Affairs Council.

For more information, call Mark Gibney, UNCA Belk Distinguished Professor in the Humanities, at 828/251-6553 or send an e-mail.

Media Contacts:

• Dr. Mark Gibney, UNCA Belk Distinguished Professor in the Humanities, 828/251-6553
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526