Summer school 'Bridging Perspectives: Human Rights Dialogues between Russia and Europe'

Ghent University – University of Galway
in collaboration with the Elena Bonner School of Human Rights

Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian civic space has shrunk with the final shutdown of independent media and NGOs. This evolution has  affected the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals, who now have no legal guarantees to be protected from the authorities’ abuse of power. Although Russia is far from adopting a democratic trajectory, it is crucial to assess the current state of human rights in the country and to explore the avenues it can take when the war ends.

On the other hand, The European Union (EU), having passed through the history of wars and conflicts, has transformed into the Union founded on the principles of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. In this regard, the EU has valuable insights to offer. However, the EU itself is facing a number of challenges starting from climate change which has repercussions on human rights to backsliding of democracies. In the end, the question is whether the European Union has as many powers as obligations to forge the observance of human rights? Those questions are intertwined into what can be an interesting comparative perspective of two human rights systems.

With this approach in mind, Ghent University’s Eureast Platform together with the Irish Centre for Human Rights and School of Law at the University of Galway and in collaboration with the Elena Bonner School of Human Rights are launching an Online School on Human Rights 2024. This project is supported by the European Commission project ‘EU Public Diplomacy – Russia’.

This Online School will welcome both Russian and European students and invite them to delve into human rights issues from two perspectives. First, the School will present the outlook at the deteriorating state of affairs of human rights in Russia with its root causes and repercussions. Second, as for the European perspective, the summer school will provide an opportunity to examine the human rights construction in the European Union, zooming at climate change, migration, democracy and human rights nexuses. The program will also encompass a historical analysis of the transition to democracy and the restoration of human rights safeguards in some European countries.

Programme

Cluster 1: Human Rights in Russia: New Heights of Repressions

• Lecture 1: Modern Russia: a Reversal from Human Rights to Traditional Values

• Lecture 2: Prosecution of Russia’s War of Aggression against Ukraine and the Limits of International Law

• Lecture 3: The Geo-politics of Gender and Sexuality in an Era of EU-Russia Competition

• Lecture 4: Human Rights and Russian Society (Sociological Explorations)

• Lecture 5: Russia’s Other War: the Fight over Freedom of Expression

Cluster 2: Human Rights from the European perspective: a beacon of hope?

• Lecture 1: Human Rights in Europe and its Institutions: Between Powers and Obligations

• Lecture 2: Human Rights Restoration in Europe: Retrospective from Post-Dictatorship Spain and Portugal

• Lecture 3: The Nexus between Democracy, Human Rights and Peace

• Lecture 4: Human Rights Aspects of International Migration Flows to Europe

• Lecture 5: Climate Change and Human Rights

In the course of the School, the participants will conduct research and present a project on a specific dimension of one of the topics discussed during the School or a comparative perspective of human rights in Europe and Russia.

Download the full program

Participants

The summer school is open to last year’s Bachelor’s, Master’s and first-year PhD students from Russia and Europe interested in the questions of human rights in the Russian and European contexts.

The selection of participants will be done based on their motivation and prior experience in human rights. The ratio between Russian and EU students will be 1:1.

Upon the completion of the lectures and implementation of the group project, the participants will be given the certificates issued by Ghent University (and/or a partner university) which can be worth of 3 ECTS (upon the recognition of students’ host universities).
In order to receive the certificate, attending and actively participating in 9 lectures and completing the group project are required.

Registration

In order to apply for the School, please submit an application form via this registration form. All applicants must submit their CV (max. 2 pages) and motivation letter (max. 1 page) explaining the motivation to take part in the School and their background in human rights.

The participation in the Online School on Human Rights 2024 is free of charge.

Application is closed.

Contact

For more information, please contact:

iana.ovsiannikova@ugent.be

dzhanruslan.sc@gmail.com