Presentation and Discussion:

Globalization and New Approaches to Spirituality

In the Social Sciences

By Ron Nerio, Ph.D.

A small minority of western social science scholars in several of the social sciences have begun to write seriously about the need to incorporate spiritual approaches in research.  This talk will examine some of the minority currents in various social science disciplines that have begun to challenge what their proponents regard as the materialistic biases and restrictive ethnocentricity of most western scientific disciplines.  It will present research based on interviews with social scientists who claim to have been influenced by globalization in some way to reorient their position toward spirituality, as well as a content analysis of their published works.  The forces of globalization that have had the greatest impact on their work include international research exchange, immigration, increasing sensitivity to ethnocentric and Eurocentric bias, greater access to translated research material, and new exposure to the world’s “wisdom traditions.”   Ron Nerio is a graduate of the Department of Sociology at the CUNY Grad Center.  His dissertation was a sociological examination of science, religion, and spirituality in psychology and psychiatry.

Date:  Thursday, May 19

Time: 4:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M.

Room 5489

If you have any questions, please write to: ronald.nerio “at” wagner.edu.

Network Analysis Workshop

1 p.m.

Friday, May 13

Room 5489

Network analysis is fast becoming recognized as an important methodological tool in multiple disciplines. Network analysis (also known as “social network analysis” and “network science”) is a useful ontology and epistemology for understanding interconnections, whether in sociology or computer science.  This workshop will introduce the theory, history, techniques, and applications of this methodology.

Questions? contact akamran@gc.cuny.edu

The Center for International Human Rights (CIHR), John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York and the New York Liaison Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are organizing an event commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 50th Anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The focus of this event is a discussion of the gaps in the implementation of the international protection framework for displaced and stateless persons. The event will take place at John Jay College on the sixth floor of the BMW building (555 West 57th Street), room 615/616, on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 5:00-7:00 p.m.

WELCOMING REMARKS: Jeremy Travis, President, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and

Anne-Christine Eriksson, Deputy Director, UNHCR Liaison in New York

PANELISTS:

· Susana B. Adamo, Associate Research Scientist, Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), The Earth Institute, Columbia University

· Bill Frelick, Director, Refugee Program, Human Rights Watch

· Janice Marshall, Deputy Director, Policy and Law Pillar, Division of International Protection, UNHCR

· Lori Nessel, Professor of Law & Director, Center for Social Justice, Seton Hall University School of Law

MODERATOR: George Andreopoulos, Director, Center for International Human Rights & Professor of Political Science, John Jay College & The Graduate Center, CUNY

Forced displacement, statelessness, and mixed migratory movements remain prominent global issues in terms of their magnitude and complexities. Conflict, violence, and persecution continue to cause displacement. At the same time, a myriad of social, economic, political, and environmental factors, such as population growth, urbanization, climate change, water scarcity, and food and energy insecurity are exacerbating conflict and combining in other ways that oblige people to flee their countries. The 1951 Refugee Convention, which is central to the protection regime, has proved flexible enough to accommodate new forms of persecution, however, the complexity of the current factors affecting cross-border displacement is resulting in gaps in the response to current protection challenges. Gaps in international protection occur primarily in three ways:

· Through insufficient accessions to relevant instruments,

· through inadequate implementation of existing treaties, and

· through gaps in the existing international protection framework.

Statelessness is often referred to as the “forgotten problem,” despite the fact that citizenship is necessary for fully realizing one’s human rights. There is limited accession to the 1961 Statelessness Convention and related international treaties, there are obstacles to the acquisition of nationality and even the size of the statelessness problem is not comprehensively mapped.

New responses are needed to address the gaps and obstacles in protection of the displaced and stateless. The Panel Discussion will serve as a forum to:

· Analyze and assess situations of forced displacement which may not be covered by the 1951 Refugee Convention and explore plausible responses to the challenges posed by them.

· Analyze the statelessness problem and identify effective ways to reduce it.

RSVP by Wednesday, April 20, 2011 to CIHRJJCRSVP@gmail.com

event poster

ENFORCEMENT AND MONITORING OF SENTENCES IN THE MODERN WAR CRIMES PROCESS: EQUAL TREATMENT BEFORE THE LAW?

Richard Culp

Associate Professor of Public Administration John Jay College of Criminal Justice; Doctoral Faculty in Criminal Justice, City University of New York (CUNY)

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011
6:00-8:00 P.M.
ROOM C197

GRADUATE CENTER OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK (CUNY)
365 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK CITY

For more information & to RSVP contact: Rebecca Landy at rlandy@jjay.cuny.edu

__________________________
Rebecca Landy, JD
Assistant Director, Center for International Human Rights John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Celebration of International Women’s Day

Ensuring Women’s Equal Access to Education, Training, Technology, and Work

Date:  March 8, 2011
Time:  6:30 – 8:30 p.m.  (panel discussion and reception)
Location:  John Jay College of Criminal Justice,  899 Tenth Ave., Room 630T

PANELISTS:
➢  Professor John Mathiason, Professor of International Relations at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Former Deputy-Director of the UN Division on the Advancement of Women
➢  Ms. Heather McKay, Director, Innovative Training and Workforce Development Research and Programs, Center for Women & Work, Rutgers University
➢  Ms. Ejim Dike, Director, Human Rights Project, Urban Justice Center

DISCUSSANT: Dr. Dorota Gierycz, Visiting Scholar at the Center for International Human Rights, John Jay College of Criminal Justice; First Head of the UN Gender Analysis Section

MODERATED BY:  Rebecca Landy, Assistant Director, Center for International Human Rights, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

SPONSORED BY:  The Center for International Human Rights, The Women’s Center, and the MA Program in International Crime and Justice.

Please email Rebecca Landy rlandy@jjay.cuny.edu to RSVP

The Center for International Human Rights, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The Ph.D./M.A. Program in Political Science, and The Global Studies Collective present this year’s seminar series, the purpose of which is to study how monitoring mechanisms are utilized to assess compliance with international human rights norms and standards. This subject is especially pertinent in light of the recent report submitted by the US government to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) procedures of the UN Human Rights Council, and of the near completion of the first four-year cycle of the UPR process (2008-2011). In addition, the seminar will explore how these monitoring mechanisms can be used more effectively for accountability and advocacy purposes. The seminar will examine monitoring mechanisms of charter and treaty-based bodies, as well as extra-conventional mechanisms and the supplemental monitoring of non-governmental organizations.

PLACE: Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), 365 Fifth Ave., New York, NY

TIME: 6:00-8:00 pm

SPEAKERS:

Thursday, February 10, 2011, Room C203 – Sarah Paoletti, Senior Coordinator, US Human Rights Network Universal Periodic Review Project; Practice

Associate Professor of Law & Director, Transnational Legal Clinic, University of Pennsylvania Law School, The US UPR and an Assessment of the UPR Process.

Thursday, March 10, 2011, Room C197 - Elsa Stamatopoulou, Former Chief of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for the United Nations

Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Columbia University, Cultural Human Rights and their Monitoring.

Thursday, April 7, 2011, Room C197 – Richard Culp, Associate Professor of Public Administration, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of

New York, The Sentence Enforcement Monitoring Mechanisms of the Ad Hoc and Hybrid International Criminal Tribunals.