Pozen Family Center for Human Rights

Meet our interns! Sonia Bradley, Class of 2027, contributes to achieving justice for innocent individuals who have been wrongfully convicted and incarcerated. She is engaging with human rights in practice this summer through the Pozen Center's Human Rights Internship Program for UChicago undergraduates: bit.ly/humanrightsinternship

On April 24, we hosted United Nations Special Rapporteur and Professor of Law and Development at MIT Balakrishnan Rajagopal for a talk on how the international human rights framework might help address the current crises of academic freedom in the United States. After his talk, Rajagopal explored this topic further in a lively Q&A with Pozen Visiting Professor Julia Hall and an energetic audience of UChicago faculty and students.

Rajagopal's talk came about as an outgrowth of an interview he contributed to "What Kind of Freedom is Academic Freedom?", a Pozen Report surveying the ongoing conversation about academic freedom unfolding in human rights spaces. He was an early voice in this conversation, arguing as early as 2003 – in response to post-9/11 paranoia's effects on university life – that the human rights framework could be a powerful complement to America's status quo approach to academic freedom.

The full report is available here: https://humanrights.uchicago.edu/news/2025/2/pozen-center-releases-report-academic-freedom-highlighting-human-rights-approach

At universities across America and worldwide, research, teaching, learning, and campus speech are under attack. As academic communities consider their options, how can human rights law help? How would a human rights approach to academic freedom differ from the status quo?

In the early 2000s, responding to post-9/11 paranoia’s effects on university faculty and students (especially non-citizens who feared deportation) the legal thinker Balakrishnan Rajagopal publicly argued that international human rights law contains tools for thinking about – and defending – the core activities of higher education. In recent years, multiple advanced human rights practitioners have followed Rajagopal’s lead, paying increasing attention to the question of how to define and protect academic freedom. In conversation with Pozen Visiting Professor Julia Hall, an experienced human rights lawyer, Rajagopal will revisit his original argument, discuss the state of academic freedom and campus expression today, and suggest possible paths forward in the face of current threats.

April 24, 6:15 p.m. at the Quadrangle Club, 1155 E 57th Street. Register and learn more: https://humanrights.uchicago.edu/events/academic-freedom-brink-reflections-human-rights-perspective

Tonight! Fresh off of his well-attended talk at UChicago's International House last night, the renowned South African activist, lawyer, and judge Albie Sachs will be appearing at Elastic Arts, a community space in Logan Square, discussing the relationship between art and justice. Sachs will talk about the famously beautiful Constitutional Court of South Africa building and the impressive art collection held there. Afterward, a group of veteran improvisational musicians will give a performance exploring the music of the South African musician Johnny "Mbizo" Dyani, an energetic participant in the anti-apartheid struggle.

Sachs's talk begins at 7.

Learn more: https://humanrights.uchicago.edu/events/albie-sachs-art-and-justice

On April 15, renowned South African freedom fighter Albie Sachs will give a talk on the timely topic of judicial independence, discussing cases where South Africa's post-apartheid Constitutional Court -- on which he sat as a judge -- was asked to rule on actions by the country's president. Use the links below to register and learn more about Sachs's dramatic career as a human rights activist, lawyer, and judge.

Register: https://humanrights.uchicago.edu/events/you-cant-do-mr-president-how-south-africas-highest-court-held-president-mandela-and-his

Learn more about Albie Sachs: https://humanrights.uchicago.edu/news/2025/4/renowned-south-african-freedom-fighter-albie-sachs-discuss-value-judicial-independence