As our hallmark event, Human Rights Through Education organizes a conference each February. Each conference strives to explore human rights issues through an interdisciplinary lens, with speakers from various academic, professional, and personal backgrounds. Our 2013 conference, “Human Rights Held Captive: Perspectives on the Justice System,” follows seven years of successful conferences that have grappled with issues such as the right to education, the right to health, the role of art in human rights activism, and the union of civil and human rights.

“Human Rights Held Captive: Perspectives on the Justice System” will explore a wide range of topics including the imprisonment of minorities, prison conditions, incarceration and sentencing, prisoner reentry and rehabilitation, the death penalty, and detention and torture on both domestic and international levels. Below are some of the people who will be speaking at our conference:
+ Paul Butler, the author of "Let's Get Free: A Hip Hop Theory of Justice" and a professor of law at Georgetown University
+ Shane Bauer, an investigative journalist detained in Iran from 2009 to 2011
+ Frannie Shepherd-Bates, director of the Shakespeare in Prison program at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility
+ Robert King, a member of the Angola 3 who spent 29 years in solitary confinement
+ Jason Rios, a Detroit restaurant owner who has personal experience in the criminal justice system
+ Deborah LaBelle, an Ann Arbor lawyer who focuses on juvenile rights
+ Heather Thompson, a professor at Temple University and expert on mass incarceration
+ David Shapiro, staff attorney at the ACLU National Prison Project
+ Dr. Sheryl Pimlott-Kubiak, an MSU professor specializing in women, mental health, and substance abuse

Our conference will also include:
+ A showing of "The Invisible War," a documentary which examines the judicial system within the American Armed Forces and its failure to respond to charges of sexual abuse
+ A theater workshop with Frannie Shepherd-Bates
+ Various facilitated discussions for participants

For a full schedule of the conference and to learn more about Human Rights Through Education, please visit our website at www.hrte.org.