Trinity Human Rights and Religions summer school announces UN speakers

The two UN speakers will take part in the five day event in June

Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, who will be speaking at the conference

The Trinity Human Rights and Religions summer school has announced that two speakers from the United Nations (UN) will take part in the five day event from June 25 – 29. Dr Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, and Ms Anastasia Crickley, current chairperson of UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination will take part in sessions led by a variety of speakers from both academic and rights-based approaches.

Building upon the success of the inaugural event in 2017, the summer school will encourage participants to question the place of religious freedoms within human rights discourse, the role of the state in the protection of such freedoms, and the increasing proliferation of hate speech.

Trinity staff speaking at the summer school include Senator Ivana Bacik, associate professor of Law and representative in Seanad Éireann, and Dr Roja Fazaeli, associate professor of Islamic Civilisations and board member of the Immigrant Council of Ireland.

Speaking to Trinity News, coordinator Dr. Ross Holder, said: “The intersection of human rights with religious traditions continues to preoccupy much of the contemporary world,” and such a summer school was necessary as “their histories have been intertwined yet they often are seen as incompatible worlds”.  

The summer school is a joint venture between the Irish School of Ecumenics, the School of Languages Literatures and Cultural Studies, the Long Room Hub, and the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Studies.
There are a limited number of tickets available at a student rate of €405 for the five days and is inclusive of all lectures and workshops, a launch event, reception, and light refreshments throughout the course of the summer school. These are available along with further information from the school’s website.

Stacy Wrenn

Stacy Wrenn is a staff writer and a Senior Sophister Jewish and Islamic Civilisations student.