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Human rights scholar to deliver Global Citizenship lecture

By Anne Timmer '05
April 13, 2007

University of Minnesota Regents Professor Kathryn Sikkink, a world-renowned human rights scholar and author who teaches courses on human rights and international law, visited campus Thursday, April 12, as part of St. Olaf's two-year commitment to Global Citizenship.

Concurrent with St. Olaf's goal to teach students to be active and knowledgeable global citizens, Sikkink delivered a lecture on rights and responsibilities that extend beyond national borders.

Sikkink's most famous book, Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics, is one of the most translated books on human rights in the world, and most recently was translated into Chinese. The book discusses transnational advocacy networks, which Sikkink defines as organizations of activists, environmentalists and experts that are gaining influence in international human rights policies.

In another one of her books, Mixed Signals: U.S. Human Rights Policy and Latin America, Sikkink compares and contrasts U.S. human rights policies in Latin America from the Nixon years through the Clinton administration and explains the importance of human rights awareness in a post-Sept. 11 world.

Sikkink's research specialties, detailed in her profile on the University of Minnesota web site, include the relationship between domestic and international politics, as well as human rights issues in Latin America.

The Global Citizenship Lecture Series is part of St. Olaf's two-year Global Citizenship theme, which urges students to explore study abroad opportunities and to think critically about the roles of language, liberal arts and identity on a global scale.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.