Annual Human Rights Lectures

On September 20, 2018, The Catholic University of America hosted a timely conversation marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The event featured renowned legal philosopher Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University and former Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. He was joined by William Saunders, Director of the Program in Human Rights at Catholic University’s Institute for Human Ecology.

On October 9, 2019, The Catholic University of America hosted its Second Annual Human Rights Lecture, featuring renowned Chinese human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng, often called the “barefoot lawyer” for his work defending the vulnerable against government abuses despite being blind and self-taught in law. The lecture focused on the legacy of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and the continued struggle for justice and freedom under the Chinese Communist Party.

On October 15, 2020, The Catholic University of America’s Institute for Human Ecology hosted the Third Annual Human Rights Lecture featuring distinguished members of the U.S. State Department’s Commission on Unalienable Rights: Kenneth Anderson, Paolo Carozza, and Christopher Tollefsen. They joined Dr. William Saunders, Director of the Program in Human Rights, for a deep conversation on the Commission’s landmark report and its implications for human dignity and U.S. foreign policy.
The commissioners—Anderson, Carozza, and Tollefsen...

On October 19, 2021, The Catholic University of America’s Center for Human Rights welcomed Ambassador Sam Brownback to deliver the Fourth Annual Human Rights Lecture at Heritage Hall. In a compelling public conversation, Ambassador Brownback spoke with Dr. William Saunders, Director of the Program in Human Rights, about the pressing challenges and opportunities in defending religious freedom around the globe.
Ambassador Brownback, who served as U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom from 2018 to 2021...

On September 19, 2024, The Catholic University of America’s Center for Human Rights welcomed Father Kevin Flannery, S.J., a distinguished moral philosopher and former consultor to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to deliver the fifth annual Human Rights Lecture. Father Flannery presented a profound reflection on the nature of conscience, drawing deeply from the classical and Christian intellectual tradition.

On October 10, 2023, The Catholic University of America’s Center for Human Rights hosted the Sixth Annual Human Rights Lecture, featuring renowned bioethicist Dr. John Keown of Georgetown University’s Kennedy Institute of Ethics. A distinguished scholar in medical law and ethics, Dr. Keown addressed the complex question: Is there a human right to assisted suicide? Drawing on philosophical, legal, and theological perspectives...

On October 8, 2024, the Institute for Human Ecology at The Catholic University of America hosted its Seventh Annual Human Rights Lecture, featuring Professor O. Carter Snead, the Charles E. Rice Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame and author of What It Means to Be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics. In his lecture titled “Ethics at the Edges of Humanity,” Professor Snead examined the foundational assumptions underlying contemporary bioethical debates.