In the coming year, Guilford will host a series of lectures on the global and cross-cultural perspectives of human rights. Members of the Guilford community and voices of international renown alike will introduce and explore the human rights debate from a variety of angles.On Sept 11, the series began with a three-pronged introduction to human rights when professors Shelini Harris, Vance Ricks, and Jeff Vanke established some of the major issues of human rights. They presented human rights from three perspectives— religious, philosophical, and historical. This introduction provided a backdrop against which the rest of the series will be held. “If you care about any globalization issues, this series is right on topic, and if you don’t you’ll be sure to learn something about the underlying structure of American thinking,” said Vanke. See next week’s issue for a riveting accounting of the affair.

The second lecture, presented by professor of sociology and anthropology Laban Gwako, on Oct 9 will concern female circumcision in African societies from an anthropological standpoint. The debate over whether this issue is culturally integral, and thus beyond reproach, or a clear-cut example of a violation of a woman’s most basic rights is a heated one, and this lecture is sure to prove well worth attending.

On the first of November, will occur what is arguably, the highlight of this semester’s lectures. Thanks in great part to the generosity of the Joseph M. Bryan Foundation, Guilford will be graced for the third in the series by remarks from former secretary-of-state Madeleine Albright.

“Besides being an amazing learning opportunity, lectures of this caliber also have the potential to get Guilford national recognition,” remarked first-year Lee Milikan.

The series shifts gears from global issues to those of the rights of indigenous peoples when, on Nov. 8, Guilford welcomes Professor Jeff Corntassel of Virginia Tech to speak about the plights of various native peoples.

Andrea Gerlak, of Guilford’s Political Science department, said, “Students have the opportunity to take away from this lecture a new perspective on social justice in the country. Since we’ve already had our civil rights movement, these issues [of indigenous rights] often get placed on the back-burner.” Professor Corntassel will deal specifically with the Uwa people of Columbia, and the Ogoni tribe of Nigeria, both of whom have been displaced as a result of oil reserves on their land.

Need more reason to attend? Guilford prides itself on its reputation for its spirit of activism, which stems from the obligation its students have as youth of relative privilege .

Vanke said, of this obligation, “If one is rich, one should be responsibly rich. Everyday we make consumption choices that impact the rest of the word, and the more money we have, the more we consume, and the more obligation we have.”

The human rights series provides an opportunity to fulfill this obligation and tolearn something important about the world in which we live.