Human Rights Biography

Human Rights Biography

Human Rights Biography is an educational method used to activate particpants' ability to personalize abstract concepts of human rights, act upon them in their personal lives, and create a climate of openness, understanding, and respect. The method consists of several stages. In the first stage, the participants are asked to reflect on people or events that resulted in him or her first becoming aware of human rights issues on a personal level. In the second stage, the participants are asked to make a drawing on a large poster paper that symbolizes these people and events. In the third stage, the participants are asked to write an explanation of values these drawings represent and the context of their experience. In the fourth stage, the participants are paired with one another and are asked to explain their drawaings to each other. In the fifth stage, they tape their drawings together and draw lines connecting similar themes. Each pair then is connected with another pair. This process is continued until all the drawings are connected on a large human rights map.

Example

This exercise was used by the Human Dimension Programme at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies at the University of Malta (MEDAC) Human Rights (Borg, B., Grech., O., Regan, C. 2010).

Reference

Borg, B., Grech, O. Regan, C. (2010). The self comes to know itself by retelling itself: Beliefs, identities, and human rights. Beliefs and Values: Understanding the Global Implications of Human Nature, 2(2), 175-186.