Human Rights

The Struggle for Freedom & Democracy in Uganda

April 9, 2026

April 13, 2026 |4:00 PM |Chevron Auditorium, International House 2299 Piedmont Ave

An evening with Bobi Wine (Robert Kyagulanyi) President, National Unity Platform (NUP), and Barbara Kyagulanyi in conversation with Prof. Martha Wilfahrt (UC Berkeley) and Prof. Shingirai Taodzera (UC Davis).

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https://events.berkeley.edu/asc/event/319350-the-struggle-for-freedom-democracy-…

Human Rights and Democracy in Cambodia: Its Past, Present, and Future

April 2, 2026

April 22, 2026|12:30–2:00 PM |223 Philosophy Hall

Join us on April 22 from 12:30–2:00 PM for “Human Rights and Democracy in Cambodia: Its Past, Present, and Future.”

This event will feature Mu Sochua (via Zoom), a Renew Democracy Initiative Frontline Fellow and longtime Cambodian opposition leader and human rights activist, alongside Soknin Chhoeun, a youth leader and advocate for gender equality, civic engagement, and social justice in Cambodia. The discussion will be moderated by...

https://callink.berkeley.edu/event/12386778

Can You Say That Here? Free Speech in a Global Context

April 1, 2026
April 14, 2026 | 3:30 - 5 pm | 223 Philosophy Hall *Followed by reception* REGISTER The Berkeley Institute of International Studies and Berkeley Liberty Initiative invite you to a panel on the governance of free speech in different political, legal, and cultural contexts.

Joined by digital rights veteran Rebecca MacKinnon, First Amendment scholar and political scientist Sean Gailmard, and Mexican journalism...

Ask a North Korean: A Conversation with Defector Charles Ryu

March 30, 2026

April 16, 2026 | 12:30 – 2 PM | 223 Philosophy Hall

Join IIS for an open and honest conversation about life, escape, and starting again with Charles Ryu, a North Korean defector, speaker, and founder of Freedom Bridge Foundation. Charles Ryu is a North Korean defector who rebuilt his life in the United States after surviving multiple escape attempts. Today, he shares his story to help others better understand life inside North Korea and the challenges many face when starting over.

Through his work, Charles has reached a global audience, offering a rare, firsthand perspective on one...

Endowed Elberg Lecture Series: Howard French in Conversation With Adam Hochschild

February 17, 2026

March 16, 2026 | 1230 - 2 PM | Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall
(*NOTE: Stephens Hall is next door to the IIS office in Philosophy Hall)

IIS is delighted to welcome the renowned author, journalist and professor Howard French on March 16 in conversation with journalist and UC Berkeley lecturer Adam Hochschild.

Howard W. French is a professor of journalism at Columbia University and a former New York Times bureau chief for Central America and the Caribbean, West and Central Africa, Japan and the Koreas, and China, based in Shanghai. The author of six books,...

Rupture: The U.S. and the Fate of World Order Speaker Series - Rupture #1: Democracy & Human Rights

February 17, 2026

February 25, 2026 | 12:30 - 2 pm (lunch talk) | 223 Philosophy Hall

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IIS Spring 2026 Speaker Series: The U.S. and the Fate of World Order

Rupture #1: Democracy and Human Rights

For decades the US’s role in the world has been grounded in democratic values as well as often contradictory economic and security interests that have contributed to both global...

Announcing the Spring 2026 IIS Speaker Series - Rupture: The U.S. and the Fate of World Order

February 17, 2026

IIS Spring 2026 Speaker Series

Register for Rupture 1: Democracy & Human Rights
Register for Rupture 2: Security
...

So You Want to Change the World: Building an Activist Career Amidst Disruption and Opportunity

February 21, 2025
Bennett Freeman

So You Want to Change the World: Building an Activist Career Amidst Disruption and Opportunity

Bennett Freeman

Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

February 21, 2025

Thanks to Tom Laqueur for that generous introduction. Tom was a young Assistant Professor of History whose honors historiography seminar inspired me as...

Natan Sharansky: Science, Faith, and Survival

Natan Sharansky
1999

UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler welcomes Natan Sharansky, a minister in the Israeli government and a leading figure in the human rights movement in the Soviet Union during the last stages of the Cold War. They discuss how he survived imprisonment in the Gulag, the role of human rights in bringing on the demise of communism, and the implications of the global human rights struggle for the search for peace in the Middle East.

KEYWORDS: Soviet Union, Russia, Political Activism.

Mark Danner: The Red Cross Report, the Torture Memos, and Political Accountability

Mark Danner
2009

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes writer Mark Danner for a discussion of his articles in the New York Review of Book on the torture policies of the Bush Administration. The conversation addresses these topics: how interrogation turned to torture in response to the 911 attacks, the mind set of Cheney and Rumsfeld, the impact of the Church Committee reforms, the political dimensions of uncovering scandal in an empire that is also democracy, the implications of torture for American identity, and the politics and necessity of establishing accountability.

KEYWORDS...