Human Rights Scholar Addresses Year 12 Global Politics Students

St Catherine’s Year 12 Global Politics students have had a third opportunity this year to meet with a woman who has been extensively engaged in global political issues.

At the start of this term, Ms Johanna Gusman, a highly credentialed legal scholar from the United States with experience and expertise in international human rights law, visited St Catherine’s to meet with students and staff to discuss her work and study. The VCE Global Politics class saw this as a great opportunity to explore their understandings of one of their Unit 4 topics: The Ethical Issues Relating to Human Rights.

Human rights scholar Ms Johanna Gusman visited St Catherine’s School to speak with students and staff about her work and study in the field of human rights.

The students have been researching and developing their understanding about human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). As part of their study, the students have learned about different ethical perspectives and debates relating to these treaties and other international human rights laws. Ms Gusman was impressed with the students’ level of knowledge around these treaties and the responses of global actors. She talked about her work with the United Nations in Samoa, assisting leaders there to develop that country’s first national response to the CEDAW.

Ms Gusman also reflected upon the Global Politics students’ concerns about the realist challenges to the universality of human rights (stemming from cultural or economic viewpoints of individual states). Prompted by the students, she acknowledged the challenges presented by the state of the human rights architecture of the United Nations, but indicated how she remained positive about the potential for positive change, even in the current global environment where human rights are under challenge. The students embraced Ms Gusman’s message about the importance of building the capacity of communities at the local level to defend and expand human rights.

As a young woman, who has already achieved much as both an academic and human rights worker, Ms Gusman’s passionate advocacy for human rights internationally, but also within her home country of the United States, was clear. She inspired many of the students to consider a future in human rights law and politics and she has encouraged them to consider opportunities to work with United Nations agencies around the world as part of their post-school study and careers.

Ms Gusman inspires our VCE Global Politics to consider a career in human rights law and politics.

The students were fortunate to be able to engage in discussions with Ms Gusman at the time of their study of human rights. Many thanks go to Mr Dylan Licastro, who is a friend of Ms Gusman’s, for arranging her visit to St Catherine’s during her brief visit to Melbourne.

Mr Paul Gilby, VCE Global Politics Teacher