Dr. Rick Halperin, Director of the Embrey Human Rights Program at SMU, has spent over five decades immersed in human rights activism and education. With a Ph.D. in Southern History from Auburn University, he taught history in 1985 and human rights in 1990. Rick has led numerous human rights trips, worked as a monitor across the globe, and served on several high-profile boards, including Amnesty International USA—where he chaired the board three times—and organizations fighting the death penalty and supporting torture survivors.
Julie Rinker is a doctoral student in Special Education at the Cal State LA/UCLA Joint Doctoral Program. Her research bridges literacy and human rights, focusing on dyslexia intervention and teacher mentorship. An art quilter and activist, she protests the death penalty using her textile work, often seen at the Texas Huntsville Unit and the U.S. Capitol. In the Summer of 2022, Julie was the first Edmonds Teaching Fellow for Human Rights Educators USA.
Dr. Rick Halperin and Julie Rinker reflect on their deeply personal and professional journeys into human rights education. Julie shares how her literacy work in public schools naturally evolved into human rights education through socially relevant texts. Rick discusses how his academic studies, visits to Holocaust sites, and the death of Jan Palach in Prague shaped his lifelong commitment to human rights. Their shared experiences underscore the transformative power of education, memory, and advocacy. Julie credits Rick's teaching and activism with inspiring her own work, including impactful visits to historical sites. They also explore Rick's decades-long involvement with Amnesty International, including its expanding mission and current challenges. Despite shifts in focus—such as the diminishing emphasis on death penalty abolition—both emphasize the enduring importance of centering human dignity, with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights serving as a guiding foundation.
Topics Discussed:
Full topic listing available for PDF download HERE.
Listen on our HREUSA podcast website HERE.
Introduction and Closing Music Credit: “Awakening-Spring” by Ketsa, from the Album Night Vision. Available at the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/night-vision/awakening-spring/
This music is used in accordance with this Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Information about that license is available here https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Human Rights Education Now! is produced and distributed in accordance with Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International. Information about this license is available here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
