Starting this September, the Human Rights Institute (HRI) is hosting the Human Rights Book and Movie Club to talk about human rights abuse. The first meeting of the club is Tuesday, September 29, 2015, at 6:30 p.m. in HRI room 201.

This book and movie club allows students to get a better understanding of the rights that are automatically given to a person at birth and gives a better understanding of how in other countries many people get their human rights stripped from them.

“One of the main goals of the HRI is to endow students with curiosity and knowledge about human rights abuses in our neighborhoods and around the globe, but integral in that goal is to empower students to understand they have a role in making a difference,” comments Elizabeth Turchi, director of the HRI.

Turchi continues to say that in order for there to be any type of hope for the end of injustice, people need to stand up for it. “These books and film series is exactly this message. There are awful situations occurring right now in every facet of society—and oppression of young women—is a crisis.”

The book and movie club will begin with a discussion of the film A Path Appears, which is a documentary on human rights. It follows reporters Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn and a few actors and advocates like Blake Lively and Ashley Judd, as they travel through countries like Colombia, Haiti, Kenya, and even the United States. During this journey they uncover the different forms of human rights violations that are being practiced across the globe today.   

Students will also have a chance to read the number one national bestselling book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women World-Wide written by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. This book addresses one of the most well-known human rights violation in the world: the cruel treatment of women in third world countries. The book will take readers through countries in Africa and Asia and will speak of women who have been struggling or struggled to get out of the horrific world they live in.

“In the HRI book club we think and feel about some of the most challenging injustices in our communities and in our world right now,” Turchi says, “we encourage each other to know more about human rights and grapple together in discussions on how each of us can do something to better our communities.” There is no other way to better learn of what is occurring in the world today than attending the HRI club meetings. The schedule for the club is as follows:

• Tuesday, September 29, 2015: A Path Appears: Episode one: Sex Trafficking in the United States of America
• Tuesday, October 27, 2015: A Path Appears: Episode Two: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty
• Tuesday, November 17, 2015: A Path Appears: Episode Three: Violence and Solutions
• Tuesday, December 18, 2015: Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women World-Wide book discussion

Each meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. and ends at 8 p.m. and will be held at HRI room 201. HRI is located in the Nancy Thompson Library. Students must bring their own book to the discussions. To purchase the book please visit Kean University’s AmazonSmile account and purchase the book there. Each meeting is free and snacks will be provided.