34
KEANmag
...and not a drop
to drink
On Friday, March 24, 2017 Kean hosts
Half Empty - The Depths of the Global
Water Crisis
in the Wilkins Theater. The event marks the 10th anniversary
of the Conference on Human Rights at the University, and continues
President Dawood Farahi’s mission of addressing social justice issues
through the Human Rights Institute at Kean.
Farahi explains his simple, yet powerful, motivation behind the
Conference on Human Rights; “We created the conference with two
goals in mind: first, to bring human rights issues to the attention of
students and educators throughout New Jersey, and second, and
perhaps even more important, to help them find ways to get involved in
helping address these issues and to take action.”
Half Empty will look to address water scarcity and contamination on the
local, national, and global levels. For many years, access to clean water
seemed to be an issue relegated to underdeveloped nations overseas;
however, the ongoing water contamination problems in Flint, Mich., and
also in Newark, N.J., have taught us otherwise.
“We now realize that we are not immune to this important human rights
issue, it is now in our backyard,” said Janice Kroposky, Director of the
Holocaust Resource Center and Diversity Council at Kean. “Everyone
needs clean water - everyone can relate to this topic.”
Kroposky explains that conference planners will usually choose the
topic for the event by taking a cue from the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals, where access to clean water ranks high on the list.
In fact,
Half Empty - The Depths of the Global Water Crisis
takes place two
days after the United Nations’ World Water Day. According to the United
Nations, “by 2025, approximately two-thirds of the world population
could be under stress conditions when it comes to water scarcity.”
The half-day conference features expert speakers and panels to discuss
the vexing challenges presented by water scarcity and contamination.
Remaining true to the mission of inspiring action, teachers will be given
an accompanying curriculum guide to bring back to their schools. The
guides will offer ideas on how to incorporate the issues of water scarcity
into teachers’ lesson plans and ways in which their students can get
involved to effectuate change.
A recent addition to the conference has been the inclusion of an
experiential learning component. Last year’s conference, “Locked Up
in America - the Business of Incarceration” included a replica prison
cell that was housed in the Miron Student Center, offering students an
opportunity to experience solitary confinement for themselves. The
addition was met with widespread praise and was one of the more
popular pieces of the 2016 conference.
This year’s experiential learning component takes advantage of the
advancements in virtual reality technology, featuring a film that captures
the human side of the issue.
Kroposky enjoys what this piece does for students who participate.
“We are excited to be able to give students an authentic experience,
immersing them in an area of the world where water scarcity is a life
and death matter.” The video will be available to visitors to the Miron
Student Center beginning on Monday, March 20 and will continue
through the conference.
The Conference on Human Rights annually draws a “standing room
only” crowd, with 1,000 attendees representing over 30 school districts,
as well as a dozen colleges and universities, in the area.
Attendees also have the opportunity to learn more about the topics of
the nine previous Conferences on Human Rights. Stations will be set up
in the Wilkins Theater lobby to disseminate information on the current
state of affairs for issues like Darfur and slavery in the 21st century,
among others.
Kean Covers Global Water Crisis at
10th Annual Human Rights Conference
