AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition Meeting

This meeting of the AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition will focus on Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which guarantees everyone the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications. Since the launch of the AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition in 2009, its core activities have focused on engaging scientists and engineers in an international process to define this right and create opportunities to integrate the right into the activities of scientists, engineers and their professional organizations. The aim of this meeting is to enrich the Coalition's contributions to ongoing discussions about the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress in regional human rights bodies and at the United Nations by exploring challenging conceptual questions about the meaning of the right and its application in practice.

Workshop for Human Rights Organizations: Implementing Stronger Program Evaluations

Knowing how to evaluate outcomes and impacts of human rights interventions is important for program planning and design as well as improving program effectiveness. It can also be helpful for securing donor support. This workshop will provide an introduction to the tools, measures and processes for implementing program evaluation within an organization, including examples drawn from presenters' experience. Scientists who have experience evaluating human rights programs will share their experience in how to select study designs, decide what outcomes to measure, how impact can be assessed, and what measurement tools, metrics, sampling procedures, and other quantitative tools can be used. Attendees will also learn about how to enlist and use pro bono experts through the AAAS On-Call Scientists initiative.

What are They Thinking? Exploring the Adolescent Brain

Advances in neuroscience have enabled researchers to learn more about how the adolescent brain functions, from the everyday behavior of teenagers to how they cope with the challenges of disease, learning problems, and social cues. Speakers at this event will address the development of the adolescent brain, the diseases and learning difficulties that seem to correlate with adolescence, and the policy initiatives undertaken by the federal government in response.

Educating Scientists in Research Ethics for the 21st Century: A Trainer-of-Trainers Conference

This trainer-of-trainers conference is designed to prepare faculty and administrators to establish or improve instruction in research ethics. In addition to the information gained at the conference, participants will receive extensive curricular resources including syllabi, PowerPoint presentations, handouts for students, in-class exercises, cases for discussion, and a lengthy bibliography.

Workshop for Human Rights Organizations: Working with Survivors of Torture and Trauma

Human rights researchers and advocates often interact with survivors of torture and trauma, as colleagues and as clients.  Anne Middaugh, a clinical psychologist, will explain the long-term effects that torture and other trauma can have on survivors. Understanding the psychological impacts of torture and trauma will help workshop participants work more effectively with survivors. Finally, Dr. Middaugh will address the vicarious trauma that human rights practitioners often experience. In addition, participants will learn how they can enlist pro bono scientists, engineers and health professionals - including psychologists - to assist their organizations through the AAAS On-Call Scientists network.

Neuroscience and the Law

The first event of the 2013 Neuroscience and Society series is titled "Neuroscience and the Law." Research on the brain has shed new light on the relationship between our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. These advances have not been lost on the legal system, where they raise serious issues for the law, from matters relating to the admissibility of evidence to decisions about criminal culpability. Speakers at this event will address what neuroscience can and cannot tell us about human behavior; the ways in which neuroscience is entering the courtroom; and the challenges this emerging knowledge poses for the trier of fact.

AAAS Annual Meeting Program Events

Thursday, February 14

Workshop on Responsible Professional Practices in a Changing Research Environment

The workshop is funded, in part, by the National Institutes of Health and the 3M Corporation. The 2013 AAAS Annual Meeting Workshop has as its theme, Professional Development and Responsible Science. This workshop on professional development and responsible practice will be directed toward trainees (e.g., graduate students and post-docs) and early career scientists, and will cover such topics as responsible communication of research results, developing a successful research program, international collaborations, and giving and receiving good mentoring. More senior faculty interested in establishing or enhancing programs on career development and/or responsible conduct at their home institutions are also encouraged to attend.

Friday, February 15

AAAS Awards Ceremony and Reception

Saturday, February 16

Career Workshop: Scientists and Engineers Working for Human Rights: Approaches to Effective Engagement

Scientists and engineers are intrinsic to human rights work, yet many are unaware of the opportunities that exist to integrate a commitment to human rights with their professional careers. The workshop will explore varied pathways for providing scientific talent, tools, and techniques to human rights work through professional affiliations, classroom activities, and community involvement and as a full-time career.

Presenters:

• Scott A. Allen, School of Medicine, University of California, Riverside
• Felisa Tibbitts, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
• Patrick Vinck, Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative

Science and Human Rights Coalition: Bi-Annual Meeting

This meeting of the AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition will focus on the intersections between children's rights, science and technology. Participants will learn about the rights of children set out in international declarations and treaties, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and how this approach differs from others with which scientists, engineers and health professionals who study or work with children may be more familiar. Panels and workshops will explore cutting edge issues including: new opportunities and challenges for research on children's rights; urgent children's rights issues in the United States on which science and technology could have an impact; the positive and negative effects of the Internet for protecting children's rights; and the implications of children's rights for research ethics and professional responsibility. Register.

Webinar: Applying a Human Rights Framework to Civil Engineering

Now, more than ever, society is looking to civil engineers to create a sustainable world and enhance the global quality of life. This level of public trust, coupled with the principles, plans, and processes of civil engineering offer diverse entry points for the application of human rights. Building on a common understanding of the general connections between civil engineering and human rights, join us for a webinar to explore specific opportunities and challenges for addressing human rights in the discipline.

Questions that will be addressed include:

• What are human rights? What is the connection with civil engineering?
• How can human rights present a lens through which to evaluate civil engineering projects and their outcomes?
• What responsibility do civil engineers have addressing human rights in their work?
• What potential human rights impacts and implications arise in the context of civil engineering?
• How can human rights inform the monitoring and evaluation of civil engineering?

Register for this interactive, informative and thought provoking webinar led by Associate Director of the AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program Jessica Wyndham.

To Register:

To register for the webinar go to, http://webcast.streamlogics.com/audience/index.asp?eventid=26066225. This webinar is open to non-ASCE members. Anyone who is not an ASCE member who wishes to participate should write "Human Rights" in the field that asks for the ASCE ID number.

Workshop for Human Rights Organizations: Program Evaluation

Program evaluation can be a useful tool for evaluating and improving the effectiveness of human rights interventions. Knowing how to track outcomes and impacts is important for program planning and design and often helpful for securing donor support. Heléne Clark, Executive Director of ActKnowledge, will provide an introduction to tools, measures and processes for implementing program evaluation within an organization. Human rights professionals from groups, such as Human Rights Watch and the International Center for Transitional Justice, will discuss their experiences implementing program evaluation in their own organizations, highlighting some of the unique considerations involved in evaluating human rights programs. Attendees will also learn about opportunities to enlist pro bono experts through the AAAS On-Call Scientists initiative.