Events

The human rights and history minor presents two lecture series each year, bringing speakers to campus who offer their perspectives on human rights issues. The lectures are free and open to the public.

5th Annual Human Rights in the Field Lecture

 Tuesday, October 28, 2025, 5:00pm

 LA4310

1960s Civil Rights Legislation Then and Now: Social Movements, Legislatures, and Courts

Jonathan Smith, Chief, Office of the Attorney General, Division of Civil Rights

Jonathan M. Smith is the first Chief of the Civil Rights Division of the Maryland Attorney General. The Division was created in January 2024 following the granting of authority to the Attorney General by the General Assembly to pursue civil rights cases.

Mr. Smith has spent more than 40 years practicing civil rights and anti-poverty law. Prior to joining the Office of the Attorney General, Mr. Smith served for seven years as the Executive Director of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. Before the Lawyers’ Committee he was Associate Dean for Clinical and Experiential Learning at the UDC David A. Clark School of Law.

Mr. Smith was the Chief of the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice from 2010 to 2015 where he participated in investigations of law enforcement agencies, prisons and jails, and juvenile justice systems.

Please click here for Zoom link. Passcode: 52135463

More Information

For more information about the lecture, contact Kimberly Katz in the history department, .

Previous Human Rights & History Lectures

Professor Julie Greene, University of Maryland, delivered the 1st Annual Human Rights & History Lecture: “Diaspora, Race, and the Canal Builders: Afro-Caribbeans and African Americans in the Construction of the Panama Canal” on Oct. 21, 2020. This event was sponsored by the History Department, the College of Liberal Arts Dean's Office, and the Organization of American Historians. 

Noura Erakat, human rights attorney and assistant professor of Africana studies and the program in criminal justice at Rutgers University, delivered the 2nd Annual Human Rights & History Lecture: “Contemporary Renewals of Black-Palestinian Solidarity: Geographies of Intimacy” on Nov. 12, 2021.

Professor Erakat served as legal counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives and as legal advocate for Palestinian Refugee Rights at the U.N. She is author of “Justice for Some: Law as Politics in the Question of Palestine” (Stanford UP, 2019) and a frequent commentator on Palestine/Israel in the national media. 

Lynn Ramey, professor of French at Vanderbilt University, delivered the 3rd Annual Human Rights & History Lecture: “Rights for Women of Color in Medieval Europe.” Lynn Ramey is professor of French at Vanderbilt University. She is the author of “Christian, Saracen and Genre in Medieval French Literature: Imagination and Cultural Interaction in the French Middle Ages” and coeditor of “Race, Class, and Gender in “Medieval” Cinema.”

Professor Ken MacLean delivered the 4th annual human rights and history lecture: “Crimes Against Humanity and Their Archives in Myanmar.” MacLean is professor of International Development and Social Change at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. He is Senior Advisor at Fortify Rights on issues related to human rights violations in Southeast Asia. You can view a recording of the lecture here.

Professor Brianna Theobald is an associate professor of history and affiliate faculty in the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at the University of Rochester. She delivered the 5th Annual Human Rights & History Lecture: "Native Reproductive Justice: Grassroots and Global Genealogies" on April 3, 2024. You can view a recording of the lecture here. 

Dr. Brianna Nofil is a historian of the modern United States, with a focus on migration, incarceration, and law. She delivered the 6th Annual Human Rights & History Lecture: "The Migrant's Jail: An American History of Mass Incarceration" April 14, 2025. You can view a recording of the lecture here.

Previous Human Rights in the Field Lectures

Mustafa Aksu, Program Manager at the Uyghur Human Rights Project, delivered the 1st Annual Human Rights in the Field Lecture on April 7, 2022, titled "Human Rights in China: the Uyghur Situation."

Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, delivered the 2nd Annual Human Rights in the Field Lecture, addressing challenges and solutions to climate displacement on February 16, 2023. You can view a recording of the lecture, "Climate Displacement: Understanding the Challenges and Generating the Solution"  here.

Curt Luthye, Executive Director of American Red Cross - Montgomery, Howard, Frederick Counties, delivered the 3rd Annual Human Rights in the Field Lecture, addressing disaster relief and human rights on October 18, 2023. You can view a recording of the lecture, "Ensuring Human Rights and Providing Disaster Relief: The Mission of the Red Cross"  here. 

Omar Shakir, Israel/ Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, delivered the 4th Annual Human Rights in the Field Lecture, addressing human rights in Gaza, Palestine, and Israel on November, 4, 2024. You can view a recording of the lecture, "Gaza, Palestine, and Israel: Do Human Rights Matter?" here.