A common challenge for the growing community of individuals teaching business and human rights (BHR), at universities and within companies alike, is finding the most relevant teaching resources and sharing what works in the classroom.
More than 140 universities have added BHR courses or content to their curricula in the past decade. The multi-disciplinary subject is now being taught at schools of business, law and policy worldwide.
Logos Senior Fellow Anthony Ewing is helping fellow BHR teachers and trainers find resources for teaching the most common business and human rights topics through the recently launched online Teaching Business and Human Rights Handbook. (BHRHandbook.org)
More than 140 universities have added BHR courses or content to their curricula in the past decade.
Anthony contributed a teaching note and has edited the Handbook since its launch earlier this year.
In the Handbook introduction, Ewing notes that:
“Methods for teaching business and human topics are as diverse as the individuals teaching the subject, and the students studying it. Teaching a multidisciplinary subject allows for creative pedagogy. Many business and human rights instructors are experimenting with alternatives to traditional lectures and classroom discussion, such as simulations, role-playing exercises, debates, clinical work and online courses. Instructors are sharing comparative teaching strategies for different students in different geographies. Corporate training is producing even more customized approaches to covering the subject matter for executives, managers and employees.”
The Handbook has published five topics to date. Each “teaching note,” authored by an expert who has taught the subject, provides a brief overview of the topic, describes approaches for teaching business, law and policy students, and identifies relevant teaching resources, such as readings, videos, cases and exercises.
Handbook teaching notes include:
Introducing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights by Anthony Ewing (Lecturer, Columbia Law School)
Mandatory Human Rights Reporting by Erika George (Professor of Law, S.J. Quinney College of Law, The University of Utah)
Human Rights Impact Assessment by Mark Wielga (Director, Nomogaia)
OECD National Contact Point Complaints by Elizabeth Umlas (Lecturer, University of Fribourg)
Shared Value and Human Rights by Björn Fasterling (Professor of Law and Business Ethics, EDHEC Business School)
Handbook notes currently in the pipeline will cover topics including: Corporate Human Rights Policy Commitments, Human Rights Due Diligence, the “Business Case” for Human Rights, and “Big Data” and Human Rights.
The Teaching Business and Human Rights Handbook is a project of the Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum, a platform for collaboration among individuals teaching BHR, which Ewing co-founded in 2011.
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