Page 11 - Human Rights Program 2025 Annual Report

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“WOMEN IN PERIL” SHINES A LIGHT ON SURVIVORS’
EXPERIENCES THROUGH ARTISTIC EXPRESSION
The 2024-25 academic year marked the 29th year of the Women in Peril project, which aims to
record visual and performative art from survivors of human rights abuses. Professor Luis Ramos-
Garcia, from the Department of Spanish & Portuguese Studies, founded the project in 1996 with
the support of Barbara Frey, the Human Rights Program’s director at that time. Ramos-Garcia
aimed to combine his respect for the visual and performative arts with his passion for human
rights by providing an artistic avenue for survivors of violence and human rights abuses to
express themselves.
This year, Women in Peril collaborated with Voice to Vision, a two-decade-long University project
focused on preserving stories through art. Professor Ramos-Garcia would take the women
survivors of wars, genocides, and other conflicts (who now lived in the U.S.) to painting
workshops provided by Voice to Vision. The survivors were provided materials to express their
experiences through painting, and their final pieces were archived by Voice to Vision. Professor
Ramos-Garcia presented these pieces at Pillsbury Hall on the University of Minnesota campus
for the XXIX The State of Ibero-American Studies Series and Human Rights Initiative Project
Symposium in April 2025.
Ramos-Garcia used his HRI grant to fund local and
international artists to create visual and conversational
representations of the trauma born from human rights abuses.
The grant also provided funds for workshops to highlight many
Latin American scholars’ and artists’ works on human rights
and art.
The project provides a platform where the victims can have
their experiences acknowledged internationally by an audience
who may not necessarily speak the same language, but can
understand their emotions and the experiences of surviving
human rights abuses.
V2V XVIII: La muerte fértil:
The Fertile Death
IN 2024-2025, THE HUMAN RIGHTS INITIATIVE AWARDED A
TOTAL OF $161,640 TO FUND FOUR NEW PROJECTS:
Gender, Woman, Family, and Generation: Indigenous Worldviews of Gender and Colombian
Gender, Woman, Family, and Generation: Indigenous Worldviews of Gender and Colombian
Transitional Justice
Transitional Justice
Christina Ewig, PhD (Humphrey School of Public Affairs)
Black Europe Film Festival of Minneapolis/Saint Paul Black Europe Film Festival of Minneapolis/Saint Paul
Lorenzo Fabbri, PhD (College of Liberal Arts - Department of French and Italian)
A Natural History of War: Poems A Natural History of War: Poems
Kathryn Nuernberger, PhD (College of Liberal Arts - Department of English)
“Their response to requested changes basically amounts to 'this is how we've always done it.'” –
“Their response to requested changes basically amounts to 'this is how we've always done it.'” –
Integrating a Curriculum on Sexual Violence and Trauma-Informed Care into Formal Medical
Integrating a Curriculum on Sexual Violence and Trauma-Informed Care into Formal Medical
Education: An Exploratory Feasibility Study
Education: An Exploratory Feasibility Study
G. Nic Rider, PhD (College of Liberal Arts - Department of Psychology)