The Dodd Center for Human Rights

The Dodd Center for Human Rights (formerly the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center) is a University of Connecticut center which supports programming, educational initiatives, and events dedicated to the theme of human rights. The Dodd Center also houses several University of Connecticut departments and centers, including Archives & Special Collections, a unit of the University of Connecticut Library, the Human Rights Institute, and the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life. The John P. McDonald Reading Room is the public access point for the university archives and special collections.

The Dodd Center for Human Rights

History

Ground was broken for the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center on October 10, 1993, and the finished building was dedicated by President Bill Clinton on October 15, 1995. It is named for the late Senator Thomas Joseph Dodd whose son, Senator Christopher J. Dodd, played a crucial role in the center's development. The dedication ceremony inaugurated "The Dodd Year", a year-long series of special events, speakers, exhibits, and colloquia. Devoted to the theme of human rights, The Dodd Year recalled Thomas Dodd's participation as a senior prosecutor in the International Military Tribunal, the first of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials.

President Biden at UConn
Dodd Center plaza

The Dodd Year program brought an array of world figures to campus including Madeleine Albright, Elie Wiesel, and Oscar Arias and concluded in the fall of 1996 with an address by Mikhail Gorbachev.[1]

In August 2021, the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees voted to rededicate the center as the Dodd Center for Human Rights. President Joe Biden, accompanied by Connecticut governor Ned Lamont, former senator Christopher Dodd, and other political dignitaries rededicated the center in a ceremony on October 15, 2021, exactly 26 years after its original iteration's dedication.[2]

Programs

The Dodd Center for Human Rights hosts a number of ongoing programs and events.

The Raymond and Beverly Distinguished Sackler Lecture in Human Rights is held twice a year. Past speakers include Dorothy Q. Thomas, Adam Fairclough, Charlotte Bunch, Harold Koh, Patricia Wald, Samantha Power, Michael Ignatieff, George Mitchell, and James Crawford. The Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights, first awarded in 2003, is given biennially to an individual or organization which has made a significant contribution towards international justice and human rights. The 2009 Dodd Prize was awarded to the Committee to Protect Journalists on October 5, 2009.

The Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series brings a variety of distinguished speakers to the University of Connecticut to speak on various aspects of nature and the environment.

References
  1. "Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center › University of Connecticut". Doddcenter.uconn.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-11-05. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
  2. Altimari, Daniela. "President Biden is coming to Connecticut Friday to promote his "build back better' agenda and highlight funding for childcare". courant.com. Retrieved 2021-10-15.

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