Institute Fellows

Many Webster University faculty members engage in research, teaching, and service related to human rights and humanitarian studies. In order to promote interdisciplinary dialogue on these important issues and support faculty work, the Institute has selected fellows who engage in human rights education and foster creative thinking about some of the world’s most pressing challenges.



Daniel Aguirre, Ph.D.
aguirred@regents.ac.uk
Ph.D., National University of Ireland, Galway

Daniel Aguirre is a Canadian who completed his PhD in International Law at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway. His research has encompassed globalization, development, business and human rights issues. He has taught various human rights subjects at universities in Ireland, Italy, Canada, China and Thailand. He has worked extensively with non-governmental organizations in Ireland and South East Asia and continues to work with them in a research capacity. He conducted a number of human rights education programs for community development practitioners in Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand in conjunction with EarthRights International (http://www.earthrights.org/). His main publications are: The Human Right to Development in a Globalized World (Ashgate: 2008); “Gender Equality, Development and Transitional Justice: The Case of Nepal,” in Vol.2 No.3 Oxford International Journal of Transitional Justice (December 2008) p. 356-377; “Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Rights Law in Africa” Vol. 5 No. 2 African Human Rights Law Journal (2005) 239-265; and, “Multinational Corporations and the Realisation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,” in Vol. 35, No. 1 California Western International Law Journal (Fall 2004). Dr. Aguirre currently teaches Business and Human Rights, Current Issues in Human Rights and Introduction to International Law at Regent’s College, London.

Bill Barrett
barrettb@webster.edu
M.A., The New School for Social Research
B.A., Saint Meinrad College

Bill Barrett is a professor of photography in the Department of Electronic & Photographic Media, in the School of Communications. He worked in Salvadoran refugee camps in the 1980s, photographing for NGOs including the American Friends Service Committee, Catholic Relief Services, CARITAS (Europe), and Norweigian People’s Aid. He improvised a class in basic photography in the Colomoncagua refugee camp after the refugees asked him to teach them (thus discovering that a tent inside a tent makes for a reasonable darkroom). These refugees subsequently formed a Social Communications Team to document their lives, and continued to train their peers in photography. Previously, he volunteered at the New York Catholic Worker, and his photographs of Dorothy Day and her contemporaries have been widely published. He taught at Parsons School of Design, the New School, and Eugene Lang College (all in New York City) before coming to Webster in 1994.




Don Conway-Long, Ph.D.
dconlong@webster.edu
Ph.D.,Washington University
M.A., Washington University
M.A., Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
M.A., Washington University
                      B.A., University of Pennsylvania

Don Conway-Long is an anthropologist who specializes in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as focuses on critical studies of men and masculinities. His interests related to human rights and humanitarian studies center around the theme of violence; interpersonal conflict, institutional and global violence, Islam and democracy, gender violence, and the human rights of indigenous peoples in the face of globalization. Conway-Long has published extensively on issues related to gender and conflict, and he is a co-founder of RAVEN (Rape and Violence End Now), a counseling service for men who batter. Courses taught at Webster include: Men and Masculinities, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Peoples and Cultures in Conflict, Ethnic and Minority Relations, and Peoples and Cultures of the Islamic World.

Lionel Cuillé, Ph.D.
cuilleli@webster.edu
Ph.D., Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines

Lionel Cuillé is agrégé de lettres modernes and earned his doctorate in Literature and the Arts from the Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines, where he co-directed the Centre d’Etudes Poétiques. His area of specialization is 19th-21st century French literature, particularly the relationship between poetry, religion, science, and the visual arts. He has taught seminars in Comparative Literature on “The Acceleration of the World: Literature and Speed”, “The Politics of Engagement: Literature and Ethics” and “The Art of War”.

Cuillé has authored several articles on French poetry including “Représentation automobile et Avant-garde: l’Alfa Roméo de Cendrars,” “La qualité différentielle: Ponge et le darwinisme” and “Allons plus vite nom de Dieu: la matière prise de vitesse.” He is completing a book-length project entitled L’Accélération du monde: littérature et vitesse which focuses on the “ideology of speed” debated among writers of the historical Avant-gardes that informs the representation of war, woman, and the sacred. His current research is situated at the nexus of military history, art history, philosophy, and literature.

Daniel Hellinger, Ph.D.
hellindc@webster.edu
Ph.D., Rutgers University
B.A., Rutgers University

Daniel Hellinger is Professor of Political Science and academic director of the Masters in International Relations program. He will soon publish a textbook, Comparative Politics of  Latin America: Democracy at Last? (Routledge) and is co-editing the forthcoming book, Participation and the Public Sphere  in Venezuela (Duke University Press).  He is co-editor of and contributor to Venezuelan Politics in the Chávez Era (Lynne Rienner, 2003) and has published numerous scholarly articles on Latin American politics. He has been a visiting professor at St. Antony’s College, Oxford, the Central University of Venezuela, Shanghai Institute for Finance and Economics, and as a Fulbright scholar at the Universidad Católica in Valparaíso, Chile.  Hellinger serves on the board for the Center for Democracy in the Americas, a Washington-based NGO that promotes better understanding between the United States and Latin America, and is a frequent contributor to the Inter-American Dialogue. Dan is an avid golfer and amateur musician, playing mandolin with his ban, Maple Jam.

Mike Hulsizer, Ph.D.
hulsizer@webster.edu
Ph.D., Kent State University
M.A., Kent State University
B.A., State University of New York at Buffalo

Michael Hulsizer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences. He is a social psychologist and teaches courses in Social Psychology, Altruism and Aggression, Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination, Social Influence and Persuasion, Science and Pseudoscience, as well as traditional experimental classes in Statistics and Research Methods. His research interests parallel his teaching and include international human rights, interpersonal and mass violence, hate groups, and peace psychology. Michael has co-authored several chapters and articles with Dr. Linda Woolf examining these areas. He is also a past officer and the current newsletter editor for the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology Division 48 of the American Psychological Association.

Danielle MacCartney, Ph.D.
dmaccartney12@webster.edu
Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
M.A., University of California, Irvine
B.A., New Mexico State University

Danielle MacCartney is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Women’s Studies program. Her research focuses on race, class, gender, and sexual orientation inequality, especially in public policy. As a post-doctoral public policy fellow with the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, she helped author reports assessing the state-level economic impact of enacting same-sex marriage legislation. MacCartney has conducted research and written reports evaluating the effectiveness of diversity and outreach initiatives for local organizations, such as RAVEN (Rape and Violence End Now) and the Diversity Awareness Partnership. She is currently working on research projects regarding sexual orientation in the workplace, hate crimes, rape, and sexual orientation in international human rights law. MacCartney teaches a variety of courses at Webster, including a senior seminar on social justice, Class, Status, and Power, Deviant Behavior, and Women: Power, Place, and Person.

Margaret McMillion
mmcmillion52@webster.edu
M.A., University of Pittsburgh
B.A., Eisenhower College

Margaret McMillion coordinates the Master of Arts in International Relations Program at Webster’s Thailand campus, and has actively promoted human rights and democracy throughout her career in diplomacy and education. As Ambassador to the Republic of Rwanda from 2001 to 2004, she was involved in the completion of the post-1994 genocide transition process that led to the establishment of an elected government.  She worked closely with all elements of the embassy to promote rule of law and freedom of expression through programs at both the grassroots and senior levels of government. In South Africa, where she covered black politics from 1982 to 1985, she directed the initial implementation of the human rights fund that supported projects to advance awareness of, and support for, human rights. She also served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Laos from 1996 to 1999, and helped strengthen the structure of the Thai parliament during assignments from 1992 to 1995 and 1986 to 1989.

In her final State Department assignment as Deputy Commandant for International Affairs, McMillion lectured about the Rwandan genocide, the role of women in peacemaking, the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and development issues. In recognition of her contributions, the Harrisburg Foreign Policy Association presented her the Heindl Award for Promotion of International Understanding in 2006.  After joining Webster University, she participated in the seventy-fifth anniversary commemoration of the Holodomor (Great Famine) in Ukraine at UNESCO’s regional office in 2008 and this year, in a panel at UNESCO Bangkok on “Dialogues on Universalism, Human Rights, War and Peace and Climate Change.”




Yossi Mekelberg
mekelbey@regents.ac.uk
M.A., Middlesex University
B.A., Tel Aviv University

Yossi Mekelberg is currently the Director of the International Relations and Social Sciences Programme at Regent’s College in London, where he has taught since 1996. Previously, he was an instructor at King’s College London and Tel Aviv University. He is also an Associate Fellow at the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, where he is involved with projects and advisory work on conflict resolution, human rights, and regional economics, including Track II negotiations. Mekelberg’s fields of interest are international relations theory, international politics of the Middle East, human rights, and international relations and revolutions. He is a member of the London Committee of Human Rights Watch, serving on the Advocacy and Outreach committee, and he is a regular contributor to the international media on rights issues. He is also a consultant to Pax Ludens, a Dutch simulation foundation, and is currently developing a human rights simulation game.




Paul Moriarty, Ph.D.
paulmoriarty88@webster.edu 
Ph.D., University of Colorado
B.A., University of Virginia

Paul Moriarty is an instructor based in the Department of Philosophy. His primary interests are social and political philosophy, practical ethics (particularly human rights and the environment), environmental ethics, and animal rights. Courses taught at Webster include Political Philosophy, Introduction to Human Rights, Human Rights and the Environment, Human Rights and Film, and Theories of Human Rights. Moriarty attempts to put his philosophy into practice as an active member of Amnesty International, an environmental activist, and a vegan. He believes that practical philosophy shapes the ways we live our lives and the ways we structure our social institutions. His current research is about the relationship between human rights, animal rights, and the environment.




Chris Parr, Ph.D.
parrch@webster.edu
Ph. D., Boston University
M. A., University of Canterbury
B. A., University of Canterbury

Chris Parr is a professor in the Department of Religious Studies who has an expertise in the religions of East Asia. His course “Human Being, Human Rights – China” explores the complex tensions between Chinese religious philosophies and the individualistic nature of human rights discourse. He is also currently writing a book with the working title The Double-Edged Sword of Religion in Political Conflicts, which explores case studies including Israel and the Middle East, the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Japan and Zen from the Meiji to Hiroshima, and (Northern) Ireland.

Parr’s engagement with human rights arises partly from his scholarly work on religion and political conflict; partly from his continued interest in how religious maps of reality shape and respond to cultures, histories and national identities; and partly from his active citizenship in the democracies he lives in. Issues of racism, particularly in relation to the anti-apartheid movement, concerned Parr from an early age. He was very actively involved in rugby-related anti-apartheid protests in his native New Zealand. In 1981, he and about 300 people rushed the field of Rugby Park in Hamilton, stopping the sporting match against the South African team.




Kate Parsons, Ph.D.
kparsons@webster.edu
Ph.D., Washington University
M.A., Washington University
B.A., University of Nevada at Reno

Kate Parsons is Associate Professor of Philosophy, Director of the Center for Ethics, and Chair of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies.   She teaches Human Rights and the Environment, and Contemporary Moral Problems with a special emphasis human rights issues.  Several of her other courses, such as Philosophy and Women, Philosophical Ethics, and Environmental Ethics, examine connections between rights and responsibilities in the International Human Rights curriculum.  Parsons is co-editor of Rights and Reason: Essays in Honor of Carl Wellman (Kluwer 2000) and has published recently on reproductive rights and marriage.  In the summer of 2010 she conducted research on feminism and women’s activism in Turkey, with support of Webster’s Wilma and Roswell Messing, Jr. Faculty Award. 

 Kelly-Kate Pease, Ph.D.
peasekk@webster.edu
Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln
M.A., University of Nebraska-Lincoln
B.A., Louisiana State University

Kelly-Kate Pease is a professor of international relations in the Department of History, Politics and International Relations.  She is one of the founding faculty members of Webster University’s undergraduate degree program in international human rights, having developed the curriculum with the late Professor Art Sandler.  Pease helped conceptualize and write the U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant that led to the creation to the human rights program, and she also developed “International Human Rights Law” as one of its core courses.

Pease is a noted international relations scholar who has published extensively in areas related to human rights. Her book International Organizations: Perspectives on Global Governance is currently in its fourth edition, and the co-authored book The United Nations and Changing World Politics is in its sixth. Pease also publishes articles and chapters on human rights, humanitarian intervention, humanitarian assistance, and most recently, international criminal law. Her current research project focuses on the impact of Joint Criminal Enterprise – a legal doctrine for prosecuting war crimes – as a mode of legal liability for holding leaders accountable for gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.



Amanda M. Rosen, Ph.D.
amandarosen83@webster.edu
Ph.D., Ohio State University
M.A., Ohio State University
B.A., Duke University

Amanda Rosen is an Assistant Professor of Politics and International Relations at Webster University, as well as Director of the International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGO) graduate program. Her research interests include a focus on how climate change and natural disasters impact human security. This emphasis stems from her doctoral dissertation, “Emission Impossible? The Impact of the International Climate Regime on Sub-National Climate Change Policymaking,” which centered on climate change and foreign policy. Rosen’s research has been made possible by a number of grants, including one from the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, and she has presented her work at meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association, American Political Science Association, and the European Consortium for Political Research. Rosen also teaches a variety of courses at Webster, including Introduction to International Relations, Introduction to American Politics, “Environmental and Energy Security,” research methods, and upper-level courses in American political behavior and U.S. foreign policy.



Warren Rosenblum, Ph.D.
wrosenbl@webster.edu 
Ph.D., University of Michigan
B.A., Cornell University

Warren Rosenblum teaches courses on the History of Human Rights, Prejudice and Discrimination, The Nazi Era, and The History of Crime and Punishment. His book Beyond the Prison Gates: Punishment and Welfare in Germany 1850-1933 was published in 2008 by the University of North Carolina Press and won the Baker-Burton Prize from the Southern Historical Association. His new research concerns a case of judicial anti-Semitism and the crisis of the German legal system during the Weimar Republic. He is also interested in comparative criminal justice and the history of policies toward the mentally disabled in Europe and the United States.

  Elizabeth Sausele, Ph.D.
esausele98@webster.edu
Ph.D., Trinity International University
M.Div., Seabury-Western Theological Seminary
B.A., Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL)

Elizabeth Sausele grew up in Webster Groves, just a few miles from Webster University’s Saint Louis campus. After 20 years of moving around the United States – collecting a Master’s of Divinity and a Ph.D. in Education and Intercultural Studies along the way – she is happy to be “home” and working on human rights issues. In addition to teaching courses such as “Responding to Human Rights Abuse” and “Human Rights Area Studies: Rwanda,” Sausele is also instrumental in coordinating Webster’s annual human rights conference.

Sausele credits her interest in human rights, in part, to her fieldwork experiences in Rwanda from 2005 to 2007. After working with young adults to better understand how their experiences of war and genocide impacted their understanding of leaders, Sausele focused her attention on the study of cultural differences and problem solving. Her work centers on understanding the disparate experiences of different cultures and building collaborative systems to address the world’s most complex problems.

Marie Thompson
thompson@webster.nl
PsychD, University of Surrey
BSc Hons., DeMontfort University

Marie Thompson is a clinical and academic psychologist and Head of Department of Behavioural and Social Sciences at Webster University, Leiden. In addition to this role, Thompson works with victims of human rights violations. Her work with the Equator Foundation, Amsterdam is focused on providing psychological treatment to victims of war, torture and human trafficking. Through her work with the Equator Foundation, she is able to see the far-reaching impacts that violations of human rights can have on individuals and societies. As a result, she is acutely aware of the need to increase awareness of such issues in order to establish human rights as an ongoing priority for international focus, in terms of both prevention and treatment.




Peter van Krieken, Ph.D.
pjvk49@gmail.com 
Ph.D., Groningen University
Post-graduate, Johns Hopkins (Bologna)
M.A., Groningen University

Peter van Krieken is an internationally-renowned expert in international law and human rights who has been affiliated with Webster University Leiden since 1996. He has undertaken a diverse range of projects during his 35 year career, working with international organizations, NGOs, government offices, and academic institutions. Widely travelled, he served the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in countries such as Lebanon, Yemen, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Sweden, Germany, Sudan and Laos. Van Krieken is the chair of the Röling Foundation, Vice President of the Association for the Study of the World’s Refugee Problems (AWR), and Treasurer of the Netherlands Branch of the International Law Association and the foundation ila2010, which organizes the highly successful International Law Association conference. He also serves as a consultant with offices such as UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the International Centre for Migration and Policy Development (ICMPD). Currently, he lectures and publishes on issues related to international and humanitarian law, human rights, asylum, and migration. He was the winner of Webster University’s 2009 Kemper Award for excellence in teaching, and his publications include: Terrorism and the International Legal Order(Asser/CUP/Springer 2002) and The Hague, the World’s Legal Capital (Asser/CUP/Springer 2005).

 

Alexandre Vautravers, Ph.D.
vautravers@webster.ch
Ph.D. in Economic Sciences, University of Geneva
Ph.D. in Contemporary History, University of Lyon 2

Alexadre Vautravers is a professor and since 2006, Head of the InternationalRelations Department at Webster University Geneva - known for its migration/refugee studies, as well as its international economic relations programs. He organizes every spring the International Humanitarian Conference and a Security Forum. His academic research and publications have focused on strategic and security issues, in particular geopolitics in the Middle East and in Asia, the impact of technology, defense economics and the arms industry, conflict resolution and peacekeeping. Vautravers has worked with ICRC and UNHCR, and is also a consultant for a number of international and regional organizations, as well as governments, on security and policy issues, economics and environmental aspects. Vautravers is a regular consultant for Swiss and international media.
As a lieutenant-colonel of the General Staff, Vautravers is the commander of the Swiss 17th tank battalion. He has participated in several multinational UN/DPKO, OSCE, NATO/PfP training programs and operations. He is also since 2006 the editor in chief of the Swiss Military Review, a publication which celebrated that year its 150th anniversary of uninterrupted publication. He lectures and participates in many strategic and geopolitics think tanks, in Switzerland and abroad. Forthcoming publications include articles and volumes on the shrinking "Humanitarian Space," the international debt and its links with globalization, the experiences of the Soviet-Afghan war, the Counter-insurgency (COIN) doctrine, the Swiss defense industry and procurement mechanisms.