Human Rights in National Security: An Educator’s Toolkit

Most individuals under the age of 30 have limited or no memories of the world before the attacks of September 11, 2001. Many were not old enough to fully understand how the subsequent U.S. response, including the so-called “War on Terror” and its resulting policies, impacted human rights.

More than fifteen years after 9/11, the consequences of these policies continue to manifest themselves in new and different ways, even as public and media attention wanes. These trends are especially apparent among young people, who reportedly demonstrate low rates of awareness of issues such as indefinite detention or drone strikes, and often exhibit lower levels of civic participation around national security and human rights issues.

That’s where Human Rights in National Security: An Educator’s Toolkit comes in. The events of the past fifteen years are highly relevant in a number of academic disciplines: civics, political science, law, literature, film, religious studies, international relations, and more. Today’s students will be tomorrow’s ambassadors, advisors, advocates, activists, artists, educators, health workers, journalists, military officials, policymakers, trainers, and other influential leaders. Thus, this toolkit provides educators with lesson plans and resources to address these issues in the classroom, and to empower students to assess their developments through a human rights lens.

This toolkit is intended to raise awareness among students ages 16-20 of the intersection of human rights and national security. Additionally, it is intended to increase participation among high school and college students in activism and advocacy around torture, surveillance, anti-Muslim hate, indefinite detention, and other common human rights violations associated with post-9/11 U.S. policy.

The Educator’s Guide provides an overview of the full toolkit and it’s contents.

You can sign up to download the full toolkit here.