Human Rights & Social Justice

UConn’s commitment to advancing human rights and social justice is deeply embedded across its research centers and institutes. This vital work spans numerous disciplines, addressing critical issues such as economic inequality, racial justice, health disparities, and education reform. UConn’s Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute (HRI) and its Dodd Human Rights Impact programs at the Dodd Center for Human Rights play a key role. Their programs examine the intersections of human rights and social justice with partners across the university, including business, education, health, humanities and the arts, law, social sciences, and social work, to understand and address systemic inequalities and injustices. At the Humanities Institute, scholars explore how art, culture, and the humanities shape human values, while the Health Disparities Institute tackles the root causes of inequities in disproportionately impacted communities. Other centers, such as the Africana Studies Institute, El Instituto, and the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute, foster critical perspectives on ethnic, hemispheric, and global experiences.

Together, centers and institutes in this cluster advance UConn’s leadership in addressing the most pressing human rights and social justice challenges. Their work is critical to understanding and dismantling systemic inequalities, promoting diversity, and driving real-world change in the pursuit of equity and justice.