Honorary doctorate from FAU for Harvard professor Kathryn Sikkink
Professor Kathryn Sikkink (Harvard University) received an honorary doctorate from FAU on June 6th for her outstanding research on human rights. To mark this occasion, a festive award ceremony took place with guests from the university and beyond. The Institute of Political Science, in association with FAU’s Centre for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg (CHREN), also organized an interdisciplinary colloquium with Professor Sikkink to discuss different perspectives on the topic of “Accountability for Human Rights Violations”. Thirty researchers and practitioners discussed the nexus between international criminal law, politics, and human rights, which included debates on universal jurisdiction, blame evasion strategies, the historic impact of the Nuremberg Trials as well as the role of the perpetrators’ gender before German Criminal Courts. As a special highlight of the colloquium, Kathryn Sikkink presented the preliminary findings of her most recent work on “Gender Concerns in Transitional Justice Mechanisms around the World” outlining not only emerging global trends, but also the importance of gender-attentive approaches in transitional justice processes.
