At the dawn of the twentieth-first century, and in the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001, the issue of human rights is growing in importance and complexity. The rhetoric and sometimes the reality of protecting human rights has become increasingly significant in world politics. The protection of human rights has a more important role in the foreign policy of many states than in years past. The United Nations has made the protection of human rights a central part of its mission. As many states adopt democratic principles, the protection of human rights seems to rise in importance, yet the idea of protecting human rights can sometimes be in tension with other goals, such as respecting cultural diversity, maintaining a national identity, or protecting the security of citizens. One of the great challenges of our time is achieving what might be called “unity in diversity.” In the words of the 2000 Millennium Declaration of the U.N. General Assembly, the task is to explore how to respect “our common humanity in all its diversity.”

In response to the challenges facing human rights globally, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln established the Human Rights and Human Diversity Initiative in 1997. The Initiative’s goal is to examine issues related to human rights from an international and interdisciplinary perspective. The Initiative has a particular interest in examining the often complicated relationship between human rights on the one hand, and cultural and religious diversity on the other. As human rights discourse has expanded in world politics, so too has nationalism, regionalism and religious conflict. Within a globalizing economy, and with the growing importance of international law, the conflict between universalism and relativism in human rights continues to develop, raising questions such as: How can human rights and cultural diversity both be protected? Are human rights universal or are they relevant to only some cultures? Can human rights be protected and the security of citizens also be assured against many threats, including from international terrorism? And what is the role of different religions and belief systems in developing and implementing human rights standards?

The Initiative’s programming is broad and includes (but is not limited to) the issues faced by ethnic, national, racial, and religious minorities, refugees, voluntary migrants, and indigenous peoples; protectors of human rights, with a focus on public and private trans-national actors that seek to apply international human rights standards, or those national actors that act in relation to those international norms; and women’s rights, with a focus on gender issues at the international level.

What makes the Human Rights and Human Diversity Initiative unusual is its emphasis on the interdisciplinary aspects of human rights issues and the relationships between human rights and diversity. The departments of Anthropology and Geography, English, History, Modern Languages, Philosophy, Political Science and the College of Law, in addition to the programs in Ethnic Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies and Judaic Studies, are all involved in and support the Human Rights and Human Diversity Initiative.

The Human Rights and Human Diversity Initiative seeks, in collaboration with interested organizations and foundations, to provide support for multidisciplinary research on human rights and human diversity, to sponsor speakers on this subject, and to organize conferences and workshops on themes related to the promotion of human rights with respect for diversity. It also sponsors both graduate and undergraduate specializations in Human Rights and Human Diversity.

Funding for the Human Rights and Human Diversity Initiative is provided by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Arts & Sciences.