Episode Summary
In this episode, Terry explains the integral link between diversity and inclusion work and human rights. Using his expertise in human rights and immigration law, Terry elaborates on his work with refugees, asylum seekers and human trafficking victims, busts myths about refugees and national security, and offers insights on how to facilitate change. Trained as a Catholic priest before getting his degree in human rights law, Terry urges us to be better listeners and advocates for historically marginalized and invisible populations.
Terence ‘Terry’ Coonan
Professor & Ph.D. Program Director
Executive Director, Center for the Advancement of Human Rights
Courtesy Professor of Law, College of Law
Designated Member, Florida Statewide Council on Human Trafficking
Curriculum Vitae
Bio
Professor Terry Coonan, J.D. is a practicing human rights and immigration lawyer and the founding Executive Director of the FSU Center for the Advancement of Human Rights. The Center was one of the first interdisciplinary human rights centers in a U.S. university. For two decades it has sponsored human rights courses throughout the university and offered pro bono legal services to refugees and asylum-seekers, survivors of torture, and human trafficking victims. Under the direction of Professor Coonan, the Center has done nationally recognized work combating human trafficking, and has worked with the White House, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Florida Legislature and Governor’s Office, and the Florida Office of the Attorney General. The Center also sponsors human rights internships worldwide for FSU students, who have served in international war crimes tribunals, refugee camps, torture treatment centers, and recovery programs for child sex trafficking victims. Professor Coonan’s human rights career began with grassroots work he pursued with torture survivors and families of the disappeared during the Pinochet regime in Chile.
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Further resources
ABCs of human rights:
- What makes human rights, well, human? Find out more at the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner
- Read the 30 inalienable human rights that act as a roadmap for countries and the history of their formation at the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights
ABCs of migration:
- Get your basic vocabulary on global migration sorted at the International Organization for Migration or if you are interested further, look at their 2019 Glossary on Migration.
- For a snapshot on global migration trends, explore the interactive 2020 World Migration Report.
- For a snapshot on global refugee movements, explore the UN Refugee Agency.
Human rights work in the United States:
- Read about and get involved with the interdisciplinary FSU Center for the Advancement of Human Rights
- Refer to this excellent one-stop resource for support services for the State of Florida: Statewide Directory of Social Services for Victims/Survivors of Human Trafficking
- Understand the scope of United States government’s work to combat human trafficking on the U.S. State Department webpage and the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign.
- For broader civic and political rights work in the United States consider volunteering for the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the NAACP.
Human rights work across the world:
- Learn of personal stories of survivors of torture and the scope of the problem at The Center for Victims of Torture.
- Understand the cycle of poor human rights systems and its national and global consequences at Human Rights Watch
- Get involved with your local chapter of the Human Rights Campaign.
- Become an ally for marginalized communities and give them space to tell their stories through The Advocacy Project
