Kristi Rudelius-Palmer

Human Rights Center Director, Humphrey Fellowship Program Director & Adjunct Professor of Law

Lawrence University, B.A.

University of Minnesota, M.A.

 

Professor Kristi Rudelius-Palmer is director of the University of Minnesota’s Human Rights Center and is director of the Law School’s Humphrey Fellowship Program and an adjunct professor of law. She teaches the Humphrey Law Course: Human Rights, the Rule of Law, and Leadership at the Law School and serves as the advisor for 12 international Fulbright Humphrey Law & Human Rights Fellows each year. In addition, she teaches human rights education and integration of human rights into organizational leadership through the College of Education and Human Development.

 

As director of the Human Rights Center, Professor Rudelius-Palmer oversees the Human Rights Education & Training Program and Resource Center; the Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship Program; the Fulbright Humphrey Fellowship Program; the Human Rights Library, the largest of its kind in the world; and special projects, including the International Women’s Rights Action Watch.

 

Recently she worked with hundreds of educators and human rights activists, among them members of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and the League of Minnesota Human Rights Commissions, to develop and launch This is My Home, a statewide human rights education curriculum and community-building initiative for grades pre-K to 12. This program launched the Partners in Closing the Gap project, which engages community leaders, educators, and youth to address race, class, and place disparities in 6th to 12th grade classrooms.

 

Professor Rudelius-Palmer has coordinated and edited the Human Rights Education Series, published by the Human Rights Center, and written articles on human rights education and training. From 1992-2000 she directed the Partners in Human Rights Education Program, a joint initiative between Advocates for Human Rights and the Human Rights Center, to train Minnesota educators, lawyers, and community representatives in human rights education for all grade levels. In 1997 she was a founding member of Human Rights USA, and she created the Human Rights Resource Center and its web site, making resources of the Human Rights Center and the Human Rights Library available worldwide.

 

In addition to teaching courses on human rights education and training at universities, primary and secondary schools, and community-education settings, Professor Rudelius-Palmer has given presentations at numerous international, national, regional, and local conferences. She has served on numerous boards and commissions, including the Energy Justice Program of Fresh Energy from 2000-09, the City of St. Louis Park’s Human Rights Commission from 2001-07, the League of Minnesota Human Rights Commissioners from 2002-06, and Amnesty International’s Human Rights Educators Steering Committee from 1993-97. In 2003 she was awarded the University of Minnesota Outstanding Community Service Award.

 

Professor Rudelius-Palmer earned her B.A. in economics and French from Lawrence University and her M.A. in education policy and administration with a focus on comparative international development education from the University of Minnesota. She has specialized in the field of human rights education and training since 1986 and joined the Human Rights Center as co-director in 1989. She has also served as a consultant in human rights education with the Advocates for Human Rights.

 

COURSES:

Human Rights Education (College of Education & Human Development)

The Humphrey Law Course: Human Rights, Rule of Law & Leadership (Law School)

Integrating Human Rights Into Organizational Leadership (College of Education & Human Development)

 

Human Rights Library || Human Rights Resource Center