Episode 58: Kristina Eberbach, Part One

Kristina Eberbach is a consultant specializing in human rights and education programming. She works as a strategy and curriculum specialist for the Human Rights Close to Home Program at the University of Connecticut. She teaches human rights at both the University of Connecticut and Columbia University. Kristina serves on the steering committee of Human Rights Educators USA and co-founded the University and College Consortium for Human Rights Education. Previously, she served as Deputy Director and Director of Education at Columbia’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights, where she developed numerous human rights programs and workshops. Her international work spans research, advocacy, and education in countries such as Colombia, Iraq, Kenya, Myanmar, and South Africa. She is currently pursuing a doctorate at Utrecht University, with a focus on critical human rights education in transitional contexts. Kristina holds a Master’s in International Affairs from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

Kristina Eberbach shares her journey into human rights and human rights education, shaped by her international studies and activism. She reflects on the risks of political manipulation in human rights work and her experience collaborating with law faculties in Myanmar, emphasizing the need for long-term projects to track progress. At Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights, she highlights achievements such as developing internships and funding for students, while advocating for a critical approach that balances content knowledge with skills, dispositions, and pedagogy. Kristina also discusses her current consulting work with the Human Rights Close to Home project, which centers student voices, fosters intergenerational learning, and supports teachers in integrating human rights education across curricula.

Topics Discussed:

• Origins: Her interest in human rights and human rights education
  
  
• International impact: Overseas study, activism, and Myanmar law faculty partnerships
  
  
• Long-term projects: Importance of documenting change and growth
  
  
• Columbia Institute work: Achievements, challenges, critical approaches, and student support
  
  
• Current consulting: Human Rights Close to Home; intergenerational focus and student voice
  
  
• Curriculum development: Helping teachers integrate HRE across subjects

Full topic listing available for PDF download HERE.

Listen on our HREUSA podcast website HERE.

Introduction and Closing Music Credit: “Awakening-Spring” by Ketsa, from the Album Night Vision. Available at the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/night-vision/awakening-spring/

This music is used in accordance with this Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Information about that license is available here https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Human Rights Education Now! is produced and distributed in accordance with Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International. Information about this license is available here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/