The 1776–1789 Connection: Transatlantic Revolutions and the Birth of Human Rights

The French Connexions center will host an exceptional afternoon of programming in the presence of His Excellency Laurent Bili, Ambassador of France to the United States.

3:00 PM: Exhibition "1776-1789" and guided visit at Olin Library, featuring WashU’s original copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and a selection of French Enlightenment-era materials that shaped the revolutionary rights tradition. (Reserved to French Embassy Delegation and WashU students in French studies, then open to the public).

4:00 PM: Opening remarks by the Ambassador of France to the United States.

Keynote lecture and roundtable in CLARK FOX FORUM, featuring professor Vivian Curran, Vice President of the International Academy of Comparative Law and Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh : “Revolutions of Rights: The U.S. Declaration and the French Declaration in Conversation.”

Professor Curran will deliver a keynote on comparative law and the transatlantic rights tradition

Followed by a round-table conversation with Professors Leila Sadat, James Carr Professor of International Criminal Law, WashU School of Law and Iver Bernstein, Professor of History, African and African-American Studies, and American Culture Studies,WashU. Moderated by Lionel Cuillé (director of the French Connexions center).

The discussion will examine how the American and French revolutionary moments continue to shape contemporary understandings of human rights and constitutionalism.

5:30 PM: Reception to follow in Clark-Fox Forum.

With the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States, WashU Law School, Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute, the Center for Human Rights, the Gephardt Institute, Global Studies, Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity, the Weidenbaum Center, Les Amis, and the Foyer Foundation.