Dennis Brutus/Merrill Goldwyn
Center for Study of Human Rights
At Worcester State University, the Dennis Brutus/Merrill Goldwyn Center for the Study of Human Rights is your source for awareness of human rights violations and other abuses that plague today’s world. We incorporate human rights issues into the WSU curriculum and provide resources for academic research.
We also sponsor the student chapter of Amnesty International and develop programs, lectures, symposia, and other activities. Many of our events are co-sponsored by campus partners like the Urban Action Institute, Center for Global Studies, and the Multicultural Affairs Office. The center also maintains the Dennis Brutus Collection in the WSU Library, which gives researchers access to numerous manuscripts, letters, books, and other documents of this influential poet and anti-apartheid activist.
Our History
The Center for the Study of Human Rights was co-founded in 1982 by the late WSU Professor of English Merrill Goldwyn and Worcester resident Rev. Paul Ferrin with the goal of bringing a strong human rights program to WSU. Since then, the center has aimed to promote awareness about various human rights issues through curriculum development and through lectures, speakers, and symposia that address these issues. Past speakers include Shirley Chisholm, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Eli Wiesel, Congressman James P. McGovern, Ariel Dacal Diaz, and Cynthia Enloe.