International scholar David Keane will speak at a program highlighting human rights law to commemorate Constitution Day at Wartburg College Tuesday, Sept. 22.

“50 Years of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination” will be from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Whitehouse Business Center Room 214. A question-and-answer session will follow the lecture, which is sponsored by Wartburg and the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights.

Keane’s lecture will focus on the history and impact of the human rights treaty intended to eliminate racial discrimination, the United States’ involvement in the treaty and its impact on a wider understanding of racial discrimination.

The senior lecturer in law at Middlesex University has a bachelor’s degree from University of Cork and Master of Laws and doctorate degrees from the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland Galway. Keane’s research focuses on international human rights and minority rights law. He has authored or co-authored more than 20 journal articles and book chapters on topics that include minority rights, religion and freedom of expression. 

Congressional legislation passed in 2005 requires institutions of higher education receiving support from the federal government to participate in an activity recognizing Constitution Day, Sept. 17, the date the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1787. Wartburg College has developed programs focusing on timely topics of civic interest as an opportunity to serve the Wartburg and Cedar Valley communities.

For more information, contact Karen Thalacker, senior lecturer in business law, at karen.thalacker@wartburg.edu.