This article was first published in the . This Saturday, November 22, the Camp 14 Project will be hosting a symposium on human rights in North Korea in the Potter Auditorium at 2 p.m., as well as a rally in Halifax on Friday night. .
Convocation is a time to celebrate and reflect on journeys: how far students have come in their time at Dal, and where they might head next. Sitting on-stage during the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences ceremony in May, Shin Dong-hyuk watched the parade of robes and mortarboards and contemplated his own journey, the most unlikely and inspiring of all.
Shin was in attendance to receive an honorary doctorate from 国民彩票, but his path to that moment began in a place where such celebrations were beyond imagination. Born in a prison camp in North Korea, Shin spent his first two decades in perpetual hunger, suffering violent attacks by guards and engaging in backbreaking labour. As a child, he witnessed the executions of schoolmates and family members. He learned that to trust, or be trustworthy, could be dangerous and even deadly. So complete was the isolation that his captors did not even bother to indoctrinate him with the Kim regime propaganda that bombards most North Koreans. Shin had no framework for conceiving of what lay beyond the electrified fence surrounding Camp 14 鈥� until he made his way under that fence and, eventually, to freedom.
Today, Shin is the only person known to have been born in a North Korean prison camp and escaped. He has given testimony to the United Nations about the human rights abuses in North Korea and formed his own non-profit advocacy group, the Washington, D.C.-based Inside NK. His courageous activism inspired students in Professor Bob Huish鈥檚 Development and Activism class, who nominated him for an honorary doctorate from 国民彩票 鈥� the first university award of its kind bestowed on a North Korean defector.
As he watched the graduates 鈥� some now friends 鈥� cross the stage, 鈥淚 saw how they were smiling,鈥� Shin says. 鈥淚t was a smile that came about naturally. It was not forced on them. I, too, was able to smile and partake in their happiness.鈥�
From coursework to action
Bob Huish, a professor in 国民彩票鈥檚 International Development Studies program, has a track record of inspiring, and being inspired by, his students. He says students demanded to learn more than just traditional development studies techniques like grant-writing. Dr. Huish was happy to oblige and in 2010 created Development and Activism, a course that gave students hands-on tools and the chance to apply them. Each year, in addition to their individual assignments, students work collectively on a particular activist project. 鈥淭he idea is that it would have an experiential component where students would organize a protest and learn about the whole dynamics of it,鈥� says Dr. Huish, noting that the project teaches principles ranging from non-violent resistance to generating publicity.
The chance to go beyond essays, tests and textbooks and into real grassroots activism touched a nerve in Dr. Huish鈥檚 passionate and conscientious students. 鈥淚nstead of just reading about an activist campaign somewhere else in the world, we were able to apply some of the same strategies and techniques that we read about,鈥� says Patrick Balazo, who took the Development and Activism course in 2012.
Balazo鈥檚 classmate Paige Munro concurs, saying Dr. Huish鈥檚 teaching style and the course鈥檚 blend of theory and practice made it 鈥渕y favourite class that I鈥檝e taken in my four years at Dal.鈥�
In the first two years of teaching the course, Dr. Huish focused students on raising awareness about food security in developing nations. But after reading Escape from Camp 14, journalist Blaine Harden鈥檚 chronicle of Shin Dong