Human Rights Centre visits the Baia Mare University, Romania

On 13 and 14 December 2024, on the occasion of the Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Prof. Paolo De Stefani and Dr. Carlotta Rossato travelled to Baia Mare (Romania) to participate as guest speakers in the international conference on “Human Rights in the Digital Era”, organised by the North University Centre, University of Cluj-Napoca. The visit was also the occasion to strengthen the relationship between the two institutions and discuss further opportunities for collaboration in the framework of the Erasmus+ cooperation (the Baia Mare University Centre hosts a master's programme in human rights) and of the respective doctoral schools. 

In the international conference, local professors, PhD students, and two other Italian scholars, Prof. Maria d’Arienzo (University di Naples) and Stefano Testa Bappenhein (University of Camerino), presented their research on the topic. The HRC delegation made an intervention concerning the opportunities and challenges of digitalisation in monitoring human rights, intended both as human rights fact-finding and quantitative data analysis. Throughout the event, the contributions touched upon the issues of freedom of thought, manipulation of data, right to be elected, echo chambers, freedom of religion, the concept of ‘infocracy’, and Artificial Intelligence. Socio-legal perspectives were combined with philosophical insights stemming from the background of the local Doctoral School. 

The following day, the visit continued on a historical-artistic note. A group of professors accompanied the delegation to discover the history and artistic and scenic beauty of the Maramureș region. Travelling up north, overlooking the Ukrainian border, they were first guided within the Memorial to the Victims of Communism and to the Resistance, located in Sighetu Marmației. The museum, hosted in the former political prison of communist Romania, recounts the history of soviet rule in Romania and Central and Eastern Europe. Subsequently, they visited the so-called Merry Cemetery, where colourful gravestones playfully tell the lives of the deceased. Further moving across the region, they discovered some of the wooden churches and richly decorated high timber constructions included in the UNESCO World Heritage. The day ended with a pleasant dinner in a traditional house in a family atmosphere. 

Many thanks to Emeritus Prof. Petru Dunca and Profs. Daniela Dunca, Simion Belea and Vasile Cătălin Bobb for their amazingly warm hospitality!