季風人文講壇第72期：Kenneth Roth

Wrongs: Lessons for China from Three Decades of Battling Abusive Governments

Speaker: Kenneth Roth

Moderator: Yaqiu Wang, Can 

Date: Oct 3, 2025, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM EST

Kenneth Roth spent nearly three decades directing Human Rights Watch and building it into a powerful global institution with a staff of more than 500 working regularly in some 100 countries. His first book, Righting Wrongs, is part a memoir, part a history of Human Rights Watch and its role in the human rights movement. 
At a time when the world faces plenty of problems, from the rise of autocrats to the outbreak of highly abusive wars, Roth provides an insider’s view of how it is possible for a relatively small group of people, through persistence and creativity to move even the most powerful governments.  

About the Speaker

Kenneth Roth is the Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Until August 2022, he served for nearly three decades as the executive director of Human Rights Watch, one of the world’s leading international human rights organizations.

Yaqiu Wang, a Chinese human rights and democracy researcher and advocate, currently a fellow at the University of Chicago’s Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression. Previously, I served as Director for China Research at Freedom House, Senior China Researcher at Human Rights Watch, and Asia Researcher at the Committee to Protect Journalists. 

Can, a cultural organizer based in D.C. He previously lived in Hong Kong and contributed commentary to independent outlets, including Stand News, Citizen News, and InMediaHK, focusing on the city’s political transformation and social movements.