IR TALKS 13 – Minnesota’s efforts for remedy, accountability and reform in the midst of ongoing US federal operations

Date: 13 May 2026, 17:20-18:50 

Location: Corvinus University of Budapest, Building C, C.106 

Language of the event: English 

Invited guest Amanda Lyons, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center at the University of Minnesota Law School, will join us remotely from Minneapolis to share updates and reflections on the multi-faceted efforts by the people and institutions of Minnesota to intervene in and respond to ongoing impacts from federal operations in the state.  

In addition to the intensive and ongoing community organizing and mutual aid efforts in solidarity with the communities and individuals directly targeted by the federal operations, there are wide-ranging efforts for accountability and recovery. In addition to “hyper-local” efforts, the state’s governor has launched an innovative truth process by executive order, and MN civil society has come together to actively leverage international and regional human rights mechanisms in the advocacy, documentation, and reform efforts.  

Join this special session for a real-time update on the advocacy efforts in Minnesota and for a unique opportunity to dialogue with faculty and other graduate students from the University of Minnesota Law School as we consider together parallels and synergies between human rights and pro-democracy movements across diverse contexts. 

The talk will be moderated by Eszter Kirs (Department of International Relations, Institute of Global Studies, Corvinus University of Budapest). 

IR TALKS is a series of guest and roundtable talks organised by the Department of International Relations at Corvinus University to make sense of the world we live in at a time of turbulent international politics.