PJHR's 77th Annual Celebration for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Program

Keynote Address, Workshops, Awards Ceremony and Banquet
1 – 6 pm, Dec. 10 | Majestic Palm Room, Student Union (UN)

PJHR’s annual fall signature event brings together practitioners, academics, diplomats, politicians, teachers and others to raise awareness about and learn how to better advance the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The celebration will include art, keynote, breakout sessions, and will conclude with a hors d’oeuvres banquet and awards ceremony. Kenote address featuring Duilia Mora Turner,  Leadership, Human Security, and Foreign Affairs Advisor with a special interest in Latin America and the Caribbean. Registration required.

PROGRAM

• 1-1:30 pm: Welcome and Introduction, Angela D. Nichols, Director PJHR
• 1:30-1:50 pm: Mary Ellen Scherl, Artist, Filmmaker, Founder of Defending Democracy
• 1:50-2:20 pm: Keynote: Duilia Mora Turner, Leadership, Human Security, and Foreign Affairs Advisor with a special interest in Latin America and the Caribbean
• 2:20-2:30 pm: Coffee Break
• 2:30-3:15 pm: Workshop 1: The 30 Articles with Marquese McFerguson, PhD
• 3:15-4 pm: Workshop 2: Connecting the Dots: From the UDHR to Local Democracy with Gail Choate, PhD: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms the right to take part in government – but how does that promise hold up in everyday civic life? In this engaging workshop, Choate – a political scientist and grassroots educator – bridges global human rights frameworks with the lived realities of local democracy. Drawing on Article 21 and her fieldwork in the American South, she explores the gap between formal rights and actual voice, especially for communities historically pushed to the margins. Whether you’re a student, academic, or advocate, this session invites you to connect the dots between theory and practice – and to reimagine what democratic participation can look like when rooted in human dignity and collective action.

• 4-6 pm: Awards Reception
  
  

This event is free and open to the public.

More information available by email to fau.edu/pjhr or by calling 561-297-4801

---

BIOS

Mary Ellen Scherl received her BFA from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. After a 17-year career as an award-winning art director at premier advertising agencies, Leo Burnet Company (Chicago) and Young & Rubicam (New York), Mary Ellen began to pursue an inborn passion for painting, sculpting, photography, writing and filmmaking. She exhibits her art widely in the US and abroad and is in the permanent collection at Vanderbilt University (University Nashville, TN), NYU Langone Medical Center (NYC and Palm Beach, FL), the Contemporary Museum of Sculpture (Datong, China) and the Miami-Dade Military Museum. In the spring of 2024, her sculpture “The Ladder” was dedicated in front of the Clinical Center at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, MD. Mary Ellen gained national recognition for her first Social Art project, “Mamorial,” a nonprofit breast cancer initiative that offered healing and awareness through art. Her current endeavor, Defending Democracy: Portraits of U.S. Military Women on Canvas and Film, honors and recognizes the mission-critical contributions women make to the defense of our country and the sanctity of our nation.

 

---

 

Duilia "Dui" Mora Turner is a Leadership, Human Security, and Foreign Affairs Advisor with a special interest in Latin America and the Caribbean. As an international speaker and lecturer, she has collaborated with the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the Wilson Center, and the Special Operations Community. She is a senior fellow with Women in International Security (WIIS) and the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy. Duilia is also a contributing author and editor for multiple publications, including “Twenty Years, Twenty Stories: Women, Peace, and Security in the Western Hemisphere” and “Culture Shock: Leadership Lessons from the Military’s Diplomatic Corps.” All events are free and open to the public.

A retired Air Force Officer, Duilia held key positions in crisis response, STEM, human capital development, and global management. As a scientist, she supported shuttle missions at Cape Canaveral – including NASA’s STS-95 when Senator John Glenn returned to space—and served as the Chief Meteorologist for President Obama’s Air Force One. As a Foreign Affairs Officer, she promoted military diplomacy, worked on policy and strategy, and became the first Chief of the Women, Peace, and Security Program at the United States Southern Command.  Duilia has been deployed to Bosnia Herzegovina and Afghanistan. She has received four congressional recognitions and was selected as New America’s “2020 Latino National Security & Foreign Policy Next Generation Leader.” In 2023, NFL's Miami Dolphins named her "Local Legend" for her community work and in 2024, she was  selected for the prestigious Pat Tillman Scholar Program. Duilia is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and holds a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology, a Master of Business Administration, a Master in International Relations, and is a John Maxwell certified trainer and speaker. She is currently a doctoral student at Florida International University.  An avid mindfulness practitioner, Duilia has made a personal commitment to share wellness practices and adaptive yoga with veterans coping with trauma.

---

Marquese McFerguson, PhD,  is an Assistant Professor of Intercultural Communication within the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies at Florida Atlantic University. His research and teaching examine how individuals in society communicate and perform identity across a diverse number of cultural intersections. His scholarship is centered on building bridges of understanding across cultures by examining how identities are produced/portrayed by media makers and interpreted/performed by media audiences. His research about representation and media-created scripts is guided by aesthetic and narrative sensibilities and situated within the fields of Communication Studies and Media Studies. McFerguson is also an award-winning slam poet/storyteller and teaching artist who has performed at academic institutions and performance venues throughout the United States and United Kingdom.

 

 

---

 

Gail Choate, PhD, is a political scientist, educator, and civic troublemaker based in Little Rock, Arkansas. She founded Arkansas Civic Action Network to help everyday people build confidence to navigate democracy—from the voting booth to the statehouse. She taught at Broward College, Florida Atlantic University and the University of Arkansas Grantham, and now plays a key role in shaping Hendrix College’s bold Civic Action initiative where she links public scholarship with real-world organizing. With a PhD in Comparative Studies and years in the grassroots trenches, Choate brings political theory to life with clarity, humor, and a fierce respect for the communities she serves.