Susan Perry
Professor, Program Director MAs in International Affairs
- Department: History and Politics
- Graduate Program(s): International Affairs, International Affairs, Conflict Resolution and Civil Society Development, Diplomacy and International Law
- Office:G-L18
- Office Hours:By Appointment
Susan H. Perry is a specialist in international human rights law and digital technology. She holds the US-UNESCO Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights at the American University of Paris with Professor Claudia Roda. As an award-winning tenured professor, Dr. Perry teaches in and directs several of the university鈥檚 graduate programs. She serves on the French National Council for Human Rights (CNCDH) and was named Vice President of the Sub-Commission on International Humanitarian Law and Humanitarian Aid. As a member of the European Union鈥檚 Advisory Panel for SHERPA, Dr. Perry contributed to the legal framework for the Artificial Intelligence Act. She was recently named to the Advisory Board for AIOLIA,聽the 2025-27 Horizon Europe project on AI ethics in human cognition and behavior.
Professor Perry has published over twenty articles and monographs in three languages, and appears frequently on European media outlets. Both scholar and activist, her research focuses on vulnerable populations 鈥� especially women and children 鈥� whose rights are violated by the State or industry, often in breach of legal conventions. Her publications analyze the nexus between digital technology and human rights, culminating in a series of books:聽Illusion Pixel聽in French (Lemieux Editions 2015);聽Human Rights and Digital Technology聽(Palgrave 2017); and an upcoming monograph on the impact of artificial intelligence on higher education.
Dr. Perry received her PhD from the聽Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales聽(University of Paris) and her LLM in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University. She completed her BA in Semiotics at Brown University and an MA in Chinese Studies at Yale University.
Education/Degrees
- MSt in International Human Rights Law, with distinction (2007), Oxford University
- Doctorat in Chinese Studies, mention tr猫s honorable (1998), Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
- DEA in Chinese Studies (1990), Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
- MA in East Asian Studies (1985), Yale University
- Yale-China Fellow, Hunan, China (1985-87)
- BA in Semiotics (1982), Minor in Chinese History, Brown University
Publications
Perry S. & Roda C. (2017) Human Rights and Digital Technology: digital tightrope. Londone: Palgrave Macmillan.
Perry S. (2015 ) Iluusion pixel. Paris: Lemieux Editions.
Perry, S., Roda, C. (2014) Teaching Privacy by Design to Non-Technical Audiences. Cyber Security and Privacy (CSP) Forum 2014. Springer CCIS Series, Vol. 470.
Perry, S., Roda, C. (2014) Privacy-by-Design Curriculum. Selected by the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) for the Roadmap for NIS Education Programmes in Europe.
Roda, C., Perry, S. (2014) Mobile Phone Infrastructure Regulation in Europe: Scientific Challenges and Human Rights Protection. Environmental Science and Policy 37(2014) 204-214. Impact Factor: 3.514/5; 5-Year Impact Factor: 3.948/5.
Perry S., Roda C., Paper on Conceptualizing and Contextualizing the Changing Nature of Internet Usage in China. China and the New Internet World: The Eleventh Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC11) - Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford, June 2013.
Perry et al. (2012) Submission to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child for the General Comment on the Rights of the Child and the Business Sector.
Perry (2011) 鈥淐hild Soldiers: the pursuit of peace or justice for child combatants?鈥� in Gardner and Kobtzeff (eds), The Ashgate Research Companion to War: Origins and Prevention, London: Ashgate Press.
Perry (2008) 鈥淧eine de mort: reformer plutot qu鈥檃bolir鈥�, Hommes et Libert茅s, Paris: Ligue des droits de l鈥檋omme, no. 142.
Perry (2006) 鈥淟egal Parameters of the Headscarf Issue in France and in Europe鈥�, Oxford: Oxford University Monographs.
Lionnel et al. (2004) Signs special issue on "Development Cultures: New Environments, New Realities, New Strategies", Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Winter, vol. 29, no.2.
Perry (2004) "L鈥檃bolition de la peine de mort en Chine", Etudes, May.
Perry (2003) "La vie associative en Chine", Etudes, October.
Conferences & Lectures
- 'Valuing Privacy through Privacy by Design', paper presented at the Amsterdam Privacy Conference 2015, 23-26 October.
- Panelist, IPEN Workshop 2015, Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and ICT, Catholic University of Leuven, 5 June 2015.
- Digital Tightrope: human rights and digital technology, Visiting Scholar, University of California at Riverside, 4 March 2015.
- Introduction to Privacy by Design, Institute of Distributed Systems, University of Ulm, Germany, 9 March 2015.
- Panelist (with PRIPARE partners) on Privacy-by-design Issues: requirements for training material, for Cyber Security & Privacy Forum, Athens, 21-22 May 2014.
- Working Group on Implementation of the Obligations: Different Instruments, member, Conference on General Comment on the Rights of the Child and the Business Sector, United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, IDE, Sion, Switzerland, October 2012.
- Sustainable Development of the Global Commons, organizer and moderator of the Annual President鈥檚 Conference for the Advancement of Scholarship, The American University of Paris, Cercle de l鈥橴nion Interalli茅, May 2010.
- 鈥淒emobilizing Child Soldiers in Central Africa鈥�, keynote speaker, UNICEF/US State Department Conference on Child Soldiers, Njamena, Chad, June 2010.
- 鈥淭he Cultural Dimension of Conflict鈥�, respondant, Bertelsmann Foundation Panel Discussion, The American University of Paris, September 2010.
- 鈥淜illing the chicken to scare the monkey: policy drivers for the death penalty in China鈥�, Scholar in Residence Address, University of California at Riverside, March 2009.
- Aspen Institute Cultural Diplomacy Forum, moderator, Paris, November 2008.
- Roundtable: Chinese Criminal Procedure Law, Human Rights Law Center, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China, March 2008.
- 鈥淗eadscarves and human rights鈥�, plenary address, 14th International Conference on Learning. University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, June 26-29, 2007.
- 鈥淧arliamentary practice: training elected women representatives from Afghanistan鈥�, plenary address, Vital Voices initiative, hosted by the US Mission to the OECD, June 2006.
- "Law and dissidence in China ", The Role of the (Public) Intellectual, China Center, University of California at Berkeley, April 3-4, 2004
- "Strengthening the role of the defense lawyer in death penalty cases", Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, January 8-9, 2004.
- "Women Practicing Development Across Cultures", International Women's Day 2002, UNESCO March 8.
- "Quelques ambigu茂t茅s politiques: les femmes et le ch么mage en Chine,鈥� Aspects de la Protection Sociale en Chine, OECD, June 2001.
- Roundtable facilitator for "Gendered Political Economy of Peace and Reconstruction," Women Waging Peace Research Track Symposium, Harvard University, November 2000.
- Co-organizer (1998-2000) of the French Senate conference series on "Women, Culture and Development Practices", with funding from UNESCO, French Foreign Ministry, OECD and the Asia Foundation.
- "Nu Shu: Women Poets of Hunan," Keynote Speaker, UCLA February 1996.聽
Affiliations
- Editorial Board, Centre Chine, EHESS
- International Political Science Association (IPSA)
- Association Fran莽aise des Sciences Politiques (AFSP)
- Yale-China Association聽
Research Areas
- Researcher, Reinforcing the Role of defense Lawyers in Death Penalty Cases in China, 鈧�588,000, European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights, European Commission (2003-2006)
- Institutional Partner and Researcher, PRIPARE, 鈧�1.1M grant, European Commission, (2013-2015).
- International Law
- Gender
- Civil Society
- France
- Human rights
- Women's rights
- Children's rights
- Environmental regulation
- Governance in China
- Digital knowledge
- Global public policy