Students from universities in Singapore, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States sat around a table in the ballroom of the Student Union last week in an animated discussion. At various points, heads shook, eyebrows were raised, and hands pointed to the sky.

The students, among 87 from 19 colleges and universities in 12 nations, were working on their group project in the Universitas 21 Summer School held for the first time at UConn. The project: to negotiate an international human rights treaty to be followed by the five fictitious nations represented by the students. More…