Digital pre-panel I "Human Rights and Humanitarianism – a Complicated Relationship?", organized by Stacey Hynd, Fabian Klose, Johannes Paulmann, and Andrew Thompson in cooperation with the Volkswagen Foundation. The digital panel is part of next year's Herrenhausen Conference "Governing Humanitarianism – Past, Present and Future" (2022), funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. © North Coast at Lesbos, September 2015, by Rosa-Maria Rinkl via Wikimedia Commons In the last two decades, humanitarianism and human Rights have crystallized as two flourishing fields of research within various disciplines. Humanitarianism and human rights are often presented as opposing terms, and sometimes even as rival concepts. Despite the efforts to draw a clear line between them, the boundaries between aid, relief, and rights remain both blurred and complicated.Rather than highlighting the differences between humanitarianism and human rights, leading experts from political science, international law, and international history will focus on the manifold overlaps and links. When and how did these concepts compete and reinforce each other? In what ways did the emergence of humanitarian norms influence and contribute to the global emergence of international human rights law? And finally, how does this entwined history influence our landscape of international politics and crisis management today? Panel: Prof. Dr. Michael Barnett (Professor of International Affairs and Political Science, George Washington University, Washington DC); Prof. Dr. Julia Irwin (Professor of International History, University of South Florida, Tampa); Prof. Dr. Angelika Nußberger (Professor of International Law, University of Cologne, and former Vice President at the European Court of Human Rights in Straßbourg); Chair: Prof. Dr. Fabian Klose (Professor of International History and Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Cologne) Language: The digital conference language is English. Registration: A link to join the discussions will be published on the website https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/en/events/calendar-of-events/herrenhausen-conferences/herrenhausen-conference-governing-humanitarianism-past-present-and-future at the beginning of September 2021. Herrenhausen Conferences The Herrenhausen Conferences, organized by the Volkswagen Foundation at Herrenhausen Palace, a modern convention center, focus on scientific topics of high social impact that are of particular relevance to the present and future. The Herrenhausen Conferences address unanswered questions and unsolved problems and their relevance for society. They provide international experts as well as junior researchers with a platform for an intense interdisciplinary dialogue on exciting new areas of research and innovative methodological approaches.