HRTS - Human Rights

Course Descriptions

 

HRTS 1100 Introduction to Human Rights (3)

Introduces students to the philosophic and political background of the concept of human rights. Discusses important documents as part of the history of the development of human rights theories. Examines important issues in current political and ethical debates about human rights. Reviews core legal documents and the work of the most important governmental and nongovernmental institutions currently involved in human rights protection and promotion. Examines at least one current problem area in human rights protection. GCP Coding: (SSHB) (ETH).

HRTS 2086 Topics in Human Rights (3)

Study of text or topic in a special area of human rights. Contents and methodology at an introductory level. May be repeated for credit if content differs.

HRTS 2500 Current Problems in Human Rights (3)

At any given time, there are approximately 20 million refugees, 30 wars of various sizes and scores of governments violating citizens' rights with varying degrees of brutality. This course will review current areas of concern to human rights advocates, paying special attention to obtaining current information, evaluating sources and understanding the actions of violators in terms of current human rights standards. GCP Coding: (GLBL) (INTC).

HRTS 2800 Methods of Inquiry (3)

A general introduction to the methods and analysis used to examine human rights abuses, as well as a resource for sources, databases and other material on human rights. Students will learn to analyze and conduct research and to write effective policy briefs and research proposals. Prerequisite: HRTS 2500.

HRTS 3051 Religion and Human Rights (3)

Advanced study of the philosophic and political background of the concept of human rights and the relationship of human rights to religion. Examines important issues in current religious debates about human rights. Reviews the work of the most important governmental and nongovernmental institutions currently involved in human rights protection and promotion. Examines several current problem areas in human rights and religion. 

HRTS 3080 Advanced Topics in Human Rights (3)

Upper-level study of influential text(s) or topic(s) in a special area of international human rights. May be repeated for credit if content differs.

HRTS 3160 Human Rights in Film: Documentaries (3)

This course uses documentary film to explore serious human rights concerns. By viewing (and reading and writing about) the films and the issues depicted in them, students will gain a broader understanding of global human rights challenges. Each film will be discussed in terms of the human rights issues raised; relevant international human rights standards; appropriate historical, theoretical and political backgrounds; and the methods used by the filmmakers to get their messages across. May be repeated for credit if content differs.

HRTS 3170 Human Rights in Film: Narrative Films (3)

This course uses narrative film to explore serious human rights concerns. By viewing (and reading and writing about) the films and the issues depicted in them, students will gain a broader understanding of global human rights challenges. Each film will be discussed in terms of the human rights issues raised; relevant international human rights standards; appropriate historical, theoretical and political backgrounds; and the methods used by the filmmakers to get their messages across. May be repeated for credit if content differs.

HRTS 3200 Human Rights Area Studies (1-3)

Examines the conditions in selected countries during a specific time period. (An example might be the conditions in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay in the 1960s and 1970s that led to the human rights abuses of the 1970s and 1980s.) Investigates the impact of human rights abuses on the politics and society in the countries selected. The approach may vary from semester to semester, ranging from the historical to the literary. May be repeated once for credit, when subject matter varies.

HRTS 3210 Prejudice and Discrimination (3)

Focus of the course will be on the essential features of stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination. Examines inter-group relations as they pertain to such socially defined boundaries as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, ethnicity, ability, appearance and socioeconomic status. We will look at how standards regarding international human rights discrimination and violations are handled by the international community. Addresses impact on life in the U.S. and elsewhere and what measures, if any, can be taken to reduce stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination. Cross-listed with PSYC 3650.

HRTS 3340 Global Ethics (3)

This class examines a number of ethical issues that call for international analysis and global perspectives. Students will have the opportunity to explore pressing issues such as global poverty and distribution of wealth, consumption and environmental degradation, working conditions worldwide and global health challenges. This course delves deeply into the work of influential ethical philosophers from diverse backgrounds, with particular attention paid to the voices of thinkers from underrepresented groups. Special emphasis is placed on the concepts of agency, power, privilege, oppression, coercion and consent, and students use moral theories to develop their own positions on specific issues. Cross-listed with PHIL 3340. 

HRTS 3400 Human Rights and the Environment (3)

A clean environment, safe from human-created hazards, has increasingly been argued to be a human right. This course examines the arguments and the status of environmental rights under the present international framework.

HRTS 3500 International Human Rights Law (3)

Briefly introduces the idea of international law and examines the development of international human rights law from its origins through successive generations of thinking and institutionalization to the present. Examines conventions, monitoring, conformity and violation, attempts at enforcement and current controversies.

HRTS 3590 Theories of Human Rights (3)

Examines the historical development of theories of human rights and their relation to civil liberties, international law, social organization, and different conceptions of community, individualism, and the state. Also examines the most significant human rights documents in their historical context. May focus on specific cases and questions of current concern. Cross-listed with PHIL 3590 and POLT 3590. Prerequisite: POLT 1070 or PHIL 2300.

HRTS 3600 Topics in Mass Violence (3)

Examines the nature of evil and its impact on victims and perpetrators; differences between genocide, democide, ethnocide and other forms of mass violence; the interaction of psychological, sociological, cultural, and/or political roots of evil, human cruelty, mass violence and genocide; Staub's theory of evil and the application of this theory to the perpetration of genocide and mass violence in Nazi Germany, Turkey, Cambodia and Argentina; the nature of bystander behavior and the impact of bystander behavior on the perpetration of genocide; the interrelationship between genocide and war; and the question of what can be done to prevent human cruelty, mass violence and genocide.

HRTS 3700 Human Rights and Business (3)

Human rights standards are often incorporated into the civil law of nations, but not always -- and often incompletely. Business practice is generally required to conform to national law, but businesses operating internationally are also under pressure to conform to international human rights standards. The course examines conformity of national and international business with relevant human rights standards and the pressures leading toward greater conformity or increased violation.

HRTS 4500 Human Rights Field Experience (3)

For students undertaking travel and research into a specific human rights topic or area through direct contact with the material or people studied, outside academic confines, or students undertaking experience working in an organization whose mission includes work in the area of international human rights. Requires prior and follow-up consultation with an appropriate faculty member approved by the director of the human rights program or a site academic director. The student must prepare a portfolio, to include an advance description of the intended field and/ or work experience and, whichever is appropriate: either a projected itinerary, documentation of the travel and experiences, and a summary of and formal reflection on those experiences; or a description of the projected work experience and a summary of and formal reflection on the work experience. Prerequisites: HRTS 1100, HRTS 2800 and approval of the director of the human rights program or the site academic director.

HRTS 4600 Overview (3)

A critical examination of a text, a theme, or a current problem in international human rights. Each student writes a paper reflecting significant mastery of the methods and content of the chosen area, and an ability to evaluate the evidence and assumptions in light of criteria relevant to human rights. Prerequisites: HRTS 2800 or INTL 2700 or ANSO 2850; and advanced standing.