Human Rights (BA)
The field of concentration in Human Rights gives students an understanding of the legal instruments, norms, and institutions that constitute contemporary human rights law, as well as the social movements, cultural practices, and literary and artistic representations that have and continue to imagine the human rights ethic in various ways. In recent years, the human rights dimensions of many of the most vexing and pertinent issues at the global, national, and local level have gained prominence - including the problems of environmental deterioration, economic inequality, and ethnic and religious conflict. Students who major in Human Rights will be better equipped not only to understand the complex nature of these and other issues, but also to develop and pursue novel approaches toward a better world. In addition to studying the manifold histories, theories, and practices of human rights in a systematic and comprehensive manner, students majoring in Human Rights will also develop more specialized methodological and topical expertise in a second discipline.
Requirements
To complete the Major in Human Rights, students are required to complete an additional, primary major offered in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences or an additional degree program offered in another University School or College. For students completing a double major within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, a minimum of 48 credits without overlap is required to earn both majors and students will receive one degree appropriate to their primary major.
For students completing a dual degree, all requirements for each degree must be met and at least 18 unique additional credits more than the degree with the higher minimum-credit requirement must be completed (e.g. School of Nursing and CLAS, CLAS requires 120 credits to graduate, 120 + 18 = 138 credits to graduate with both degrees) and students will receive a Bachelor of Arts in Human Rights along with another degree appropriate to their second program. All 18 credits for the additional degree must be at the 2000 level or higher.
It is recommended that Human Rights majors declare their primary major by the end of their third semester.
Recommended Course
HRTS 1007 Introduction to Human Rights
Requirements for the Major in Human Rights
Undergraduate majors must complete a total of 36 credits: nine credits of core courses with at least one course in each of groups A, B and C; 12 credits of elective courses from the lists of core courses (A, B and C) or elective courses; 12 credits of related courses as approved by the Director of the Human Rights Major; and HRTS 4291 Service Learning Seminar/Internship or HRTS 4996W Senior Thesis.
Core Courses
A. Institutions and Laws
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ANTH/HRTS 3028 | Indigenous Rights and Aboriginal Australia | 3 |
| or ANTH 3028W | Indigenous Rights and Aboriginal Australia | |
| or HRTS 3028W | Indigenous Rights and Aboriginal Australia | |
| ANTH/HRTS 3230 | Propaganda, Disinformation, and Hate Speech | 3 |
| or ANTH 3230W | ||
| or HRTS 3230W | ||
| BADM/BLAW/MKTG/HRTS 3252 | Business and Human Rights | 3 |
| HIST/HRTS 3202 | International Human Rights | 3 |
| HRTS 3050 | Approaches to Human Rights Advocacy | 3 |
| HRTS 3055 | Theory and Practice of International Criminal Justice | 3 |
| HRTS 3200/3200W | 3 | |
| HRTS/POLS 3212 | Comparative Perspectives on Human Rights | 3 |
| HRTS 3420 | Being International: Geopolitics and Human Rights | 3 |
| HRTS 3428 | The Politics of Torture | 3 |
| HRTS/SOCI 2800 | Human Rights in the United States | 3 |
| HRTS/SOCI 2845/HRTS 2845W/SOCI 2845W | Sociology of Global Human Rights | 3 |
B. History, Philosophy, and Theory
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ANTH/HRTS 3326 | Global Health and Human Rights | 3 |
| ANTH/HRTS/LLAS 3327 | Power and Health in Latin America and the Caribbean | 3 |
| DMD/HRTS 3828 | Social Documentary in Theory and Practice | 3 |
| DRAM/HEJS/HRTS 2203 | The Holocaust in Print, Theater, and Film | 3 |
| ECON 3128 | ||
| ENGR/HRTS 2300 | 3 | |
| ENGL 3631W | Literature, Culture, and Humanitarianism | 3 |
| or HRTS 3631W | Literature, Culture, and Humanitarianism | |
| HIST/HRTS 3201 | The History of Human Rights | 3 |
| HIST/HRTS 3207 | Genocide after the Second World War | 3 |
| HIST/HRTS 3232 | History of Refugees, Migration, and Statelessness | 3 |
| HRTS 2100/2100W | Human Rights and Social Change | 3 |
| HRTS 2200 | Introduction to Genocide Studies | 3 |
| HRTS/LLAS 2450 | Human Rights in Latin America | 3 |
| HRTS/POLS 3042 | Theories of Human Rights | 3 |
| HRTS 3149 | Human Rights Through Film | 3 |
| or HRTS 3149W | Human Rights through Film | |
| HRTS/PHIL 3220/HRTS 3220W/PHIL 3220W | 3 | |
| HRTS 3460 | Human Rights and Armed Conflict | 3 |
| HRTS 3710 | 3 | |
C. Applications and Methods
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BADM/BLAW/HRTS/MKTG 3254/ | Social Responsibility and Accountability in Business | 3 |
| DMD/HRTS 3640 | Human Rights Archives I: Documenting and Curating Community Memory | 3 |
| DMD/HRTS 3641 | Human Rights Archives II: Visual Storytelling Practices | 3 |
| DRAM/HRTS 2150 | Devising Theatre for Social Justice I | 3 |
| DRAM/HRTS 3139 | Theatre and Human Rights | 3 |
| ENGR/HRTS 3257 | Assessment for Human Rights and Sustainability | 3 |
| HRTS 2400 | Ethics and Sustainability in New Financial Technologies | 3 |
| HRTS 3250/3250W | 3 | |
| HRTS 3401 | Applied Research in Human Rights | 3 |
| HRTS 3475 | Economic Development and Human Rights | 3 |
| HRTS 3540 | Topics in Human Rights Practice | 3 |
| POLS/HRTS 3256/POLS 3256W/HRTS 3256W | Politics and Human Rights in Global Supply Chains | 3 |
| POLS/HRTS 3430 | Evaluating Human Rights Practices of Countries | 3 |
| SOCI/HRTS 3835/SOCI 3835W/HRTS 3835W | 3 |
D. Elective Courses
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Any HRTS course numbered 2000 or above | 3 | |
| AAAS/HRTS/SOCI 2220 | Asian Indian Women: Activism and Social Change in India and the United States | 3 |
| AFRA/HRTS/SOCI 2520 | White Racism | 3 |
| AFRA/HRTS/SOCI 2530 | African Americans and Social Protest | 3 |
| ANTH/HRTS 3153W | 3 | |
| ANTH 3150/3150W | Migration | 3 |
| ANTH/WGSS 3350 | Anthropological Perspectives on Women | 3 |
| ARTH/HRTS 2210 | Art and Activism | 3 |
| ARTH/HRTS 3575 | Human Rights, Digital Media, Visual Culture | 3 |
| ARTH/HRTS 3580 | Image as Witness: Testimony, Witness, Confession | 3 |
| or ARTH 3580W | Image as Witness: Testimony, Witness, Confession | |
| or HRTS 3580W | Image as Witness: Testimony, Witness, Confession | |
| ECON 2120 | Honors Core: Rights and Harms | 3 |
| ECON 3473/3473W | Economic Development | 3 |
| ECON 2445/HRTS 3445/WGSS 3445 | Economic Foundations of Gender Inequality | 3 |
| EDCI 2100 | Power, Privilege, and Public Education | 3 |
| EDCI 3100W | Multicultural Education, Equity and Social Justice | 3 |
| ENGL/HRTS 3619 | Topics in Literature and Human Rights | 3 |
| ENGL 3629 | Holocaust Memoir | 3 |
| GEOG 2400E | Introduction to Sustainable Cities | 3 |
| GEOG 3240 | Health Geography: Connecting People, Place, and Health | 3 |
| HDFS 3251 | Biotechnology, Disability and the Family | 3 |
| HIST 2103W | Biography as History: Individuals in their Times | 3 |
| HIST 2570 | American Indian History | 3 |
| HIST/AAAS 3531 | Japanese Americans and World War II | 3 |
| HIST/WGSS 3562 | History of Women and Gender in the United States, 1850-Present | 3 |
| HIST/HRTS/AFRA 3563 | African American History to 1865 | 3 |
| HIST 2456 | Power and Resistance: History of Eastern Europe | 3 |
| HIST 3418 | The Holocaust | 3 |
| LLAS/HRTS 3221/HIST 3575 | Latinos/as and Human Rights | 3 |
| LLAS 3271/POLS 3834 | Immigration and Transborder Politics | 3 |
| NRE 2600E | Global Sustainable Natural Resources | 3 |
| NURS 3225 | Ethical Ways of Knowing | 3 |
| PHIL/HRTS 2170W | Bioethics and Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspective | 3 |
| PHIL/HRTS 3219/PHIL 3219W/HRTS 3219W | 3 | |
| PHIL 2215/2215W | Ethics | 3 |
| PHIL 3218 | Feminist Theory | 3 |
| POLS/ENGR/HRTS 3209 | Sustainable Energy in the 21st Century | 3 |
| POLS 3211 | 3 | |
| or POLS 3211W | ||
| POLS 3214 | Comparative Social Policy | 3 |
| or POLS 3214W | ||
| POLS 3240E | 3 | |
| POLS/WGSS 3249 | Gender Politics and Islam | 3 |
| POLS/HRTS 3418/POLS 3418W | International Organizations and Law | 3 |
| POLS 3672/WGSS 3052 | Women and Politics | 3 |
| POLS/HRTS 3807 | Constitutional Rights and Liberties | 3 |
| SOCI/HRTS 2830/SOCI 2830W/HRTS 2830W | Class, Power, and Inequality | 3 |
| SOCI 2503/2503W | Prejudice and Discrimination | 3 |
| SOCI 2898 | Topics in Sociology and Human Rights | 3 |
| WGSS/HRTS 2263 | Women, Gender, and Violence | 3 |
| WGSS 2255 | LGBTQ Sexualities, Activism, and Globalization | 3 |
| or WGSS 2255W | LGBTQ Sexualities, Activism, and Globalization | |
| WGSS 3105 | The Politics of Reproduction | 3 |
| or WGSS 3105W | The Politics of Reproduction | |
| WGSS 3257 | Feminist Disability Studies | 3 |
| or WGSS 3257W | Feminist Disability Studies | |
| WGSS 3269 | Gender, Sexuality, and Social Movements | 3 |
| or WGSS 3269W | Gender, Sexuality, and Social Movements | |
E. Related Courses
A minimum of 12 credits of related courses (2000 level or above) must be approved by the director of the Human Rights major.
F. Capstone Course
HRTS 4291 Service Learning Seminar/Internship or HRTS 4996W Senior Thesis
Information Literacy and Writing Requirements
The following courses satisfy the Information Literacy Competency and Writing in the Major requirements:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ANTH/HRTS 3028W | Indigenous Rights and Aboriginal Australia | 3 |
| ANTH/HRTS 3153W | 3 | |
| ANTH/HRTS 3230W | 3 | |
| ANTH 3150W | Migration | 3 |
| ARTH 3575W | 3 | |
| ECON 3473W | Economic Development | 3 |
| EDCI 3100W | Multicultural Education, Equity and Social Justice | 3 |
| HRTS 2100W | Human Rights and Social Change | 3 |
| HIST 2103W | Biography as History: Individuals in their Times | 3 |
| HRTS 3149W | Human Rights through Film | 3 |
| HRTS 3200W | International Human Rights Law | 3 |
| HRTS 3250W | Human Rights and New Technologies | 3 |
| HRTS 4996W | Senior Thesis | 3 |
| HRTS/PHIL 2170W | Bioethics and Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspective | 3 |
| HRTS/PHIL 3219W | Topics in Philosophy and Human Rights | 3 |
| HRTS/PHIL 3220W | Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights | 3 |
| PHIL 2215W | Ethics | 3 |
| POLS 3211W | 3 | |
| POLS 3214W | ||
| POLS/HRTS 3256W | Politics and Human Rights in Global Supply Chains | 3 |
| POLS 3418W | International Organizations and Law | 3 |
| SOCI 2503W | 3 | |
| SOCI 2830W | 3 | |
| SOCI/HRTS 2845W | 3 | |
| SOCI/HRTS 3835W | 3 | |
| WGSS 2255W | LGBTQ Sexualities, Activism, and Globalization | 3 |
| WGSS 3105W | The Politics of Reproduction | 3 |
| WGSS 3257W | Feminist Disability Studies | 3 |
| WGSS 3269W | Gender, Sexuality, and Social Movements | 3 |
Human Rights and Sustainability Specialization in Multidisciplinary Engineering
A Multidisciplinary Engineering major with a specialization in Human Rights and Sustainability is open to those enrolled in the College of Engineering. The program draws substantively on the courses offered through the Human Rights Institute, but the requirements are tailored to Engineering.
A minor in Human Rights is described in the “Minors” section.
University General Education Requirements
Every student must meet a set of core requirements to earn a baccalaureate degree, in addition to those required by the student's major course of study and other requirements set by the student's school or college. For more information about these requirements, please see General Education Requirements.
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Degree Requirements
Students must meet a set of requirements established by the college in addition to the University's General Education requirements. For more information, see the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences section of this catalog.
4+1 Accelerated Master of Arts in Human Rights
The Master’s Degree in Human Rights requires the completion of 30 credit hours of graduate coursework, up to 12 of which can be earned during the student’s senior year. Up to 12 credits of approved graduate coursework included on the student’s undergraduate plan of study can also be used toward both the B.A. and M.A. plans of study.