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.