Courses

The Master of Human Rights and the graduate minor in human rights both draw expertise from across the university. Our core courses are:

  • GLOS 5403 Human Rights Advocacy (3 cr.)

    Theoretical basis of human rights movement. Organizations, strategies, tactics, programs. Advocacy: fact-finding, documentation, campaigns, trial observations. Forensic science. Human rights education, medical/psychological treatment. Research project or background for case study.

  • HIST 8245 Human Rights: A Global History (3 cr.)

    This course will focus on debates and social movements concerning human rights in the broadest sense, beginning with the seventeenth century and ending in the 1950s. Topics include colonization, slavery, torture, war crimes, rights to land, women's rights, sexual rights, and indigenous self-determination. The seminar will require a research or historiographical paper.

  • HIST 8910 Sec 002 Human Rights and Race (3 cr.)

  • LAW 6886 International Human Rights Law (3 cr.)

    Role of lawyers using procedures of the United Nations, Organization of American States, State Department, Congress, U.S. Courts, and nongovernmental organizations to address international human rights problems. Is there a law of international human rights? How is that law made, changed, and invoked? Problem method used.

  • PA 5885 Human Rights Policy: Issues and Actors (3 cr.)

    Politics of human rights issue emergence; relevant international, regional, and domestic norms; correlates of state repression; measurement of human rights abuse and remedies; human rights promotion by states, political parties, international organizations, NGOs, social movements, faith-based organizations, and providers of international development assistance.

  • SOC 8171 Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Human Rights (3 cr.)

    This seminar will approach human rights issues from a variety of "disciplinary" perspectives, including history, the arts, law, the social sciences, and praxis. Empirical work in the social sciences will receive somewhat greater emphasis. One key focus will be the unique advantages (and disadvantages) of the different perspectives and fruitful ways to combine them to strengthen action that improves human rights situations in countries around the world, including the United States.

Jointly offered by the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and the College of Liberal Arts, the interdisciplinary Master of Human Rights provides a grounding in diverse substantive and methodological approaches to the study and practice of human rights. Review the curriculum and approved courses for the Master of Human Rights. Please direct questions and requests about master's courses to [email protected].

The graduate minor in human rights provides students enrolled in any University of Minnesota graduate program (including professional schools) the opportunity to gain interdisciplinary expertise in the study of human rights laws, policy, and practice.  Review the requirements and approved courses for the graduate minor in human rights. Please direct questions and requests regarding qualifying graduate courses to [email protected].