This is a 1.5 credit, half-semester course (meeting from Jan. 17 to March 13).
This course will familiarize you with core principles and techniques for human rights fact-finding, focusing especially on interviews.
You'll learn practical skills, such as: planning and preparing for fact-finding interviews; navigating ethical and security challenges; tailoring interviews for specific populations; conducting remote interviews; minimizing the risk of retraumatization and vicarious trauma; and adapting fact-finding approaches for restricted or challenging locations.
This seminar uses role-play simulations as a learning tool. Most weeks, you will "learn by doing" as we spend one class session discussing topics and techniques, and the other doing role play exercises in pairs of students. After many shorter practice sessions in class, you'll do a full, in-depth mock interview with me based on a hypothetical scenario.