Fall 2020  |  GLOS 3401W Section 001: International Human Rights Law (14570)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
Completely Online
Class Attributes:
UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
Online Course
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
09/08/2020 - 12/16/2020
Off Campus
Virtual Rooms ONLINEONLY
Enrollment Status:
Closed (50 of 50 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
This course presents an introductory overview of the idea of human rights, its social and legal foundations and contemporary global issues. In the class, students will learn about the laws and procedures designed to protect the human rights of individuals and groups, with a special focus on the United Nations system. The course explores the conceptual underpinnings of human rights such as who is eligible to have rights, where those rights come from and who is responsible for guaranteeing them. Students will learn about how international laws are made and interpreted, and will consider the geo-political context which shapes human rights laws and procedures. Because of the evolving nature of the laws and issues in this field, students are encouraged to think analytically and ethically about how to address the many human rights challenges in the world today. The course will cover current human rights issues, including the right to health care, housing and other economic and social rights; and the right to life, freedom from torture and other civil and political rights. The course is writing intensive. The required paper for the class is a model complaint to the United Nations about a country and issue of the student's choosing. The class invites discussion and uses class exercises to engage students in the course material by shaping arguments for various legal fora.
Class Notes:
**UPDATE as of 9/2/20: This course is completely online in an asynchronous format. There are no scheduled meeting times.
Class Description:
In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights called on the world's nations to respect the "inherent dignity and "the equal inalienable rights" of all people. But while the declaration helped globalize human rights, the world continues to experience genocide, torture, slavery, economic destitution, and the wide-scale displacement of people. Is it possible to reduce - or to bring an end - to these gross violations of human rights? The course seeks to imagine new strategies to address current-day human rights challenges around the globe specifically involving wide-scale violence against individuals and groups. In the process of conceptualizing unique strategies, students examine the complex social forces that impede human rights. Students are anticipated to write a strategy paper on a contemporary human rights challenge, participate (among various possible roles) in a press conference (with salient human rights issues), and represent a nation-state in a simulation of the United Nations Security Council.

Who Should Take This Class?:
Any student who is interested in discussing human rights, with a focus on questions of wide-scale violence against individuals and groups. This includes the topics of genocide, torture, economic destitution, and the displacement of peoples worldwide. Students are expected to participate in various experiential activities while also completing writing tasks (related to these experiential tasks).

Students interested in the law, policy, ethics, global politics, and the sociology and psychology of violence (and other related areas) may find this course helpful.
Learning Objectives:
Identify (and define) a human rights problem.
Analyze the multiple challenges in a particular human rights context.
Devise strategies to address human rights challenges.

Related Learning Objectives
Explore the complex and varying meanings of human rights.
Examine the differences in how human rights are strategically addressed through global policy, at an international level; through state laws, at the national level; through adjudication, at the judicial level; and through activism, at the individual level .
Write and communicate effectively about human rights questions and issues.

Grading:
30% Participation (includes attendance and general participation)
20% Press Conferences (Simulation) (*the written component is revised based on feedback)
20% Strategy Memo (class discussion of memo ideas, the sharing of comments, and grading based on honor).
30% Simulation of the United Nations General Security Council

*The grading scheme may change. All written documentation may be revised. Furthermore, the instructor intends to consult the students at the beginning of the course.
Exam Format:
There are NO exams in the course.
Class Format:
The course is discussion-based and includes writing. The course includes lectures, blogs, activities, and in-class discussion.
There are no textbooks in the course. All readings are anticipated to be available on Canvas.
Workload:
20-30 Pages Reading per Week (excluding the last two weeks & the final week wrap-up & other periods with simulation exercises and the memo)
Multiple Press Conferences (Simulation)
1 Strategy Memo
1 United Nations General Security Council Simulation

*The specifics of the workload may change.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/14570/1209
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
3 March 2020

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