ClassInfo

This course explores live debates and contemporary movements for women's human rights and gender equality globally and in the US, and builds practical communications skills.

We'll briefly cover foundational women's human rights principles and mechanisms, then we'll explore how advocates are deploying human rights to tackle new challenges and seize opportunities in today's world. We'll examine progress and emerging threats to gender equality in the areas of health rights, employment and economic rights, and natural resources and assets.

Throughout the course, we'll do short exercises to deepen your knowledge about gender equality and women's human rights, and to sharpen your ability to communicate about these issues. We'll practice project planning; advocacy writing; media and social media communications; presentation skills; and writing for donors. We'll also reflect on stress and burnout in the human rights profession, and ways to foster resilience and wellbeing.

There are no prerequisites. This class is designed to complement, not duplicate, other classes on gender, public policy, and human rights. I encourage you to take other courses on these topics in the Humphrey School, the Law School, CLA, and other schools and colleges.

This course qualifies as an elective for the Master of Human Rights and the Human Rights Graduate Minor at the U, as well as the Global Public Policy and the Gender and Public Policy Concentrations at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

The syllabus in Google Docs is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18W9s0zUmWH_Mkx6ED4Tt95Q70pnqUI-8UPQ5EekeJrk/edit?usp=sharing

And a video intro describing the course is here:

The goals of this course are for students to deepen their understanding of contemporary women's human rights topics, debates, and advocacy strategies, and to hone practical communications skills needed in the human rights field.

By reading and discussing diverse materials, doing exercises to hone practical communications skills, and participating in other activities, you'll improve your ability to:

• Apply human rights principles to current debates on gender and women's rights.

• Analyze gender and human rights problems, and design strategies to address them.

• Operate as versatile, confident, informed advocates for gender equality and women's rights.

• Produce compelling written materials in a variety of formats and for different audiences.

• Speak succinctly and persuasively about gender and human rights issues.

• Recognize distinctive barriers to realization of women's human rights and gender equality for marginalized groups.

• Understand stress and resilience in the human rights field and develop wellbeing practices.

Seminar style. Class meets on Mondays 11:15-12:30 for the full semester.