Course Description
Advanced study of international human rights research, measurement, education, media, and practice with a faculty-mentored independent research component.
Athena Title
Human Rights Research
Non-Traditional Format
A minimum of 135 hours of research work is required.
Prerequisite
Permission of department
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
In this course, students will: (1) learn research tools used in both the study of human rights in academic and practitioner settings, (2) have the opportunity to serve as research assistants for human rights measurement projects, including the Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) and the Sub-National Analysis of Repression Project (SNARP), (3) will work on various public-facing projects, including data visualization, blog posts, and other materials, (4) will have the opportunity to produce educational and journalistic work on human rights for a public audience, and (5) will conduct their own independent research on human rights, (6) students will present results in writing and in other communication formats, (7) students will receive feedback from the faculty mentor on their research progress and written, oral, or digital presentation of results or key products. Students should expect to learn about human rights education, the communication of scientific findings to the public, and the conduct of quantitative social scientific research.
Topical Outline
This is a seminar/lab/directed study course that builds on students’ previous coursework to enable them to acquire real- world experience with conducting human rights research, working with human rights practitioners, collecting human rights data, presenting scientific findings to the public, producing human rights educational materials, and/or producing media products that explore human rights issues. As such, the topics explored should be expected to change according to the projects that students are working on or producing in any given semester.
Syllabus