Course addresses the history of humanitarianism and human rights in U.S. history. Topics include cases of humanitarian intervention and the impact of international law and concepts of human rights on American foreign policy.
Athena Title
Humanitarianism in U.S.
Pre or Corequisite
One course in HIST or POLS or INTL or JURI or LEGL or CURO or EDUC or ESOC or LLED or GPST or SOCI or SOWK
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
At the end of the course, the student will be able to understand the shifting meaning of key concepts including humanitarianism and human rights.
At the end of the course, the student will be able to chart the evolution, from the 18th century to the present, of American involvement in cases of humanitarian intervention around the world.
At the end of the course, the student will be able to assess the importance of global order in American foreign policy.
Topical Outline
1. The Case for and Against Humanitarian Intervention Today
2. The Long History of Human Rights
3. Human Rights in the American Revolution
4. The Origins of Humanitarianism
5. Case Study: The Mistreatment of Prisoners of War, 1750-1800
6. Early American Contributions to the Study of International Law
7. Case Study: American Reactions to Intervention in Greece in the 1820s
8. Case Study: American Support for the Italian Risorgimento
9. Humanitarian Intervention in the Global Age of Empire, 1850-1914
10. Case Study: U.S. Intervention in Cuba in the 1890s
11. Human Rights in the Age of Total War
12. The U.S. and International Law: from the League of Nations to the United Nations
13. Case Study: The Refugee Crisis after World War II
14. The Cold War and Human Rights
15. The 1990s: Intervention and Non-Intervention in Rwanda and Yugoslavia
16. Into the Twenty-First Century: from Human Rights to Human Security
17. The United Nations and the “Responsibility to Protect”
18. Case Study: The Syrian Civil War and Refugee Crisis
