Admission requirements
Admission to the MA International Relations. Students who are interested in taking this course, but who are not admitted to the mentioned master programmes are requested to contact the co-ordinator of studies.
Description
This seminar course examines the history and politics of modern international human rights norms and their contemporary implications for global politics and governance. The substantive content of the course is divided into three main parts. The first part deals with political history, normative concepts, and social scientific issues pertaining to international human rights norms. The second part of the course addresses key issues in the global politics of human rights and their relationship with global governance. In particular, we examine topics that include the following: (1) international law and judicial politics, human rights, and democratization; (3) transnational civil society; (4) global governance and the roles of the European Union and the United States; (5) justice and the global political economy; and (6) race, gender, and disability. The final part of the course tackles three recent cases: the global war on drugs, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the global rise of authoritarian populism. This is a reading-intensive seminar course. The successful completion of this course primarily depends on the student’s commitment to read all the required literature (and preferably including the optional materials), to actively participate during class discussions through meaningful contributions, and to submit an insightful and relevant research paper.
Course Objectives
Students who finish this course will 1) gain specialist knowledge of the explanatory and normative theories, concepts, and history of international human rights; 2) enhance students’ analytical skills through seminar presentations, focus group discussions, and research paper writing; 3) identify and formulate original research questions based on a thorough understanding of key debates in the literature, and conduct effective research activities regarding relevant issues on global human rights; 4) develop written and oral communicative skills, including leading and moderating discussions, oral presentations, group work, and essays.
Timetable
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Mode of instruction
Seminar.
Assessment method
Assessment
- Class Participation/Contributions in the Seminar Discussion - 15%
- Seminar Presentation: 15%
- Research plan/Final Paper Proposal: 20%
- Final Paper: 50%
Weighing
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average.
Resit
Unjustified late submission of graded written output will be counted as a resit (and therefore a failure on this resit opportunity means the absence of another chance for retake). The graded seminar (oral) presentation is not available for retake.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
The list of required and recommended readings will be announced on Brightspace at least one week before the start of the course, and subsequently during the course. Check Brightspace for timely information. Refer to the course syllabus.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga
Remarks
Not applicable