WGS 401: Advanced Topics in Human Rights

This seminar aims to provide students with a deeper knowledge of human rights as both an intellectual discourse and a realm of political action. The first part of the course deals with the emergence and institutionalization of human rights in the 20th century. Beginning with an overview of its roots in political theory, moving to the first and second generation of rights, to debates over universality and cultural relativism and ending with exploration of human rights frameworks' applicability and implications across nations and cultures, the course offers an in-depth interdisciplinary understanding of the field and its practices. Topics of study include torture, genocide, race gender and law, visual culture, humanitarian intervention, and protection.