POL 259 - Human Rights: Foundations, Challenges, and Choices

4 credits (Spring)

This course will familiarize students with the international human rights regime and will analyze a series of case studies to illustrate the challenges to the realization of human rights and the choices for human rights advocates and policymakers. Topics for discussion include universality or relativity of human rights, the interplay between civil and political rights and economic and social rights, the impact of sovereignty, monitoring, and compliance. Cases will include humanitarian intervention, the U.S. domestic response to 9/11, religious accommodation and equality of rights, human rights and development, and climate change and human rights.

Prerequisite: POL 101 with grade S, C, or better.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Moyer