Anthropology

Introduction to Human Rights

Module code: 001HE
Level 4
15 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Lecture
Assessment modes: Portfolio

This module will introduce you to the academic study – both multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary – of:

• human rights
• human rights issues
• various approaches that different disciplines take in this field.

It will provide a basic orientation to the international human rights system. You'll be introduced to some of the enduring debates surrounding human rights: their origin, history, nature, universality, how they ‘work’, and how they are ‘made real’.

Drawing on the expertise of Sussex scholars in the teaching team, we will explore:

• the practice of human rights in relation to specific rights (for example women’s rights, children’s rights, rights of asylum seekers and refugees)
• institutions (for example the United Nations, the European Court of Human Rights)
• laws and contexts.

A continuous focus will be the complex and contingent ways that human rights are practiced (defined, claimed, interpreted, challenged, implemented and monitored), as well as the possibilities and limitations of human rights in making the world a better place.

Module learning outcomes

• Identify, evaluate and interpret key debates on the nature, origin and history of human rights, on the international human rights system, and on how human rights ‘work
• Develop, structure and communicate coherent arguments regarding contemporary human rights practice and particular rights or rights-holders (e.g. in relation to women, children, minorities and refugees)
• Synthesise engagement with relevant scholarly literature, and the outcomes of classroom-based learning, into the student’s own arguments about contemporary human rights.