Summer Sessions | Courses | Human Rights

Human Rights

Established in 1978, the ISHR at Columbia University is committed to providing excellent human rights education to Columbia students, fostering innovative interdisciplinary academic research, and offering its expertise in capacity building to human rights leaders, organizations, and universities around the world. Courses include active engagement with the world of human rights practitioners, and emphasize the connection between the study and practice of human rights.

Courses can be taken independently or as part of a four-course Certification of Professional Achievement in Human Rights.

Note: The Summer Sessions courses in human rights are offered in conjunction with the Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR) at Columbia University.

Courses
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INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RIGHTS
HRTS4020S001 3 points.

This course will provide a wide-ranging survey of conceptual foundations and issues in contemporary human rights. The class will examine the philosophical origins of human rights, contemporary debates, the evolution of human rights, key human rights documents, and the questions of human rights enforcement. This course will examine specific civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and various thematic topics in human rights.

Course Number Section/Call Number Session Times/Location
HRTS4020S001 001/10208 Session A Tu 10:00 AM–01:10 PM
Th 10:00 AM–01:10 PM

Instructor Points Enrollment Method of Instruction
Kristina Eberbach
3 Closed for Online Registration
(no Adds or Drops)
In-Person
Young People, Human Rights, Gun Violence
HRTS4050W001 3 points.

This 3-credit course aims to give students a foundation in research, policy, and practice relevant to gun violence and the human rights of young people. In the first part of the course, we look at the US. In the US gun violence against children has increased, as part of a broader nationwide rise in crime. School shootings have also risen: The Washington Post counted 42 last year in the U.S., the most on record and up from 27 in 2019.  In addition to exploring its underlying causes, the prevalence, and solutions to gun violence in homes, schools, and communities in the United States, young peoples’ participation in legislation and other efforts to address physical insecurity. In the second half of the course, students examine the ways in which US foreign policy– including in the areas of small arms waivers, direct gun sales, and migration, have shaped the lives of young people in other nations. The focus of this part of the course will be on Central America where armed violence has had a dramatic impact on young people and has resulted in forced displacement and loss of education for young people. Throughout the course, students will explore the gun-related human rights issues affecting young people through the study of cases, reports, documentaries, and other visual images including satellites and aerial images. Students will examine the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 2250 and 2419-- the Youth Peace and Security Agenda (YPS), the Arms Trade Treaty, and the Optional Protocol on the Child Soldier, as well as the U.S. Youth Peace and Security Act of 2021 (HR 4838), national legislation that prioritizes the inclusion of youth in conflict resolution and recognizes that youth participation is a key component of U.S. peace and security strategy. An ongoing and significant consideration in the course will be the role of international education efforts and youth-led advocacy and legislative efforts around gun control legislation. 

In addition to the topics mentioned above, students will acquire and deepen their understandings

  • the framing of gun violence and violence caused by small weapons as human rights issues for young people, including but not limited to the international and national human rights laws that protect the right to life, development, survival, and protection
  • the impacts that race, ethnicity, gender, age, life experience all have on the realization of young people’s human rights   
  • the debates surrounding the human right to self and community protection
  • the power imbalances in young peoples’ representation in policy, practice, and research, as a barrier to protection and participation of young people
  • the role played by state and non-state actors in human rights violations and protection in relation to gun violence
  • the positive roles that young people play in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and disarmament processes, and human rights activism
Course Number Section/Call Number Session Times/Location
HRTS4050W001 001/10209 Session A Mo 01:00 PM–04:10 PM
We 01:00 PM–04:10 PM

Instructor Points Enrollment Method of Instruction
Tracey Holland
3 Closed for Online Registration
(no Adds or Drops)
In-Person
HUM RIGHTS/GLOBAL ECON JUSTICE
HRTS4185S001 3 points.
The world economy is a patchwork of competing and complementary interests among and between governments, corporations, and civil society. These stakeholders at times cooperate and also conflict over issues of global poverty, inequality, and sustainability. What role do human rights play in coordinating the different interests that drive global economic governance? This seminar will introduce students to different structures of global governance for development, trade, labor, finance, the environment, migration, and intellectual property and investigate their relationship with human rights. Students will learn about public, private, and mixed forms of governance, analyze the ethical and strategic perspectives of the various stakeholders and relate them to existing human rights norms. The course will examine the work of multilateral organizations such as the United Nations and the International Financial Institutions, as well as international corporate and non-governmental initiatives.
Course Number Section/Call Number Session Times/Location
HRTS4185S001 001/10210 Session B Tu 05:30 PM–08:40 PM
Th 05:30 PM–08:40 PM

Instructor Points Enrollment Method of Instruction
Rainer Braun
3 Registration Block
(no Adds)
(self-man. Wait List)
In-Person
NGOS&THE HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT
HRTS4215S001 3 points.
The human rights movement is one of the most successful social justice movements of our time, establishing universal principles that govern how states should treat citizens and non-citizens. The movement strengthens, and is strengthened by, a complex web of institutions, laws, and norms that constitute a functioning global system that builds on itself progressively, animated by strong NGOs. The course will address the evolution of the international human rights movement and on the NGOs that drive the movement on the international, regional and domestic levels. Sessions will highlight the experiences of major human rights NGOs and will address topics including strategy development, institutional representation, research methodologies, partnerships, networks, venues of engagement, campaigning, fundraising and, perhaps most importantly, the fraught and complex debates about adaptation to changing global circumstances.
Course Number Section/Call Number Session Times/Location
HRTS4215S001 001/10211 Session A Tu 05:30 PM–08:40 PM
Th 05:30 PM–08:40 PM

Instructor Points Enrollment Method of Instruction
Louis Bickford
3 Closed for Online Registration
(no Adds or Drops)
In-Person
INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW
HRTS4220S001 3 points.
This course introduces the fundamental concepts and problems of international human rights law. What are the origins of modern human rights law? What is the substance of this law, who is obligated by it, and how is it enforced? The course will cover the major international human rights treaties and mechanisms and consider some of today's most significant human rights issues and controversies. While the topics are necessarily law-related, the course will assume no prior exposure to legal studies.
Course Number Section/Call Number Session Times/Location
HRTS4220S001 001/10212 Session B Tu 01:00 PM–04:10 PM
Th 01:00 PM–04:10 PM

Instructor Points Enrollment Method of Instruction
Belinda Cooper
3 Registration Block
(no Adds)
(self-man. Wait List)
In-Person