POL S 368 A: The Politics and Law of International Human Rights

Course Overview:  This course examines the emergence and development, since World War II, of an international movement dedicated to the defense of human rights. We will study the goals of the movement and the global and domestic contexts in which it operates. In the first half of the course, we will explore the idea of human rights and study basic components of international human rights law, using the struggle against racial discrimination as a case study. In the second half of the course, we will study women's human rights, the climate crisis, and the law of armed conflict, and international criminal law, with particular attention to the Russia-Ukraine War and Israel-Palestine War. 

Grades will be based on a midterm exam, final exam, research paper, and class participation.