HONR 2250 - Human Rights in the Modern World

4 credit hours
This course will focus on one of the major problems afflicting the modern world - the widespread violation of human rights - from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. After considering the evolution of the idea of human rights (including analysis of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights), the course explores historical cases of the abuse and protection of human rights over time. We will examine the denial and defense of rights for different communities and groups such as women, people of color, workers, LGBTQ+ persons, children, migrants and refugees, disabled persons, torture victims, and disappeared persons. Some of the historical themes examined are colonialism, slavery, industrialization, democracy, dictatorship, warfare, revolution, genocide, migration, and environmental change. Students may also pursue directed research on specific human rights issues of particular interest to them.