The principal purpose of the Colloquium is to provide the core interdisciplinary component for all of our Masters degrees. The content is intended to provide a first-class education on the foundational principles of human rights, upon the different perspectives and methodologies employed by key academic disciplines in their approaches to human rights and to enable an in-depth analysis of a selection of outstandingly important issues and debates within the theory and practice of human rights. The comprehensive range of the syllabus is reflected in the teaching staff engaged upon the Colloquium, who reflect the inter and multi-disciplinary approaches to human rights and are, in most cases, internationally recognised authorities upon the subjects they will teach. The Colloquium extends across twenty teaching weeks and is divided into three main parts: theoretical bases of human rights principles; applications of human rights principles; and contemporary issues and debates in the implementation and practice of human rights. On successfully completing the Colloquium students will:
Have gained an understanding of the principal theoretical foundations of human rights
Have gained an understanding of the controversial basis and content of the practice and application of specific human rights instruments
Be able to critically evaluate specific human rights claims, utilising different theoretical perspectives from several academic disciplines
Be cognizant of some of the principal issues surrounding the practice and implementation of various human rights
Have acquired the methodological skills required for independent research in the study of human rights
- Module Supervisor: Ahmed Shaheed
The module focuses on human rights advocacy. It begins by looking at how theory and practice of human rights interact, from a critical standpoint. We will examine how major critiques of human rights discourse affect the way in which we transform theory into practice. We then go on to look at domestic and international strategies for making use of international human rights law. The module then turns to examining specific advocacy routes, including making use of the UN Human Rights Council, Special Procedures and Treaty Monitoring Bodies. Specific advocacy tools are then examined, including evidence gathering (interviewing skills and documentation preservation), strategic litigation and assessing the impact of advocacy projects. The module finishes by bringing together all the material studied during the term to look at how we formulate advocacy strategies.
The module is open only to students who have been admitted to the Human Rights Centre Clinic. Please refer to the HRC Clinic page to find out how to apply by going onto this link: https://www1.essex.ac.uk/hrc/careers/clinic/default.aspx
- Module Supervisor: Sabina Garahan
- Module Supervisor: Andrew Fagan
General Information
The module
content covers the normative framework for freedom of religion or belief under
international law as well as a number of key challenges faced by states in
protecting these freedoms for all, and critiques related to the framing and
exercise of this freedom. The seminars include deep dives into specific topics
such as protections for gender equality, obligations to uphold right to
non-discrimination including promoting substantive equality, duties upon states
to prohibit advocacy of religious hatred, and effects of different
state-religion relationships on the rights of various groups in vulnerable
situations. It also covers frontier topics in the field such as impacts of
emerging technologies on the freedom of thought. In addition to these deep dives,
topics covered in the module also offer non-hegemonic and critical
perspectives, particularly those drawn from postcolonial/decolonial, feminist,
minority, as well as non-religious and communitarian perspectives.
Key Aims
· to enable to students to develop a range of skills to engage with a number of widespread controversies in the conceptualisation and practice of human rights, and to empower them to carry out further independent research. The issues that are examined are cross-cutting and provide perspectives from a variety of disciplines.
· to equip students with cross-cultural dialogue skills that are necessary for a range of careers that touch upon human rights and cultural diversity whether as diplomats, human rights advocates, journalists, educators, or academic researchers, among others, where interaction with peoples from diverse backgrounds and cultures and identities is needed.
Learner Outcomes
The module has five major objectives in terms of learning outcomes:
- to understand the foundational role of the freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief in the broad human rights framework and develop literacies to negotiate and promote human rights in secular and de-secularised spaces;
- to examine critically hegemonic, postcolonial perspectives and gendered perspectives on human rights and develop the tools necessary for cross-cultural understanding and engagement and to promote societal inclusion;
- to analyse the inter-relationship between culture, history, religion, patriarchy and politics in the realisation of human rights.
- to develop critical reasoning, analytical writing and oral argumentation skills;
- to enable students to carry out independent research into the subject.
- Module Supervisor: Ahmed Shaheed
Module Description
The module would introduce students to the nature of the international system and its influence on the promotion and protection of human rights and to key theoretical debates about the pathways to human rights impact from a multidisciplinary perspective. As a practice-oriented module, it will examine the role of foreign policy instruments in the promotion of human rights as well as the use of human rights to advance foreign policy goals of states in bilateral, regional and multilateral contexts.
Aims
The purpose of the module is to provide LLM/MA/MPhil students programmes with a global perspective on the practice of human rights, especially in the negotiation and implementation of human rights norms. It enables an in-depth study of human rights advocacy by multilateral institutions and international civil society organisations, comparative study of foreign policy, and greater understanding the international political context in which human rights are promoted and defended. It will be especially useful for students taking the LLM and MA courses in human rights, and postgraduate students outside of those courses may take the module for credit with approval of the module director. There are no pre-requisites or correlated courses.
Learning Outcomes
The module has five major objectives for learning outcomes:
to understand different conceptions of the international system and how they each enhance or constrain the advancement of human rights as well as the relationship between competing national interests pursued by states
to analyse the processes by which human rights norms are set and promoted, and to examine them in comparative perspective
to recognise the relevance of multi-disciplinary approaches to the understanding of human rights in a global context
to develop greater awareness of the tools and means of success in the advocacy of human rights
to develop the critical reasoning, analytical writing and oral argumentation skills
- Module Supervisor: Ahmed Shaheed
- Module Supervisor: Katya Al Khateeb