In this seminar, students will learn the basics of international human rights: the international and regional human rights systems and instruments; the role and functions of the United Nations and its organs; the rights and obligations of states in the panoply of human rights mechanisms. Students will examine potential remedies for human rights violations, from international to regional to domestic, through actual case studies. Students may have the option of participating in, and drafting a report for, a simulated session of one of the human rights treaty bodies that will parallel an actual session, or writing a seminar paper. A limited number of students may cert through this class.
A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar (designated by an (S) in the title), or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.
