Course Details

Course offered Spring 2024

HONORS 232 D: International Human Rights (SSc, DIV, W)

HONORS 232 D: International Human Rights (SSc, DIV, W)

SLN 15276 (View UW registration info »)

Elise Rainer (Scandinavian Studies)
Email: eacr@uw.edu

Credits: 5
Limit: 35 students

This interdisciplinary course is a survey of current and historical international human rights. The course will cover a range of human rights topics from freedom of the press, religion, labor, gender and LGBTI rights. Drawing on knowledge from sociology, political science, and anthropology, the class will study different interpretations of rights through diverse cultures and religions. Students will gain an understanding of how the concept of ‘rights’ changes over time, in both progressive and regressive ways. For example, freedom of expression was first legislated in Sweden in 1766, and yet remains contested today, as seen in Russia’s 2022 proposed law for a 15-year prison sentence for journalists who criticize the state. Students will examine how issues such as LGBTI may improve in some regions of the world, such as Taiwan and Brazil, while at the same time digress in other parts of the globe such as Poland and Ghana. Through this class, students will gain an understanding of how human rights are created, accepted, or rejected by the international community. Participants will study both failed and successful human rights campaigns. Students will learn pragmatic skills of human rights advocacy and how to influence policy reform, with a goal to give students both knowledge and agency for human rights change.