Assignments

1. Class Attendance and Participation: 20%.

Attendance and participation are vital to the success of the meetings, and is expected for all classes. Class discussions will be conducted in an open format where all perspectives are encouraged and respect given to everyone and the opinions that they may raise. Students will hopefully find that articulating their own thoughts, as well as considering those of their peers can lead to a broader understanding of human rights.

2. Lead a One short (5-7 minute) presentation on a current events article: 20%.

Each student will lead and present to the class on an issue related to Human Rights/wrong, from a credible news source such as the New York Times (or Wall Street Journal), or the UNHROHC website. The article must be pertinent to the study of human rights and also may be helpful to other students’ research. Presentations should explain, (i) why the article is important for us in the study of human rights, pertaining to specific, “Human Rights Articles” and the possible human rights violation issue. Students presenting must finish their presentation with a question posed towards the class to potentially start a discussion on the issue. In the early classes a signup sheet will be passed around and students can choose the date and topic that works best for them.

3. Human Rights Dossier, Of a Chosen Country, 30%

Students will research and analyze the Human Rights, in a selected country of their choice to understand how different countries are addressing Human Rights. In this presentation, which we are calling a Human Rights Dossier Students will select a country and discuss the human rights issues facing their country that compel and challenge them. In the dossier students will discuss the contemporary human rights and wrongs facing their chosen country and connect them to the human rights framework we have discussed in class and address possible scenarios, or what forms of action might they suggest/take to right some of the wrongs. Students will meet with me to identify and get approval of the possible topics as well as the relevant literature.

a) Country approval by Week 4, Feb. 16^th.

b) Presentation March 9^th.

Students are encouraged to gather as wide a variety of resources, online Journal articles, Ted talks, film, music, photographs, posters any other art works etc. on human rights and wrongs related to their chosen country.

4. Art at a Time of Social Distancing (30%): Notes and Resources

Human rights and Pandemic: students will take stock of the relationship between the present pandemic and human rights and reflect on how it is impacting, “making art at a time of social distancing.” Students can use any media for the final presentation.