Human Rights Minor Requirements
at the University of Connecticut

The Study of Human Rights
What are human rights?  How has the concept of human rights evolved?  How and why have human rights been violated, both in the United States and abroad?  How have people struggled against human rights violations and with what success?  What protections against violations of human rights exist, and how can these protections be enhanced and made more effective?  These are the kinds of questions that students choosing to minor in Human Rights are encouraged to pursue.  In this minor, students receive interdisciplinary instruction in theoretical, comparative, and historical perspectives on human rights through classroom courses, and gain valuable practical experience in the human rights field through a supervised internship.

Requirements for the Human Rights Minor
The Human Rights Minor is an interdepartmental, interdisciplinary plan of study requiring fifteen credits of course work at the 200-level.  Students take six credits from Core Courses in the minor (Group A below); six credits from Electives (Group B) or Core Courses; and three credits of Internship (Group C). More than six credits may not be taken in one department.

Group C internships are with a human rights-related agency, organization, or group.  Internship sites can be tailored to fit individual students' interests and goals.  The internship enables students to enrich and assess what they have learned in the classroom through practical experience.  The final grade for credits earned in Group C will be based on completion of a portfolio in which students synthesize their internship experiences with knowledge gained in the course work they have taken to fulfill the requirements for the Human Rights Minor.  The portfolio may consist of an analytical paper or papers, a media production (e.g., photography or video) or some combination of these.
 
For Further Information

Contact Professor Richard Hiskes, Director of the Minor in Human Rights at 860-486-2536 or by email at richard.hiskes@uconn.edu.

The Human Rights Minor is a program of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Recommended Prerequisites

POLS 125/ HRTS 125: Intro to Human Rights

Group A: Core Courses

History

HIST 226: International Human Rights
HIST 253/ HRTS 253: History of Human Rights

Political Science

POLS 205/ HRTS 205: The Theory of Human Rights
POLS 258/ HRTS 258: Comparative Perspectives on Human Rights

Group B: Electives

Agricultural and Resource Economics

ARE 255: The Role of Agriculture in Economic Development

Allied Health

AH 215 Critical Health Issues of Asian Americans (or AASI 215)

Anthropology

ANTH 226: Peoples and Cultures of North America
ANTH 228: Indigenous Rights and Aboriginal Australia
ANTH 231: Anthropological Perspectives on Women
ANTH 280W: Human Rights in Democratizing Countries
ANTH 290W: Cultural Rights

Economics

ECON 202: Topics in Economic History and Thought
ECON 206: Philosophy & Economics
ECON 207: Beyond Self Interest
ECON 247: Economic Development

English

ENGL 241/ HRTS 241 Topics in Literature and Human Rights

History

HIST 215: History of Women and Gender in the United States,
                1790-Present
HIST 224: History of Pan-Africanism
HIST 237: The Indian in American History
HIST 238/ HRTS 238: African American History to 1865
HIST 268: Japanese Americans and World War II (or AASI 268)
HIST 298-02: The Holocaust and World War II

Philosophy

PHIL 215: Ethics
PHIL 218: Feminist Theory
PHIL 219/ HRTS 219 Topics in Philosophy and Human Rights
PHIL 245: Philosophy and Economics

Political Science

POLS 225/ HRTS 225: International Organizations and Law
POLS 244: Politics of South Africa
POLS 256/ HRTS 256 Constitutional Rights and Liberties
POLS 257: World Cultures and U:S: Law

Puerto Rican & Latino Studies

PRLS 221/ HRTS 220: Latinos/as and Human Rights in the United States

Sociology

SOCI 215/ HRTS 215 Human Rights in the United States
SOCI 221/ HRTS 221: Sociological Perspectives on
              Asian American Women
      (or, either SOCI 221 W, AASI 221, AASI 221 W)
SOCI 222/ HRTS 222: Asian Indian Women: Activism
              and Social Change
      (or AASI 222)
SOCI 235/ HRTS 235: African Americans and Social Protest
SOCI 236: White Racism
SOCI 243: Prejudice and Discrimination
SOCI 249/ HRTS 249: Sociological Perspectives on Poverty
SOCI 258: The Developing World
SOCI 268/ HRTS 268: Class, Power and Inequality
SOCI 269/ HRTS 269: Political Sociology

Women’s Studies

WS 263/ HRTS 263: Women and Violence

Group C: Internship

Interdepartmental

HRTS 245: Human Rights Internship and Portfolio

Core Courses
Group A

Electives
Group B

Internship
Group C

New Courses

Human Rights Minor courses
for Spring 2006