CHS 4303

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS

The course will examine both the various philosophical theories of human rights as well as the definitions and types of rights (social, political, civil, economic, and collective) as codified by major international treaties. The course will emphasize the difficulties in translating these lofty ideals into practice in the contemporary global system, particularly in formulating effective foreign policy that takes human rights into account. The role of non-governmental organizations in this process will also be assessed. A case study approach will be utilized to give students a "hands-on" approach to the issues.

Jack Donnelly, International Human Rights (1998)

Human Rights in the World Community, eds. Richard Pierre Claude and Burns H. Weston (1992)

Human Rights: Christians, Marxists, and others in Dialogue, ed. Leonard Swidler (1991)

Additional materials will include selected articles and cases. Depending on one's status (undergraduate, master's, or doctoral candidate), additional readings may be required.

Lectures for this class can be accessed here

Mid-Term Examination: 20%

Final Examination: 25%

(separate exams will be given to undergraduates and graduates in the class)

Research Project: 25%

Class Presentation: 20%

Participation: 10%

Class Presentation: Each student in the course of the class shall make a presentation on the readings assigned for class for that week, highlighting salient points and issues and presenting questions and themes for class discussion.

Research project: a number of (fictional) human rights scenarios shall be made available to students. Students shall select one and argue either in favor of the injured party or in favor of the government, and shall defend their position by references to constitutional provisions (of the relevant country or countries of the scenario), treaties, philosophies of human rights, definitions, and previous precedents. Students should be prepared to address the question of to resolve rights that are in conflict with each other, as well as balancing rights of the individual with social harmony. Undergraduates should be prepared to write a scenario of no less than ten pages; master's candidates a scenario of no less than twelve pages, and doctoral candidate's no less than fifteen.

The class meets twice weekly, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00 AM to 9:20 AM in the James Wood Seminar Room, 3^rd Floor, Carroll Library (Institute of Church-State Studies).

The class will cover topics on a weekly basis. Class for the week will begin with the student presentation for the week, followed by the instructor's main lecture, followed by a question period, followed by general discussion that will be guided and moderated by the instructor, spread out over the two class meetings for that week.

At various points during the course, a week will be set aside for discussion of issues. Both class periods in such a week will consist of structured class discussions based on practical issues that have arisen out of the readings for the previous weeks.

A= 100 to 90

B= 89-80

C= 79-70

D= 69=60

F= below 60

The following primary documents will be passed out on the first day of class and read in class that day: Confucius, "Lun-yu" (selected); Tertullian, "Letter to Scapula"; Constantine, "Edict of Milan"; John Locke, "Letter on Toleration"; Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. The following readings are contained as appendices to Claude and Weston: UN Universal Declaration, International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Graduate students must read all documents; undergraduates can omit the international convenants and Locke's letter on toleration.

For an historical overview: Donnelly, chapter I

READINGS:

Donnelly, chapter II

-Leonard Swidler, "Human Rights: An Historical Overview" (Swidler)

-John Langan, "Christianity and Human Rights" (Swidler)

-Janos Kelemen, "The Right to Be Oneself" (Swidler)

Graduate students should also read:

-Richard Falk, "Theoretical Foundations of Human Rights" (Claude/Weston)

Fernando R. Teson, "International Human Rights and Cultural Relativism" (Claude/Weston)

Donnelly, chapter VI ("Responding to Tiananmen")

Josiah Cobbah, "African Values and the Human Rights Debate", Human Rights Quarterly, 9 (1987), pp. 309-331 (on reserve)

Graduate students should also read:

Julia Ching, "Human Rights: A Valid Chinese Concept" in Confucianism and Human Rights (on reserve)

Wejen Chang, "Confucian Theory of Norms and Human Rights," in Confucianism and Human Rights (on reserve)

READINGS:

Vesna Pusic, "Basic Rights, Civil Society, and the State" (Swidler)

Laszlo Solyom, "Constitutional Privacy in Today's Hungary" (Swidler)

Paul Mojzes, "Religious Liberty: Definitions and Theoretical Framework" (Swidler)

Graduate students should also read:

Marko Orsolic, "Religious Freedom as a Civil Right" (Swidler)

Richard Lillich, "Civil Rights" (Claude/Weston)

Gyongyi Szabo Foldesi, "Right to the Protection of the Human Body" (Swidler)

"Economic Rights: A Christian Perspective" (Swidler)

"Marxism and Rights in the Economy" (Swidler)

Discussion: Khrushchev versus Nixon "kitchen debates" (Moscow, 1959): relative priorities of civil/political versus social/economic rights

READINGS:

Jack Greenberg, "Race, Sex, and Religious Discrimination in International Law." (Claude/Weston)

Hurst Hannum, "Self-Determination as a Human Right" (Claude/Weston)

Edith Brown Weiss, "Planetary Rights" (Claude/Weston)

Sidney Callahan, "Human Rights and Sexuality" (Swidler)

William Korey, "Minority Rights After Helsinki", Ethics and International Affairs, vol. 8, 1994 (on reserve)

READINGS:

Leo Kuper, "The Sovereign Territorial State: The Right to Genocide" (Claude/Weston)

"War and Genocide in the Former Yugoslavia": Donnelly, chapter VII

Trivo Indjic, "Human Rights, Nation, and Religion: TheYugoslav Case" (Swidler)

Graduate students should also read:

Prepared material distributed by Instructor

READINGS:

Donnelly, Chapter V

Jeanne Kirkpatrick, "Dictatorships and Double Standards"

Evan Luard, "Human Rights and Foreign Policy" (Claude/Weston)

Graduate students must also read:

Jack Donnelly, "Humanitarian Intervention and American Foreign Policy" (Claude/Weston)

David Forsythe, "Congress and Human Rights in U. S. Foreign Policy" (Claude/Weston)

1. Governmental

Tom J. Farer, "The United Nations and Human Rights: More Than a Whimper, Less Than a Roar" (Claude/Weston)

Burns H. Weston, "Regional Human Rights Regimes: A Comparison and Appraisal" (Claude/Weston)

Thomas Bergenthal, "The Helsinki Process: Birth of a Human Rights System" (Claude/Weston)

Graduate students must also read assigned sections from the State Department Human Rights and Religious Freedom reports

Week XI

2. Non-Governmental

Discussion: Human Rights as Practical Policy; Limits to Intervention; Clash over Priority of Different Types of Rights as a Policy Issue

READINGS:

CASE #2

Discussions: Legal and Moral Judgments in Human Rights

Presentation of Student Research

Discussion of topics for the Final Exam