Results for HUMRTS

This course will introduce students to the philosophical and historical foundations for the modern concept of human rights, as well as the international and domestic legal frameworks currently in force to protect and promote these rights. Students will learn about the broad landscape of institutions responsible for defining and enforcing human rights from scholars who study the institutions, and practitioners who have worked inside them. Throughout the quarter we will read and discuss critical scholarship about the gap between the promises and aspirations of international human rights covenants, and the ongoing realities of widespread oppression, exploitation, and atrocity happening around the world. We will welcome practitioners as well as guest faculty from departments across the university whose teaching and research touches on aspects of human rights within their respective fields of expertise. Throughout the course, we will explore how distinct perspectives, assumptions, and vocabulary of particular disciplinary communities affect the way scholars and practitioners trained in these fields approach, understand, and employ human rights concepts. HUMRTS 101 fulfills the gateway course requirement for the Minor in Human Rights, and is offered once per year, winter quarter. No prior knowledge or formal human rights education is required of students enrolling in this introductory course. Students of all years and majors are welcome to join. Students should enroll in Section 01 of the course for in-person instruction Tu/Th 3:00-4:50 pm. Enrollment in Section 02 is available only by special consent of the instructor, for students with special circumstances who need to complete HUMRTS 101 for the Minor, but cannot regularly attend the class in person as scheduled for Section 01. Students enrolled in Section 02 will complete identical curriculum, and will engage with classmates from Section 02 on a single Canvas site, but will have asynchronous and remote scheduling options for lectures. These same asynchronous and remote options can also be made available to Section 01 students (if/when needed, at discrete times throughout the quarter) in the event of COVID-related disruptions to class (e.g. instructor illness, student quarantine).

The course addresses topics of contemporary controversy and importance in SE Asia and its regional organization, ASEAN. Southeast Asia is characterized by an extraordinary range of development, political systems, the rule of law, and many other social, historical, and cultural factors, yet faces economic, political, security, and environmental challenges that demand collective solutions. The complexity of addressing those challenges is exacerbated by the US-China rivalry in this region of 700 million persons, a rivalry that is increasingly drawing in other countries, and, above all, India, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. Although the need for a unified approach to crises such as the South China Sea, civil war in Myanmar, climate change, migration, and environmental degradation is widely recognized by its 10 Member States, perhaps at no time in its history has ASEAN been so deeply divided. The course will address how individual SE Asian nations and ASEAN are responding to these challenges in governance, economic development, and sustainability by taking up key topics of immediate and pressing interest.

Current Issues in Southeast Asia (INTLPOL 226) is a seminar that will examine some of the key challenges facing the nations of Southeast Asia, which collectively boast the world's fifth largest economy and are home to some 680 million people. After a brief introduction to the region's history and geography, students will review the region's political systems and -- using country-specific case studies -- look at how they are dealing with issues such as democracy versus authoritarianism, ethnic and religious divisions, economic development, climate change, and China's rising influence. The course will cover all these issues in the context of some of the real-world factors, as opposed to theoretical concepts that influence and shape policies and decisions in the region, and which in many ways pose a threat to Southeast Asia's remarkable potential. It will also offer an opportunity for students to learn about the policymaking process and policy-related writing.

The Environmental Justice and Human Rights Lab is an intellectual hub and supportive learning community for students engaging in environmental justice and human rights work of any kind. Environmental justice (EJ) advances a positive vision for policies and actions that fight environmental racism, and human rights (HR) center on the notion that all people, by virtue of their existence and regardless of any given status or classification, are equally entitled to fundamental rights and protections. Our semi-structured weekly sessions will foster an open learning environment for students and peer-to-peer learning connections. Sessions will include giving and receiving feedback on capstone or community-based projects, independent research, or other relevant coursework or extracurricular activity. We also welcome students who are new to these topics and would like to learn more. We are open to students of all backgrounds and disciplines at any stage of their research or project work. Following EJ and HR principles, we seek to center local, contextualised knowledge and leadership through ethical research partnerships with community members. To do so, we follow community-based participatory research approaches and decolonizing methodologies. Examples of our work to date include 1) enabling graduate students to effectively bring EJ and HR approaches into dissertation research, 2) supporting campus leaders and directly participating in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and 3) educating and learning from one another about critical EJ and HR scholarship and anti-racist approaches to our work. Lab interests include addressing inequitable impacts of climate change, advancing decolonial approaches to land and water management, promoting food justice, combatting human trafficking and labor exploitation, promoting fair and just immigration policies, and additional EJ and HR research topics. Note that this lab is intended as an open space for engagement. If you are unable to enroll for credit, but would still like to participate, please email humanrights@stanford.edu.

May be repeated for credit. Students using these units toward the Minor in Human Rights must take for a letter grade. Department consent is required for enrollment. Please contact denisefz@stanford.edu indicating your plan and demonstrating agreement from the instructor.

Students completing a required capstone project for the Minor in Human Rights must enroll in this course for units with their capstone adviser selected as the instructor. Students must agree with their capstone advisor how many units (3-5) their proposed capstone project is worth, and enroll accordingly. This course is open only to Human Rights Minors. Department consent is required for enrollment. Please contact denisefz@stanford.edu indicating your plan and demonstrating agreement from your advisor.