PSIR506 INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS IN CONFLICT
| Course Code: | 3540506 |
| METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): | 3 (3.00 - 0.00) |
| ECTS Credit: | 6.0 |
| Department: | Political Science and International Relations |
| Language of Instruction: | English |
| Level of Study: | Masters |
| Course Coordinator: | |
| Offered Semester: | Fall and Spring Semesters. |
Course Objectives
The module engages critically and in depth with the key debates in the theory and practice of human rights. In the first part of the course, we trace the philosophical and historical origins of the concept of rights, and moreover its development within legalised frameworks. Thus we shall observe that human rights questions began life as abstract claims but subsequently became statutory duties to which citizens and states alike became bound (at least in theory). Of particular interest to us are the tensions involved in making assumptions about rights and their application. For example, can it be said that rights exist somehow prior to their legal enforcement by states and supra-state institutions, and if so how? To what extent are we able to claim that rights are universal and must thus trump the assumptions of local cultures and traditions? To what extent if at all can rights be divorced from mainstream ideology and the interests of those national and global social forces it might be claimed to surreptitiously represent? These are the type of tensions and indeed contradictions we shall attempt to confront. Hence, the first section of the module examines the very idea of human rights, asking how human rights ought to be defined, and whether they can be morally justified and enshrined in law. It also looks at some important challenges to the idea of human rights: namely that they could be ethnocentric, superficially schematic or indeed simply instruments of ideological power in the hands of powerful global forces. The second section continues the theme by looking at specific practical instances in recent history that have given rise to problems of assumption and application of human rights.
Course Content
Students will form preferably interdisciplinary groups and will prepare a paper on a research or policy issue. Each group will be supervised by one or two instructors. In addition to the final report at the end of the semester, the group will be required to submit a minimum of 1 progress report halfway through the semester.
Course Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course students are expected to be able to:
- Comprehend the philosophical underpinnings of the concept(s) of human rights;
- Demonstrate knowledge of the historical and legal development of human rights;
- Apply conceptual tools to assess the arguments for and against human rights claims and be able to analyse and clarify contemporary arguments about human rights in both domestic and world politics;
- Demonstrate appropriate cognitive, communicative and transferable skills, including the ability to present reasoned and effective arguments in written and oral form;
- Engage in intensive independent research relevant to specific case studies and practical examples.