Program Goals and Student Learning Outcomes

Goal 1: Demonstrate the ability to locate, evaluate, and synthesize primary and secondary sources in human rights and social justice literature.

Student Learning Objectives:

1.1: Evaluate institutional settings, policies, and procedures from the perspectives of social justice and human rights.

1.2: Identify and evaluate the historical, philosophical, political and cultural developments establishing human rights as a set of global norms, agreements, and procedures.

1.3: Demonstrate an advanced understanding of social injustices and inequities and proposed approaches to their remediation drawn from a variety of political, economic, historical, cultural, and geographical settings.

Goal 2: Provide students with the ability to conduct original research on a topic related to human rights and social justice.

Student Learning Objectives:

2.1: Synthesize interdisciplinary approaches and contributions to topics such as gender, race, poverty, violence and post-colonialism within a human rights and social justice framework.

2.2: Develop social science methodological skills in research design and statistical analysis.

2.3: Understand and critically assess legal processes and institutions in human rights law.

Goal 3: Provide students with the ability to evaluate human rights abuses and remedies at the local, national, and international levels of government.

Student Learning Objectives:

3.1: Train students to evaluate violations of human rights and social justice through case studies and legal analysis from local, national, and international perspectives.

3.2: Reflectively evaluate the effectiveness of human rights practice on local, national or international humanitarian efforts.

3.3: Critically examine the impact of diverse geographic, cultural and theoretical contexts on the social acceptance and practical application of human rights norms.

Goal 4: Understand the development and function of social movements and organizations, as well as how they impact and are impacted by society, culture, politics, and law.

Student Learning Objectives:

4.1: Critically evaluate the distinct roles social science, historical precedents, social theory, culture and ethics play in the development of an informed approach to social justice.

4.2: Demonstrate knowledge on how institutionalized inequality and inequity can be radicalized into an active social movement.

4.3: Develop a broad understanding of social movement theories, such as conflict theory, structural functionalism, critical theory, and symbolic interaction.

Goal 5: Train and develop leaders in human rights and social justice advocacy and analysis through reality lab-based teaching and research.

Student Learning Objectives:

5.1: Train students to apply theoretical and practical material from program courses through a legal clinic or internship with an organization associated with issues of human rights or social justice.

5.2: Encourage students to engage in field-based-learning experiences with practitioners and leaders in human rights and social justice.

 

 

 This MA program in Human Rights and Social Justice aims at meeting twin purposes: 

·      To produce graduates who will be leaders in the field of human rights and social justice as advocates, field officers, legal advisers, or researchers, working with or within governments, international and non-governmental organizations.

·      To realize inter-disciplinary models of education that integrate law, international affairs and political science, equipping students with the capacity to conduct original research on topics of human rights and social justice, to recognize and assess human rights abuses, and to propose remedial measures at the local, national, and international levels of government.

 MA HRSJ interdisciplinary program with leading human rights scholars, policymakers and practitioners aims at providing strategic approaches and a solid grounding in diverse substantive and methodological approaches to the theory and practice of human rights and social justice. 

 

Student Learning Outcomes

Completing this Master’s program in Human Rights & Social Justice, students will have successfully acquired a range of specific and transferable academic skills and advanced knowledge. They will be also contextualized within a social justice perspective and knowledge of the normative and institutional frameworks.

Our beneficiaries will be able to:

  • Evaluate institutional settings, policies, and procedures from the perspectives of social justice and human rights.
  • Present a sourced and critical perspective on human rights issues by applying a wide range of theoretical and practical methods.
  • Effectively communicate both verbally and in written form on human rights’ topics using appropriate sources and reasoning.
  • Identify and evaluate the historical, philosophical, political and cultural progression of human rights as established by global norms embraced in agreements, policies, and resolutions.
  • Demonstrate advanced knowledge and comprehension of social injustices and inequities and propose approaches to their remediation drawing from a variety of political, economic, historical, cultural, and geographical settings.
  • Promote respect for the fundamental values the human rights embody and symbolize.
  • Synthesize interdisciplinary approaches and contributions to topics such as migration, refugee crisis, gender, race, poverty, violence and post-colonialism within a human rights and social justice framework.
  • Develop social science methodological skills in research design and statistical analysis.
  • Contribute to debate on and to use the discipline’s analytical tools in the analysis of human rights issues.
  • Evaluate violations of human rights and social justice through case studies and legal analysis from local, national, and international perspectives. 
  • Reflectively evaluate the effectiveness of human rights practice in local, national or international humanitarian efforts.
  • Critically examine the impact of diverse contexts on the social acceptance and practical application of human rights norms.
  • Critically evaluate the distinct roles social science, historical precedents, social theory, culture and ethics play in the development of an informed approach to social justice.
  • Develop a broad understanding of social movement theories, such as conflict theory, structural functionalism, critical theory, and symbolic interaction.