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Columbia University in the City of New York · Courses

HRTS UN

7 courses with the subject HRTS UN, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.

HRTS UN3001INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RIGHTS3.00

Evolution of the theory and content of human rights; the ideology and impact of human rights movements; national and international human rights law and institutions; their application with attention to universality within states, including the U.S. and internationally

Subject
HRTS UN
Credits (min)
3
Credits (max)
3
Credit unit
points
Type
course
Edition
2026-2027
Catalog
2026-2027 Bulletin
Source
bulletin.columbia.edu
HRTS UN3190INT'L HUMAN RIGHTS LAW3.00

This course will introduce students to the international law of human rights, and give a basic orientation to fundamental issues and controversies. The course has two principal focal points: first, the nuts and bolts of how international law functions in the field of human rights, and second, the value and limitations of legal approaches to a variety of human rights issues. Throughout the course, both theoretical and practical questions will be addressed, including who bears legal duties and who can assert legal claims, how these duties might be enforced, and accountability and remedy for violations. Attention will be given to how international law is made, what sorts of assumptions underlie various legal mechanisms, and how the law works in a variety of contexts

Subject
HRTS UN
Credits (min)
3
Credits (max)
3
Credit unit
points
Type
course
Edition
2026-2027
Catalog
2026-2027 Bulletin
Source
bulletin.columbia.edu
HRTS UN3960Refugees, Rights, and Representation3.00

Given that, according to the UNHCR, there are currently 108.4 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, over 35 million of whom are refugees, it is unsurprising that their predicament preoccupies international lawyers, academics from the social sciences to the humanities, engineers and economists, journalists, policy specialists at NGOs, government officials, artists, tech companies, philanthropists, and, most significantly, displaced persons themselves. This seminar asks how these different actors draw on specific discourses and arguments—technological, scientific, personal, moral, historical—as they construct the figure and the problem of ‘the refugee.’ We will recognize refugee crises as an issue of urgent public concern as well as an occasion for interrogating how such crises are represented across academic, legal, and cultural conversations. Does displacement caused by personal persecution, natural disasters and climate change, armed conflict, or economic deprivation invite different kinds of international attention or sympathy? Where does the sanctuary promised the citizen end and the hospitality owed the stranger begin? How do contemporary developments in climate science, social media technologies, and big data intersect with discourses on refugees? And if ‘the refugee’ tells the lie to the nation state’s capacity to account for the world’s people, what other forms of political and social organization does the refugee live, inspire, create, or warn against? To consider such questions, we will examine political theory, history, anthropology, and philosophy; analyze international legal documents, policy proposals, investigative journalism, and NGO reports; and engage with novels, poetry, film, and photography, among other materials

Subject
HRTS UN
Credits (min)
3
Credits (max)
3
Credit unit
points
Type
course
Edition
2026-2027
Catalog
2026-2027 Bulletin
Source
bulletin.columbia.edu
HRTS UN3970Introduction to Genocide Studies3.00

This course provides students with an introduction to the study of genocide. In this class, we will take a critical approach to understanding genocide, meaning: we will try to avoid easy moralizing and distancing of genocide; we won’t take existing legal and political definitions of genocide for granted; and we will think about power in relation to genocide perpetration and prevention. Our strategy will be interdisciplinary, meaning: we will explore the ways historians, psychologist, lawyers, political scientists, and others have tried to understand genocide; and we will reflect on the limits on what and how we can know about genocide as a human experience. This course aspires to be practical and applied, meaning this course fundamentally anti-genocidal in its purpose, and students will have the opportunity to contribute to and/or develop practical efforts commemorate, advocate against, or prevent the perpetration of genocide

Subject
HRTS UN
Credits (min)
3
Credits (max)
3
Credit unit
points
Type
course
Edition
2026-2027
Catalog
2026-2027 Bulletin
Source
bulletin.columbia.edu
HRTS UN3994HUMAN RIGHTS SENIOR SEMINAR RSRCH METHOD4.00

This course aims to introduce students to human rights research methods, while providing them with practical research tools. The course will be tailored to students’ interests, disciplinary backgrounds and research areas. The specific topics students will research and the methods they will employ will determine the substantive focus of readings. During the course we will ask the following questions: ‘what is human rights research?, how do you carry out research in an interdisciplinary field?, what distinguishes academic research from applied research and advocacy? While answering these questions, you will become familiar with the literature on human rights methodologies, and you will engage in analysis and critical assessment of important human rights research literature. In addition, the course gives a practical approach to research methodology. You will learn about a diverse set of methodologies, such as interviewing and focus groups, archival research, ethnographic and participant observation, interviewing focus groups, conducting online research; interpretive and non-empirical methods and basic quantitative methodologies to be employed in the study of human rights. As you learn about different methodological approaches, you will develop your own research project. Scholars and practitioners in the field of human rights research will present their work and engage in discussions with students about their own research, challenges, successes and publication venues. NB: This course is geared towards students who commit to writing a senior thesis. It is part of a two-course sequence: HRTS UN3994 Section 001 Human Rights Senior Seminar: Research Methods in the fall and HRTS UN3996 Human Rights Thesis Seminar in the spring. Students who do not intend to write a thesis should enroll in HRTS UN3995 section 001 Human Rights Senior Seminar, which is a one-semester course taught each semester focused on writing a seminar paper

Subject
HRTS UN
Credits (min)
4
Credits (max)
4
Credit unit
points
Type
course
Edition
2026-2027
Catalog
2026-2027 Bulletin
Source
bulletin.columbia.edu
HRTS UN3995HUMAN RIGHTS SENIOR SEMINAR4.00

Prerequisites: HRTS V3001. The senior seminar is a capstone course required for the human rights major. The seminar provides students the opportunity to discuss human rights from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and to explore various theoretical approaches and research methodologies. Students undertake individual research projects while collectively examining human rights through directed readings and discussion

Subject
HRTS UN
Credits (min)
4
Credits (max)
4
Credit unit
points
Type
course
Edition
2026-2027
Catalog
2026-2027 Bulletin
Source
bulletin.columbia.edu
HRTS UN3996HUMAN RIGHTS THESIS SEMINAR3.00

Prerequisites: HRTS W3995 Human Rights Senior Seminar. Additional information available at: http://humanrightscolumbia.org/education/undergraduate Prerequisites: HRTS UN3994 Human Rights Senior Seminar: Research Methods. Additional information available at: http://humanrightscolumbia.org/education/undergraduate This course is designed for human rights students who wish to write a honors-eligible thesis. The course will consist of group sessions, during which time students will present their work and participate in discussions, and individual meetings with the thesis supervisor. The course instructor is the thesis supervisor for each student

Subject
HRTS UN
Credits (min)
3
Credits (max)
3
Credit unit
points
Type
course
Edition
2026-2027
Catalog
2026-2027 Bulletin
Source
bulletin.columbia.edu

Source: Columbia University in the City of New York's catalog, linked per course · table learning_unit · CourseShelf publish 61