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This is the only Human Rights and Diplomacy Masters course in the world taught in partnership with the leading training body of the United Nations: the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).
This is an interdisciplinary course that combines law, philosophy and politics of human rights. Students from politics, philosophy, sociology, including law and other disciplinary backgrounds can apply for either the MSc or the LLM.
You’ll learn about the practice and theory of human rights laws and politics, the UN human rights institutions, their history and their philosophical foundations. You’ll be taught by top human rights researchers and will be given practical training from experienced UN personnel in negotiating draft documents, and learning how to make a difference.
The course includes a study visit to Geneva for all students, to observe the Human Rights Council in session. Additionally, for the final three months of the course, if your profile is strong enough then you’ll have the opportunity to apply for a highly desirable internship, or else to pursue projects with human rights organisations or tackle a traditional dissertation.
Top reasons to study with us
Course objectives
- Explain, analyse and apply international human rights law in both theory and practice.
- Engage in the theoretical framework of diplomacy, its history and the development of international relations.
- Engage and debate critiques of human rights.
- Draft documents and possess the skills needed to negotiate their progress in a range of human rights institutions.
- Find your way within the United Nations Institutions working on human rights matters and local NGOs.
- Apply a wide range of theoretical and practical methods to human rights research, activism and politics.
Work placements
In the Autumn semester, students with a strong enough profile will be supported to apply for UN internships. These have recently included internships at the International Court of Justice, IRMCT, the UN Joint Inspection Unit, UNESCO, UNICEF, UN Women, UNDP and others. These internships are generally unpaid.
Many other students pursue integrated professional projects in Scotland and the UK. Recent projects included:
- the Forth Valley Welcome refugee organisation;
- Nourish Scotland on the right to food;
- Positive Action on Housing focused on rooms for refugees;
- Scottish PEN focused on journalists' and writers' rights;
- Howard League Scotland focused on the rights of prisoners;
- Stirling Council working on poverty sensitivity training;
- Leprosy Mission Scotland; Revive Campaign on the psychological effects of explosive violence;
- the UN Special Rapporteur for Cambodia.
Our course has partnered with UN Women (UN organisation dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women), International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the Institute for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (IHRDA), the East African Centre for Human Rights (EACHRights) and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights to deliver placement opportunities to some of our students.
Entry onto the course does not guarantee entry onto the UN internship module. There is a limited number of places on this module, so students for this module need to go through a further selective application and possible interview process during the course. Students who do not gain entry to the UN internship module are supported to pursue excellent placements in non-UN human rights organisations, or undertake a dissertation.
Study abroad
As well as the integrated trip to Geneva for all students, the UN internships include options abroad. Those who pursue an internship will have living costs of approximately £1600 per month for internships in Geneva, approximately £1600 per month for internships in New York, and £1000 per month for internships in Rome – with variable costs for alternative internships.
We recommend you consult websites for cost of living in different locations if you are planning to pursue the UN internship. Those who pursue local Scottish or UK based projects or the academic dissertation also need to think about the cost of living in those locations. Go to the Which? website to see an estimated breakdown of student costs, helping you to work out your budget.
Research overview
Course lecturers Dr Damian Etone, Professor Rowan Cruft and Dr Oche Onaziare are widely-published in the areas of human rights and diplomacy.
Professor Cruft’s monograph, Human Rights, Ownership, and the Individual, was published in 2019 by Oxford University Press. It offers an account of the philosophical foundations of human rights, defending their conception as rights rather than mere values, goals or duties. He is also co-editor of OUP’s 2015 volume, Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights.
Dr Etone is Joint Coordinator for the UPR Academic Network and his monograph, The Human Rights Council: The Impact of the Universal Periodic Review in Africa was published in 2020 by Routledge, assessing and defending the universal periodic review process as an important addition to the international human rights monitoring framework. He also reports on international criminal law cases for OUP’s International Criminal Law Series.
Dr Onazi’s research interests cover areas of legal philosophy, human rights, and law in development. recent work has focused on disability justice in the context of African legal philosophy and African philosophy. He is the author of An African path to Disability Justice: Community, Relationships and Obligations (Springer 2020).