Human Rights and Documentary Media

The Graduate Certificate in Human Rights and Documentary Media provides training in documentary media to advance human rights.  The Certificate Program will appeal to: 1) students who have some documentary media background and would like to learn how documentary media can be used to advance human rights; 2) human rights stakeholders, such as those currently working in non-governmental organizations that are interested in adding the ability to create documentary media to advance their causes; 3) recent undergraduate students from the US and abroad with strong interests in social justice and human rights; and 4) students graduating from other UA programs especially M.A. and Ph.D. students (in such fields as Anthropology, Public Health, Sociology, Development Practice, and Arid Lands) who will be interested in receiving focused training in human rights and documentary media. 

Students will have the opportunity to engage with distinguished filmmakers and media activists through videoconferences, internships, class projects, mentorships, and capstone projects. The Certificate complements our existing M.A. courses in which students learn how to document human rights needs and abuses, advocate for, claim, and enact just practices, laws and communities that respect human rights across the world, and repair sequelae of human rights abuses.

 Graduates of this certificate program will be expected to meet the following learning outcomes:

1. Be able to analyze and knowledgably consider possible solutions for addressing human rights abuses, especially through community engagement and working with marginalized groups
2. Conceptualize and detail best and promising practices in respectfully gathering and presenting the voices of marginalized human rights stakeholders
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the process of media production, acquire or strengthen skills in camera, sound and editing,
4. Demonstrate a critical framework and vocabulary for discussing the production of documentary media as an integral part of activist campaigns. 
5. Produce or make a substantial contribution to a human rights and documentary media project that evinces experience and expertise in working with marginalized communities and other relevant stakeholders to address human rights abuses and to implement solutions to real-world issues

Please visit https://humanrightspractice.arizona.edu for comprehensive information about this program.