Introduction
The minor in Human Rights Advocacy seeks to educate the next generation of advocates by engaging students in supervised human rights fact-finding, documentation, and advocacy.
The minor provides a rigorous, structured program of study of human rights at Wesleyan, combined with supervised, reflective engagement in practical human rights projects through partnership with the University Network for Human Rights (UNHR). Students will gain multidisciplinary understanding of human rights norms, social conflict, and abusive conduct by state, corporate, and private actors, as well as practical training and actual engagement in human rights practice under the supervision of experienced, reflective advocates. The minor combines practical experience with critical inquiry and self-reflection through a strong curriculum of humanities, social sciences and other fields that provide lenses through which students reflect on the human rights movement, their own advocacy, and the specific fields within human rights that they wish to explore more deeply. The partnership with UNHR will provide students with an immersive experience in the study and practice of human rights that, to date, has been available only at law school human rights clinics.
Admission to the Minor
Admission to the program/minor will be by application to ensure that participating students are committed to its rigorous demands. Wesleyan students may apply to the minor once they have taken, or while they are taking CSPL128: Introduction to Human Rights Standards. The Steering Committee will select students for admission to the Minor. The gateway course for the minor is CSPL316: Human Rights Advocacy.