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| PIR-30126 | Human Rights: Concepts, Norms and Identities | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Co-ordinator: | Dr Monica Mookherjee Room: CBA1.026, Tel:33213 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teaching Team: | Dr Brian Doherty, Mrs Paula Hughes Dr Jonathan Parker Prof Bulent Gokay Mrs Julie Street Dr Monica Mookherjee Prof Andrew Dobson Dr Sherilyn MacGregor Dr Sorin Baiasu Dr Philip Catney, Miss Laura Barcroft, Mrs Diane Mason, Dr Rachel Turner, Mr Derek R Bell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lecture Time: | See Timetable... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level: | 3 | Credits: | 15 | Study Hours: | 150 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Programme/Approved Electives for |
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| International Relations
Dual Honours (Level 3) International Relations Major (Level 3) International Relations Minor (Level 3) International Relations Single Honours (Level 3) Philosophy Dual Honours (Level 3) Philosophy Major (Level 3) Philosophy Minor (Level 3) Politics Dual Honours (Level 3) Politics Major (Level 3) Politics Minor (Level 3) Politics Minor (Level 3) Politics Single Honours (Level 3) |
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| Available as a Free Standing Elective |
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| No |
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| Barred Combinations |
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| Nil
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| Prerequisites |
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| None |
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Description The module examines core understandings of human rights as moral and legal norms that protect all persons from serious violations of their freedom and access to decent standards of living. It considers the normative validity of protections afforded by international human rights covenants to freedom of conscience; due process and access to fair trial; entitlements not to be enslaved or tortured; and to be protected from poverty and genocide. The first part of the module focuses in particular on theoretical debates surrounding the justification of human rights, inquiring whether interests in rational agency or material wellbeing serve as an adequate source of legitimacy. It examines Rawls&© famous Law of Peoples, which claims that the self-determination of non-liberal peoples must be respected, and that liberals cannot justifiably impose sanctions to secure liberal political rights for all citizens of the world. The controversy over global responsibilities is then examined. Does the human right to live free from poverty and malnutrition entail that citizens of rich countries bear $ùperfect&©, or non-negotiable, duties of justice to alleviate global poverty? Or is this not an absolute duty of justice but a matter of charity? Moreover, do rich governments have a duty to refuse to participate in a world order that systemically violates the rights of the world&©s poor? The later stages of the module pose more specific questions: can historical human rights abuses of apartheid regimes ever be forgiven, and do the formerly oppressed have a duty to relinquish just claims against their oppressors in the name of peace? Finally, the moral individualism presupposed by the concept of human rights is questioned from non-western, post-modern and feminist perspectives. |
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| Aims |
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| 1. To encourage students to form an understanding of the conceptual and normative basis of human rights. 2. To assist students to explore the problems with and limitations of existing human rights theories by focusing on current debates about world poverty, violence against women, the historical wrongs of apartheid and the complexities of religious diversity. 3. To enable students to acquire subject-specific knowledge as well as employability skills, including the capacity for reasoned argument through writing the essay; for effective planning and preparation through the essay plan; and independent reasoning skills by taking the exam. |
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| Intended Learning Outcomes |
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| Identify and describe major bodies of literature or schools of thought relating to human rights. will be achieved by assessments: 01; 02; 03 Compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of varying perspectives on human rights theory with a view to assessing their critical and normative potential. will be achieved by assessments: 01; 02; 03 Demonstrate rigour in the critical assessment of arguments presented in pertinent readings in human rights theory, as prescribed in the reading-list and, where appropriate, from the students' own searches. will be achieved by assessments: 01; 02; 03 Evaluate the persuasiveness of liberal defences of the priority of first-generation human rights compared to prominent alternative perspectives. will be achieved by assessments: 01; 02; 03 |
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| Study hours |
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| 20 hours attendance at seminars (2X10 hours) 50 hours preparation for seminars 20 hours revision for examination 2 hours taking the examination 20 hours researching and writing the essay-plan in consultation with a member of staff. 38 hours researching and writing the essay. |
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| Description of Module Assessment |
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| 01: Essay-Plan weighted 20% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tutor-assessed essay-plan of 800 words. Summatively assessed, with formative feedback. Students will be asked to formulate, by Week 6, an essay plan that demonstrates clear engagement with the primary and secondary literature in one important area of conceptual debate covered in the module. The purpose of the exercise is to encourage students to concentrate on a specific theoretical problem, and to summarise clearly the main arguments that may be raised in relation to it, whilst defending a well-defined perspective. |
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| 02: Essay weighted 40% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tutor-assessed essay of 2,500 words A a specified date towards the end of the teaching programme, students will be asked to submit an essay from a given list of questions. The purpose of this task is to enable the student to analyse independently an area of debate within theories of human rights which engages their critical and logical skills , wh ilst also prompting them to practise key conventions of academic writin, such as consistent referencing, accurate self-expression and an ability to assess contrary arguments in a reasoned way. |
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| 03: 2 Hour Exam weighted 40% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| An unseen two-hour examination in which students must answer two questions from a choice of six or seven. |
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| Version: (1.05A) Created: 01/Oct/2013
This document is the definitive current source of information about this module and supersedes any other information. |
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