This course introduces the principles and practices of human rights and humanitarianism in interdisciplinary perspective. We will inquire into the notions of "humanity" imagined and protected by each of these, as well as how each are bounded by national and colonial histories. The readings will help students explore how these hegemonic discourses and practices are culturally contextualized and mediated; and while trying to understand how claims of resistance and struggle are being re-articulated in legal languages of rights and entitlements and/or in a moral language of humanitarianism, we will pay particular attention to how these claims often have unintended consequences. Using gender, race and class as focal points, we will think about *who* benefits from these discourses and practices and what alternatives we may have.