We hear about human rights violations daily and we have an intuitive sense of what human rights are and why they are frequently under attack. This course offers a deeper dive into understanding specific human rights and the forces that are against them. By focusing on real world cases, the course will examine an array of tactics and causes of violations from disinformation and smear campaigns that target human rights defenders to labor and environmental violations committed by corporations in pursuit of profits, to mass atrocity crimes committed in times of war. In that context, the course will offer opportunities to explore and develop specific skills that can contribute to advancement of human rights. Students will learn how to identify disinformation, document online harassment and smear campaigns, analyze online platforms and their standards. Students will learn about tactics that corporate actors use to shield themselves from accountability and the initiatives underway globally to address them. Students will examine the use of digital technologies in tracking mass atrocities and in international prosecutions of human rights abuses. More broadly, students will learn how to do human rights focused research, conduct interviews, assess information for accuracy and translate legal and technical information into a more accessible language. Students will also learn how to present information, design an advocacy campaign and pressure for change. The course takes a global perspective with cases focused on the human rights situation in the US and internationally. In exercises students will be encouraged to use comparative cases from around the world to deepen their understanding of challenges and problem-solving opportunities in different contexts. The hands-on training and collaboration will help students build critical and analytical skills and become more active in engaging with their own human rights.

We hear about human rights violations daily and we have an intuitive sense of what human rights are and why they are frequently under attack. This course offers a deeper dive into understanding specific human rights and the forces that are against them. By focusing on real world cases, the course will examine an array of tactics and causes of violations from disinformation and smear campaigns that target human rights defenders to labor and environmental violations committed by corporations in pursuit of profits, to mass atrocity crimes committed in times of war. In that context, the course will offer opportunities to explore and develop specific skills that can contribute to advancement of human rights. Students will learn how to identify disinformation, document online harassment and smear campaigns, analyze online platforms and their standards. Students will learn about tactics that corporate actors use to shield themselves from accountability and the initiatives underway globally to address them. Students will examine the use of digital technologies in tracking mass atrocities and in international prosecutions of human rights abuses. More broadly, students will learn how to do human rights focused research, conduct interviews, assess information for accuracy and translate legal and technical information into a more accessible language. Students will also learn how to present information, design an advocacy campaign and pressure for change. The course takes a global perspective with cases focused on the human rights situation in the US and internationally. In exercises students will be encouraged to use comparative cases from around the world to deepen their understanding of challenges and problem-solving opportunities in different contexts. The hands-on training and collaboration will help students build critical and analytical skills and become more active in engaging with their own human rights.