Minor in Civil and Human Rights

Transform your studies with insights into race, social justice, and human rights
How does race continue to affect economic opportunity? What is the connection between gender and political power? When do universal rights conflict with cultural norms? What global mechanisms exist to protect basic human rights – and how well do they work?
Gain a new perspective on your major area of study through the lens of civil and human rights. The Klau Institute minor provides a distinctive interdisciplinary curriculum that emphasizes both domestic and international issues, giving you a broad-based view of the most critical global problems we face today.
Core courses introduce pressing issues of civil and human rights in the United States and abroad. Elective courses then allow you to tailor your studies by deepening your focus on a particular topic or expanding the breadth of your understanding of a fuller range of civil and human rights issues. A policy-and-practice based capstone course applies your studies to a real world problem.
In brief:
2 core courses (one domestically focused, one internationally focused): 6 credits
2 elective courses (6 credits)
1 capstone course (3 credits)
Representative courses
Internationally focused core courses
Introduction to International Human Rights
International Law and Human Rights
Domestically focused core courses
Building an Anti-Racist Vocabulary
Introduction to Civil Rights in America
Electives
International Human Rights Policy
Racial/ethnic Educational Inequality
African-American Resistance
Culture in/and Development
Topics in Civil Liberties/Civil RightsWomen's Suffrage: Gender, Politics and Power
The Politics of Compliance with International Law
Race and Ethnicity: Constructing Identity and Difference
Human Rights Reparations
Paradoxes of Human Rights
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Global Ethics: Introduction to Ethics from a Global Perspective
History of Race & Racism in Science
Capstone course
The minor in civil and human rights is designed to allow students to develop the foundation necessary for a lifelong commitment to pursuing civil and human rights within their chosen professions. Accordingly, the capstone course is policy-and-practice based. Students will complete both an experiential component and a classroom component. Informed by their practical experience and their prior course of study, students will produce a substantial policy brief or white paper on the topic of their choosing.
Concentration in Civil and Human Rights
Students currently enrolled in the Keough School's supplementary major in global affairs, with a concentration in civil and human rights, may find more information here.