ED/LL/PY/TH/UN 461-01 Revised syllabus for spring term
HUMAN RIGHTS: INTERDISCIPLINARY SEMINAR
Spring 2008, Thursdays, 2-4 pm, Campion 124
3 Credits (1 Fall, 2 Spring—“J” grade in Fall)
Professor David Hollenbach, S.J., with faculty of the Center for Human Rights and International Justice
Office:
Office hours: Wednesday, 4 - 5 p.m. and Thurs., 4 – 5 p.m., and by appointment.
Email: hollenb@bc.edu
Phone: 617-552-8855
Webpage: http://www2.bc.edu/~hollenb
This
seminar is sponsored by the Center for Human Rights and International
Justice. It draws faculty connected with the Center and students from
across the university into dialogue with each other and with international
speakers and visiting scholars on issues of human rights and international
justice. The seminar will be taught and organized by Professor David
Hollenbach, S.J., with participation by the Directors, Fellows, and Affiliated
Faculty of the Center. It will develop an interdisciplinary understanding
of--and responses to--the compelling human rights challenges of our times.
In academic year 2007-2008 the seminar's focus will be on the ethical, political,
legal, and psychosocial aspects of the human rights issues confronting migrants,
refugees and displaced populations throughout the world. The seminar
will begin with examination of several disciplinary approaches to human rights
and move on to particular focus on human rights issues raised by humanitarian
crises as a cause of forced migration and by the
Class Requirements:
1. Attend and participate in all the seminar sessions.
2. Do the assigned readings for the seminar sessions in advance of the sessions. All students should come to class prepared to discuss the readings, to interact with the student presenters, and to engage in discussion with the faculty member leading the sessin that day.
3. Working in teams, students will introduce the class discussion (the number of times depending on course enrollment). Working together, they will prepare a one-page handout as a basis for discussion, with copies to be distributed to all participants at the beginning of the class. This handout should contain: (a) The three or four major theses of the readings for the day, stated in complete sentences. A thesis is a direct, simple statement in propositional form of one of the affirmations being made by the author. In the oral presentation, the author's argument in support of each thesis should be presented. (b) One or two central questions the class should address in order to assess the significance and truth of the theses advanced by the readings.
4. Attend at least half of the sessions with guest speakers listed on the syllabus.
5. Undertake a research project on a topic in human rights that will be supervised by one of the Center's directors or affiliated faculty and also read by D. Hollenbach.
6. Prepare a proposal for the research paper in dialogue with the supervisor. The supervisin will normally be one of the faculty members associate with the Center for human rights and International Justice or who have led one of the seminar session. This proposal must be approved by the supervisor and by D. Hollenbach by January 17, 2008.
7. Presentation of the research project to seminar at one of last three sessions. D. Hollenbach will assign the date for this presentation by the end of January. The draft paper will be distributed electronically to all seminar participants by noon of the Tuesday prior to the presentation. Note: A draft is not the first few pages of a full paper. It should include:
· The title of the paper.
· A brief statement of the problem to be addressed in the paper. This statement of the problem should indicate the question to which the paper will provide an answer.
· The basic argument of the paper.
· The conclusion.
8. Submission of completed research paper to both the faculty member supervising the project and D. Hollenbach by May 1.
9. Academic Integrity.
Violations of academic integrity will be reported to your class dean and judged by the academic integrity committee in your school. If you are found responsible for violating the policy, penalties may include a failing grade as well as possible probation, suspension, or expulsion, depending on the seriousness and circumstances of the violation.
Schedule. Dates below include both required classes and events sponsored by the Center for Human Rights and International Justice related to the seminar theme. (These sponsored events are indicated in caps.) Students are expected to attend at least half of these latter events. Note dates now.
Jan. 17 Human Rights, Cultural Diversity, and the Unity of Humanity
Kwame Anthony Appiah, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of
Strangers.
Jan. 31 The relation of race, culture, and the human rights of immigrants.
Presentation: Prof. Janet Helms, Lynch School of Education, director Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture, readings will be distributed.
Friday,
Feb. 1, 12:30—2:30 pm
Center for Human Rights and International Justice lunch conversation, with
Peter Uvin,
Academic Dean of the Fletcher School of Diplomacy, Tufts University, and author
of Aiding Violence: The Development Enterprise in Rwanda and
of Human Rights and Development. To attend, contact
Feb. 14 Human rights, terrorism and martyrdom in the Islamic World.
Presentation: Prof.
Wednesday, February 13, 7:30 pm, McGuinn 121, center for human rights and international justice event. Thomas g. weiss speaks on Human Rights and a New U.N.: Academics, Practitioners, and NGOs.
Weiss is Presidential Professor of Political Science at the
Friday.,
Feb 29, 12:30 – 2:00 pm center
for human rights and international justice lunch conversations with peggy
levitt, chair, sociology department,
Feb. 28 Human rights and justice as a precondition for post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation.
Presentation:
Profs.
March 27 Presentations of Student Work
Friday,
March 28, 12:30—2:30 p.m. Center
for Human Rights and International Justice lunch conversation with Cutberto
Garza, Provost
of
April 3 Presentations of Student Work
April 10 Presentations of Student Work
May 1 Final papers due