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International Human Rights Scholarship and Practice

Module Code: PO8016

Module Name: International Human Rights Scholarship and Practice

  • ECTS Weighting: 5
  • Semester/Term Taught: TBA
  • Module Personnel: Lecturer - Professor Tom Pelgram
  • Module Syllabus

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

  • Have a good grasp of the state of research in the field of human rights and
  • international politics
  • Be able to discuss, and critically comment on, the effects of international human
  • rights standards
  • Be aware of some of the major policy implications of scholarship on human rights


Module Learning Aims

By the end of this course, students will be familiar with major themes and debates in international human rights scholarship and their application to a variety of issue-areas related to domestic compliance effects and international organisations. They will have a good command of both rationalist and sociological explanations of the effects of international human rights standards.

Module Content

This short module examines some of the most prominent issues currently facing scholars in the field of human rights and international politics. It will survey cutting-edge approaches to the study of international human rights standards and, importantly, their impact; highlight key areas of contestation; and examine through concrete case studies the local effects of human rights law and norms, with a particular focus on their transmission and impact in the developing world.


Recommended Reading List

Freeman, M., Human Rights: an Interdisciplinary Approach (Polity Press: 2011, 2nd Edition)
Dunne, Tim and Nicholas J. Wheeler, Human Rights in Global Politics (Cambridge University Press, 1999)

You may find it interesting and/or helpful to read an introductory overview of the sub-field of human rights. To that end, I suggest this textbook:

Baylis, J. et al., The Globalization of World Politics (Oxford: 2011, 5th Edition), especially Chapter 30. Also, chapters 17, 19, 20, 29, and 31

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Assessment Details

1 review essay: 30%; Participation: 20%

Final module dissertation: 50%

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Last updated 11 February 2013 polsci@tcd.ie.