SIPA: School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University

Human Rights Program (HR)

Human Rights

The Human Rights Concentration at SIPA enjoys the rich intellectual resources of the University devoted to the multifaceted aspects of human rights across the various schools and departments. The Institute for the Study of Human Rights, which has been a focal point for human rights activities on campus for almost 30 years, is a major partner and resource for the academic work of SIPA students. The close cooperation between the Institute and the SIPA program has fostered new and old synergies, which continue to benefit SIPA students as well as the University at large.

A career in human rights today can lead in different directions, and is potentially very versatile. No longer is it limited to organizations with a singular focus on advocacy; issues of human rights arise within governments, international governmental organizations, corporations, community organizations, and service organizations working with health, shelter, education, livelihoods, urban planning, labor and more. Human rights now address issues like social justice, inequality, human fairness and human dignity. This new expanded vision of human rights is also manifested in the academy, where an increasingly interdisciplinary approach to human rights reminds us that human rights are not just for advocates anymore. New tools and strategies are required for working in these varied settings. As such, students are challenged to understand human rights across fields and varied contexts, and to garner skills that include not only substantive knowledge on the machineries of rights claiming at international and local levels, but also tools of analysis, such as gender/race critical theories and theories of globalization. As such, the concentration is designed to allow flexibility for students’ specialty within human rights (illustrative examples: Human Rights and Development; Human Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility; Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs; Human Rights and Climate Change; Gender Rights; Refugee Rights; Transitional Justice, etc.). Students may also choose to focus more generally on the field of human rights without specialty.

Students in the Human Rights Concentration have traditionally constituted a supportive and integrative community, with benefits both to personal and professional relations. It is at once a rigorous and rewarding concentration. We welcome your interest and participation in the human rights field.

The Human Rights Concentration is an interdisciplinary program, where professionals and scholars of different expertise and perspectives come together with the purpose of integrating human rights into all aspects of their work. The concentration comprises three layers: academic coursework, support for students in the program as well as extracurricular and social activities.

Academic Coursework

The concentration offers a range of interdisciplinary approaches to human rights, all of which build on the core curriculum.

At a time when human rights issues are at the forefront of international relations, the program trains students for different professions, notably international human rights advocacy, corporate social responsibility, monitoring and reporting, policy and empirical analysis, NGO development, humanitarian affairs, gender rights, and the protection of refugees and displaced persons.

In addition to interdisciplinary skills, policy and research training, the program assists students in obtaining internships and careers; organizes speaker series, specialist panels, and applied workshops; works closely with Columbia's other faculties, centers and programs engaged in human rights work; and has links with a wide range of human rights organizations both domestically and internationally.

Human Rights Concentration (HR) Curriculum

The HR Concentration requires a minimum of 15 points of graduate coursework. There are three elements to the curriculum:

 

For more information on HR courses click here.