Human Rights Courses

Instructors: Eric Stover, Rohini Haar

This course will explore how international human rights and humanitarian laws and norms impact public health in times of armed conflict and in peacetime, and how health-related data and policies may help promote human rights or potentially violate them. We will examine a wide range of topics, starting with the history of international humanitarian, human rights and criminal law, and foundational topics such as torture, protests, landmines and forensic investigations. We will then focus on how to investigate human rights violations and how practitioners employ research, documentation, advocacy and media to strengthen human rights norms. The seminar format allows students to engage directly in this interdisciplinary classroom, with each other and with guest speakers from relevant fields who will share their experiences with litigation, advocacy, research and policy-making.

Instructors: Alexa Koenig, Eric Stover, Linda Gordon

This seminar introduces the concepts and practices underlying human rights and war crimes investigations, including online open-source investigations that use social media and other publicly accessible, internet-based sources to gather and verify evidence for advocacy and legal accountability. The course will begin with an examination of relevant international law, as well as the procedures and methods undertaken by international courts, nongovernmental organizations, and UN and national human rights commissions to investigate alleged violations of international human rights, humanitarian, and criminal law. Students will also learn how to collect and authenticate digital information on war crimes and human rights abuses, along with the information needed to thoughtfully engage in real-world investigations.