Graduate Course List

This page provides an overview of our course offerings, to help students as they make decisions and plans for the academic year ahead. Please note that this schedule will be updated periodically and may be subject to change. Students are encouraged not only to revisit this page but also to confirm the course listings in the online Directory of Courses and Vergil, where course descriptions and class meeting times will be posted.
  • ISHR Fall 2024 Graduate Courses
  • HRTS GR6020 Introduction to Human Rights 
  • HRTS GR6800 International Human Rights Law 
  • HRTS GR6990 Human Rights Research Seminar 
  • HRTS GU4011 Indigenous Rights and Settler Colonialism in North America 
  • HRTS GU4215 NGOs and the Human Rights Movement 
  • HRTS GU4500 Socio-Economic Rights
  • HRTS GU4600 Human Rights in the Anthropocene 
  • HRTS GU4650 Children's Rights Advocacy 
  • HRTS GU4950 Human Rights and Human Wrongs
  • HRTS GU4965 Gender-Based Violence and Human Rights 
  • HRTS GU4970 Refugees, Citizenship, Migration  

As part of Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), our students take courses in a range of departments, including Political Science, Religion, Anthropology, Women’s Studies, and Sociology. Students can also take human rights related courses offered by other schools at Columbia.

Each semester, the program publishes a list of courses of potential interest to graduate students. We try to keep this information as up-to-date as possible, but students should also consult the Directory of Classes, departments offering the course, and school bulletins for additional course information when planning their course schedules.

This course list is subject to change upon receipt of additional course information. If you would like to suggest an addition or modification to this list, please email relevant course information and syllabi to humanrightsed@columbia.edu. Courses that are not on the pre-approved list may also fulfill degree requirements if the student can demonstrate that he or she can complete substantial coursework specifically focusing on human rights in that course.

Before each semester’s registration period, students should confer with the program to verify that courses of interest fulfill degree requirements.

Approval of a class for the degree does not guarantee enrollment in that course. Students are responsible for following all registration and cross-registration procedures. Consult the Directory of Classes and individual departments/instructors regarding any permission/application/prerequisites needed for a course.

Types of Courses

Pre-Approved Courses

Pre-Approved Courses automatically count towards the degree as an elective human rights course. They fulfill the concentration requirement of the degree, depending on the student’s selected concentration.

Additional courses

These courses are additional courses of potential interest to human rights students. Courses on this list, as well as others listed on the Directory of Classes, may fulfill degree requirements if the student can demonstrate that he or she can complete substantial coursework specifically focusing on human rights. Students who would like to count one of these courses towards the degree should consult with the program.

 

Dept Course # Format Title Instructor(s) Credits
LAW L8887 SEM 9/11 and the Rights of Non-Citizens Gelernt, Lee 2.0
WMST GU4317 SEM Advanced Topics: Gender, Culture, and Rights Bernstein, Elizabeth 4.0
HRTS GU4650 SEM Children's Rights Advocacy Becker, Jo 3.0
HRTS W4650 SEM Children's Rights Advocacy Becker and Bochenek 3.0
LAW L6408 LEC Constitutional Law: Religious Liberty Hamburger, Philip 3.0
INAF U6041 SEM Corporations and Human Rights Bauer, Joanne 3.0
LAW L9219 SEM Critical Race Theory Thomas, Kendall and Flores Forbes
LAW L8990 SEM Current Issues in Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Shapiro, Steven 2.0
POPF P8615 LEC Current Issues in Sexual Health Flynn, Andrea 3.0
EDPA TC4086 LEC Education and the Law: Speech, Religion, Regulation Parker, D 3.0
POPF P8676 LEC Epidemiological Methods for Measuring Human Rights Abuses Rohini, Haar 1.5
EPID P8489 LEC Epidemiology of the Mental Health Impact of Trauma, Violence and Loss in the Global South Neugebauer, Richard 3.0
INAF U6375 LEC Gender and Livelihoods: From Displacement to Early Recovery Buscher, Dale 1.5
POPF P8639 LEC Gender Based Violence in Complex Emergencies Potts, Alina 1.5
ITSF TC5008 LEC Gender, Education, and International Development Cortina, R 3.0
INAF U6143 LEC Gender, Globalization, and Human Rights Ergas, Yasmine 3.0
HRTS GU4965 SEM Gender-Based Violence and Human Rights Rajan, Julie 3.0
MDES GR8280 SEM Gender/Sexuality - Arab World Massad, Joseph 4.0
WMST GU4000 SEM Genealogies of Feminism: Vision and Difference Hirsch, Marianne 4.0
POPF P8607 LEC Health and Human Rights Advocacy Ahmed, Kayum 1.5
HRTS GU4950 SEM Human Rights and Human Wrongs Cronin, Bruce 3.0
LAW L9823 SEM Human Rights and the Question of Culture Thomas, Kendall 3.0
ITSF S4160 LEC Human Rights in Africa S Russell 3.0
ITSF TC4160 LEC Human Rights in Africa: Politics, Policies, and Pedagogies Russell, S 3.0
REGN U6545 SEM Human Rights in the Western Balkans Domi, Tanya 1.5
INAF U6489 SEM Human Rights Research and Reporting Levine, Iain 3.0
HRTS GR6990 SEM Human Rights Research Seminar Wyman-McCarthy, Tim 3.0
HRTS GR6800 SEM International Human Rights Law Cooper, Belinda 3.0
INAF U6490 SEM International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Law Fischer, Horst 1.0
ITSF TC4613 LEC International Perspectives on Peace and Human Rights Education Tibbitts, Felisa 3.0
HRTS GR9040 Internship Dugard, Jackie 1.0
HRTS GR6020 SEM Introduction to Human Rights Ikawa, Daniela 3.0
HRTS GR6020 SEM Introduction to Human Rights Rosenthal, Mila 3.0
HRTS GR6020 SEM Introduction to Human Rights Rosenthal, Mila 3.0
HRTS GR6020 SEM Introduction to Human Rights Ikawa, Daniela 3.0
LAW L8079 LEC Jurisprudence of War Fletcher and Paradis 3.0
LAW L6473 LEC Labor Law Barenberg, Mark 4.0
ANTH GR6170 SEM Law, History and Anthropology Messick, Brinkley 3.0
CLEN GR6300 SEM Literature and Politics: Black Radicalism and the Archive Edwards, Brent H. 4.0
LAW L9563 SEM Mental Health Law Levy, Robert 2.0
INAF U6173 SEM Migration and Human Development Naujoks, Daniel 3.0
CLEN W4550 LEC Narrative and Human Rights Slaughter, Joseph R. 3.0
HRTS GU4215 SEM NGOs and the Human Rights Movement: Strategies, Successes and Challenges Bickford, Louis 3.0
HROH UN5555 SEM Oral History and Justice: Memory Westhof, Zoe 4.0
INAF U8189 SEM Politics of History and Reconciliation Lang, Ariella 3.0
SOSC P8750 LEC Race and Health Fullilove, Robert E. 3.0
LAW L6333 LEC Refugee, Migration and Citizenship Law: A Comparative Perspective Benhabib, Seyla 3.0
HRTS GU4230 SEM Refugees, Forced Migration, and Displacement Nettelfield, Lara 3.0
INAF U8166 SEM Rethinking Human Rights and Humanitarianism Barkan, Elazar 3.0
HRTS G4400 SEM Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Human Rights Currah, Paisley 3.0
LAW L6428 LEC The Jurisprudence of Crime: Interdisciplinary Perspectives Fletcher, George 3.0
PHIL G9750 SEM Topics in Political Philosophy Moody-Adams, Michele 3.0
LAW L9165 SEM Transitional Justice Simpson, Graeme 2.0
HRTS GU4900 SEM UN Human Rights Bodies: Impact, Reform, Advocacy Winkler, Inga 4.0