This course examines the role of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms from a critical human rights perspective. The course situates the Charter in the larger context of an international discourse that includes prominent international human rights instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since its adoption in 1982, the Charter has […]
This course explores global commemorative gestures and remembrance practices relating to past human rights atrocities. The role of selective memory in the creation of national histories forged in the aftermath of mass violence are examined through truth commissions, museums, and memorials. Both state-sponsored and grassroots commemoration initiatives are considered to understand the relationship between power, […]
This course addresses the origins, commonalities, and differences between international human rights law and humanitarian action. It analyses classical and contemporary approaches to humanitarianism, as well as the challenges faced by international aid organizations, NGOs, courts, and tribunals that pursue humanitarian and human rights-related mandates. While human rights law views 'others' as holders of rights […]
This course explores the rise of the surveillance society in the 21st century from a critical human rights and equity perspective. Practices such as racial profiling, cyber tracking, international espionage, and government monitoring are examined, along with the consequences of surveillance for targeted communities. The course begins with an exploration of early surveillance activity in […]
This course uses a critical human rights approach to examine the multiple ways in which humans are forcibly displaced and dispossessed. Various factors contributing to the process of creating lives in refuge are explored, including the role of the state in regulating the global movement of bodies. This interdisciplinary course introduces the central concepts, main […]
This course examines how forms of social control can lead to violations of human rights. Topics may include the restriction of dissent; whistleblowing; activism; surveillance and securitization; the impact of patriarchal structures and ideology; and democratic mobilization. The course also examines the processes by which certain forms of social action and social difference get designated […]
This course uses a critical human rights approach to examine social movements. It takes a historical and comparative view of dissent, resistance, civil disobedience, and democratic action, and explores how social movements are sustained through time and across geographic space. This course is a critical examination of the content (theories, history and applications), context (democracy) […]
This course uses a critical human rights approach to examine, at an advanced level, issues in social theory and philosophy with a focus on equity. Students explore the relationship between these foundational theories and contemporary practices of rights and equity. We will explore Human Rights not only as a concept that presumes that all people […]
This course introduces research methods pertaining to critical human rights and equity studies. Qualitative and quantitative research designs and methods of collecting and analyzing phenomena pertaining to right and equity are undertaken. The links between theory (concepts) and practice (praxis, policy applications, ethics protocols) are presented. The distinctiveness of this innovative, interdisciplinary course lies in […]
This course examines imperialism, racism, and economics from a critical human rights perspective. Topics include economic class division, racial discrimination, and refugee migration, as well as the perpetual war economy, including the impact of race, class, culture, and gender as axes of domination in the globalized world. We will begin our examination by briefly looking […]