Peqod :: Classes - Columbia University Catalog of Classes

This course provides students with an introduction to the history of human rights as a compelling, contested, and dynamic constellation of discourses, structures, and practices. As a framework for articulating and pursuing justice at local, national, and global levels, human rights in the 21st century draw on the diverse histories of social movements, moral philosophy, legal institutions, and political maneuvers across the modern period. Claimed most frequently when their violation is most egregious, the history of human rights is also a history of wrongs, with the changing nature and scope of oppression serving to provoke different kinds of human rights struggles. Often invoked as timeless and universal standards, the history of human rights demonstrates their basic malleability, both in terms of which rights are recognized and who qualifies as human, and their fundamental contingency, both in terms of the precariousness of any human rights ‘victory’ and their potential for co-optation in the interests of power. Finally, while this course is primarily concerned with the history of human rights, we will also consider the human rights of history, reflecting on the role of history and historical consciousness in the pursuit for justice.

Learning Outcomes

Aligned with the critical, historical, and integrative grounding of the course, the objectives for student learning encompass areas of
knowledge
,
skills
, and
values
. They include:

Students will analyze the change over time of human rights discourses, institutions, practices.

Students will analyze the continuities and discontinuities between historic and contemporary forms of human rights.

Students will develop knowledge and understanding of various strategies for promoting human rights deployed by historic actors.

Students will develop knowledge and understanding of the role of history and historical consciousness in contemporary efforts to secure human rights.

Students will develop their capacity for empathy across difference.

Students will orient their own values in relation to the dynamic principles of human rights.

Department: Institute for Study of Human Rights
MW 2:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.
Instructor: Glenn Mitoma
Info
3 points

Details

HRTS UN3940

Latin American Lives

LATIN AMERICAN LIVES

Department: Sociology @Barnard
M 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
Instructor: Maricarmen Hernandez
Info
4 points

Details

SOCI BC3941

RACE AND RACISMS

Department: Ethnicity and Race, Center for
W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
Instructor: Bahia Munem
Info
4 points

Details

CSER UN3942

ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE

ENGLISH TRANSLTNS OF THE

Department: English and Comparative Literature
T 10:10 a.m.-noon
Instructor: David M Yerkes
CULPA: 41 Info
4 points

Details

ENGL UN3943

Life on Mars: Building a New Society in

Life on Mars: Society & S

This course explores the interdisciplinary challenges of establishing a human society on Mars. Students explore a number of challenges that are involved in reaching the Red Planet and setting up a functional social habitat for the long term. This includes both the numerous logistical hurdles of traveling to and surviving on Mars, as well as the social, political, and ethical considerations of establishing a new society on the planet. Through analysis and discussion of scientific research, social science texts, and popular media, students will gain a deep understanding of the physiological, psychological, and strategic challenges of long-duration space travel and human habitation on another planet.

The course is not scientific or overly technical in nature. Instead, the perspective being adopted is that of a social scientist seeking to understand how humans can travel to another planet and live together. The first half of the course focuses on the practical, physiological, and psychological challenges of traveling to and surviving on Mars while maintaining contact withEarth. In the first part of the course, students will study the unique environmental conditions of Mars, the health risks of space travel, and how to maintain communication and connectivity with Earth despite vast distances. Students will also engage with how sustainable living on Mars—through food, energy, and resource management—could shape the future of human expansion in space.

The second half delves into the complexities of building social, legal, and economic systems in a new extraterrestrial society. Students will critically evaluate how to create a self-sustaining, functional civilization on Mars. Given the social science focus of the class, there will be emphasis placed on topics such as governance, establishing social contracts and property rights, and building economic systems for an entirely new world.

This course is meant to attract a small group of 10-15 students interested in space exploration. The small size and intensive four-hour class format is intended to foster creative problem-solving and interdisciplinary thinking (see below for discussion of non-traditional format). By the end of the course, students will not only understand the practicalities of space colonization but also develop skills in envisioning and designing innovative solutions for humanity’s future beyond Earth.