The three core pillars of the United Nations are the maintenance of international peace and security, protection of human rights, and promotion of sustainable development. As climate change and disasters force migration and imperil the security of millions, autocratic governments roll back human rights protections and challenge the security of national borders, and human rights defenders and institutions are forced to retrench in the face of constricted resources, all three pillars face unprecedented threats. The intent of the program is to examine international legal and diplomatic mechanisms and their role in promoting and sustaining protection of human rights and collective security. The program will ask students to consider how international norms have developed over time, what happens when they are called into question or placed at risk, and what alternatives may be more effective.
Europe represents an important context for examining a system of collective security and its role in promoting the realization of human rights. From the UW Rome Center, students will have the opportunity to explore both the international and regional human rights mechanisms recognizing the rights of women, persons with disabilities, and older persons, among others, and see how those systems affect and apply to understandings of human rights at national and local levels.
In addition, students will also be well-positioned to study European perspectives on NATO and other mechanisms of collective security. The program includes a visit to Brussels, where NATO headquarters and the headquarters of the European Union are located, as well as a number of European nongovernmental organizations. Depending on the number of students in the program and the availability of funding, we may also be able to visit Geneva, the home of the human rights mechanisms of the United Nations as well as the UN's center for humanitarian action. In both instances, students will ideally have the opportunity to engage with stakeholders with expertise in collective security and human rights and gain an understanding of how experts in both fields work on a day to day basis.
Students will complete 15 credits by taking two seminars (International Law and Human Rights and European Security in a New Era) as well as a third seminar focused on an applied research project. The Applied Research course will fulfill the LSJ advanced departmental seminar requirement.
Courses will be listed as:
- International Law and Human Rights (JSIS 387/LSJ 491)
- After NATO? European Security in a New Era (JSIS 394/LSJ 490)
- Policy Analysis in Practice: Applied Research Clinic (JSIS 478/LSJ 491)