Course Offerings for 2017/18

This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the study of human rights, human diversity (e.g., race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, disability), and the complex relationship between human rights and human diversity within contemporary states. The course may involve the study of specific cases, issues, debates, and important historical events.

Fall 2017; Winter 2018:

• BR1 (fall): MW 11:30-12:50p.m., Andrew Robinson 
• BR2 (winter): WF 11:30-12:50p.m., Andrew Robinson

Despite global economic growth, inequality between and within countries seems to have increased. This interdisciplinary course provides an introduction to international development: the processes, actors, approaches, interventions and policies affecting the lives of poor people across the world. Students will be introduced to key concepts and issues in international development, including such topics as human rights approaches to development, poverty, debt, environment, democracy, health, conflict, education, migration, indigenous peoples, culture and technology, and the role played by states, development agencies, international financial institutions, the United Nations and individuals.

Winter 2018:

• W 7-9:50p.m., Debra Chapman

This course takes disability as both the subject and object of inquiry. In order to critically examine the meaning of impairment and disability in contemporary culture, this course will draw from multiple disciplinary perspectives, including critical social theory, legal studies, human rights and biomedicine. Topics may include the history of disability studies, disability rights, advocacy and activism, biomedical and bioethical dilemmas regarding disability and impairment, and an exploration of disability as a social, rather than physical, construction. (Cross-listed as HS219.)

Fall 2017:

• R 7-9:50p.m., Zipparah Stephenson 

This course examines Canadian and international, especially developing world, perspectives on the historical and current struggles of women and girls to achieve equality and recognition of their human rights. Special attention is paid to how women's efforts have been shaped by and, in turn have shaped, cultural mores and regulatory frameworks.

Fall 2017:

• WF 11:30-12:50p.m., Catherine Stewart 

The theory and practice and interactive design for digital and social media, including designing for the web, wireless devices, and/or tablets. Students will learn to analyze project needs, strategize, and develop information and interactive designs and content.

Winter 2008:

• T 11:30-12:20p.m., Bruce Gillespie 
• T 12:30-2:20p.m., Bruce Gillespie (Lab) 

Focusing primarily on civil and political rights, this course introduces students to the idea and origins of human rights, the institutions that have been designed to protect them, and contemporary controversies surrounding them. Case studies and examples of violations will be addressed as appropriate. 

Fall 2017; Winter 2018:

• BR1 (fall): TR 2:30-3:50p.m., Robert Ame
• BR2 (winter): R 4:00-6:50p.m., Thomas Rose

This course will introduce students to the issue of cultural diversity and to multiculturalism as a political response to cultural diversity in Canada and elsewhere. The course will focus on the historical development of cultural diversity and multiculturalism policy as well as contemporary controversies. This course requires students to participate in experiential learning outside of the classroom and to produce a written assignment(s) based on their experiences. (Students who are unable to obtain a placement due to problems in their police record will be accommodated.)

For more information, see Community Service-Learning.

Fall 2017:

• WF 8:30-9:50a.m., Stacey Wilson-Forsberg

The course helps students understand the broad challenges and opportunities facing the peoples of the developing world (understood to include countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America) by studying the social and political context. Topics covered may include: the legacy of colonialism, global interdependence, religion, development, democratization, ethnicity and conflict, and women and gender.†

Fall 2017:

• T 4:00-6:50p.m., Pietro Pirani

This writing-intensive seminar will equip Human Rights & Human Diversity students to prepare for internships, postgraduate careers,and graduate study. Students will be introduced to and practice such transferrable skills as resume and cover letter writing, presentation making, teamwork, grant applications, précis-writing, report writing, and media monitoring. Students will also explore career options and opportunities for graduate study as well as plan how to prepare for these opoortunities.

Fall 2017:

• WF 2:30-3:50p.m., Andrew Robinson

This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the field of development studies. It focuses on theories and substantive issues of development, including the idea of development as a human right. Historical processes of development and underdevelopment, including internal and external factors, will be assessed. Theoretical approaches to the analysis of developing countries will be surveyed and their policy implications examined. (Cross-listed as OL301.)

Winter 2018:

• TR 1:00-2:20p.m., Oliver Masakure

Fundraising is an important skill upon which many organizations advancing human rights and other causes rely. For some people fundraising forms part of their job; for others it is the focus of their career. This course introduces students to key concepts and methods of fundraising. Topics addresses may include annual giving, special events, foundation relations, corporate relations, capital campaigns, endowed giving, and the ethics of fundraising.

Fall 2017:

• W 7:00-9:50p.m., Sherri Bocchini 

Students explore the burgeoning world of advocacy journalism and related media forms that explicitly challenge dominant institutions and values. They learn about the history and structure of the alternative media. They discuss its role in building community and promoting social change and debate both its value and viability in the contemporary media environment. Students evaluate and/or produce stories that challenge journalism’s professional and ethical conventions around objectivity, balance, transparency and relationship to sources. (Cross-listed as JN312.)

Winter 2018:

• W 2:30–4:20p.m., Patti-Ann Finlay
• W 4:30-5:20p.m., Patti-Ann Finlay Lab)

This course will explore criminal injustice, legal rights violations, and breaches of ethics within criminal justice systems. Topics may include: the wrongfully convicted, false confessions, jailhouse snitches, junk science, ritual abuse, recovered memory syndrome, legal/political corruption, the War on Drugs, mandatory minimums, forfeiture, prison-industrial complex, racial profiling, police and prosecutorial misconduct, professional ethics and international perspectives on injustice. (Cross-listed as CC313.)

Fall 2017:

• F 8:30-11:20 a.m., Kenneth Dowler

This course explores the theory and practice of children’s rights in North America, other world regions, and international law (especially the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child). Topics will include: the concept of childhood, the evolution of children’s rights, and contemporary issues, such as child labour, prostitution and sex trafficking, slavery, juvenile justice and child soldiers. (Cross-listed as YC320.)

Fall 2017; Winter 2018:

• BR1 (fall): TR 1:00-2:20p.m., Pietro Pirani
• BR 2 (winter): M 4-6:50 p.m., Robert Ame 

This course provides students with an overview of rights and freedoms in Canada, the institutions that have been designed to secure and protect them, and the impact they have had on Canadian society and politics. While the course will focus primarily on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (its origins, content, and impact) other topics may be addressed including human rights commissions and the development of constitutional rights in Canada. (Cross-listed as LY323.)

Winter 2018:

• W 7:00-9:50p.m., Thomas Rose

This course addresses crimes against humanity and humanitarian law. Crimes against humanity will be studied in theory and in practice, including critical examination of important historical incidents of genocide, war crimes and other atrocities. Study of humanitarian law will address its origins, philosophical foundations and evolution. (Cross-listed as CC325.)

Fall 2017:

• M 7:00-9:50p.m., Pietro Pirani

This course examines the ways in which justice is done in the aftermath of mass atrocities such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The course will address general approaches to justice after conflict (such as lustration, apology, reconciliation and criminal prosecution) and specific national and global mechanisms (such as War Crimes Tribunals, the International Criminal Court, Truth and Reconciliation Commissions).(Cross-listed as CC326.)†

Winter 2018:

• T 7:00-9:50p.m., Pietro Pirani

This course focuses on the United Nations as an institution at the centre of a broad system of global governance that includes regional institutions like the European Union and Organization of American States. The course will have a special emphasis on human rights and will also address other global issues such as peace and security, economic development, workers’ rights, the AIDS crisis, and environmental protection.

Winter 2018:

• R 7:00-9:50p.m., Pietro Pirani

This course focuses on the social determinants that influence the health of individuals, communities and countries and the social justice issues to which they give rise as an example of social and economic human rights in practice. Topics may include: economic, social and political dimensions of global emergency services; humanitarian aid; world health systems and development; international disease transmission; and population health and social justice. (Cross-listed as HS329).

Fall 2017:

• WF 1:00-2:20p.m. - Oliver Masakure 

This course critically examines the legal and social dimensions of intellectual property law in Canada and internationally. Students will be introduced to different types of intellectual property law and the influence of social developments on IP law (such as globalization or technological advancement) with special emphasis on the human rights implications of IP law. (Cross listed with LY333).

Winter 2018:

• MW 4:00-5:20p.m., Sowmya Vishwanatha

This course provides students an overview of the two primary methods of public opinion research; surveys and focus groups. Topics will include the nature of random sampling, different samping techniques, the psychology of answering survey questions, survey design, focus groups construction, moderation and their interpretation. At the completion of the course students will be sufficiently familiar with both techniques that they can competently deal with technical experts, interpret results and integrate findings into other projects. 

Winter 2018:

• TR 10:00-11:20a.m., Matthew Farrell

This course critically examines the legal and social determinants of labour law in Canada and internationally. Students will examine labour law as a means of distributing power between individual workers and managers and between social classes. Students will consider the role of international regimes in shaping local labour laws such as the International Labour Organisation and 'free' trade as well as other possible topics including the political role of unions, workplace dangers, strikes, compensation, wrongful dismissal, discrimination and human rights at work. (Cross listed with LY335).

Winter 2018:

• M 11:30-2:20p.m., Todd Gordon

This course applies an interdisciplinary approach to the study of immigrant and ethno-racial youth in Canada and, to a lesser extent, the United States. The course will cover such topics as: challenges faced by immigrant youth and how they differ from second- and third-generation youth; marginality, racism, and exclusion; and the critical role played by the educational experience on the outcomes of ethno-racial youth. (Cross-listed with YC365)

Fall 2017:

• WF 10:00-11:20a.m., Stacey Wilson-Forsberg

This course examines gender as a process of representation, and sexuality as a category of difference in the discourse of human rights. The impact of factors such as race, class and sexual orientation on notions of gender will be considered. Specific themes that will be explored may include: ideals of femininity and masculinity, resistance through tomboy and sissy narrative, queer gender theories, performativity and transgender subjects. It will also explore identities, movements, politics, or institutional regulations with a focus on sexual minority subjeccts. (Cross listed with CT370)

Winter 2018:

• TR 8:30-9:50a.m., Paula Butler 

This course explores the politics, history, and cross-cultural dimensions of efforts to recognize discrimination against people based on gender identities and sexual orientations (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) as a human rights issue in Canada, in other countries, and at the international level.

Winter 2018:

• WF 10:00-11:20a.m., Iga Mergler

This course focuses on the philosophical development of the idea of human rights, philosophical critics of the concept, and contemporary issues.

Fall 2017:

• M 4:00-6:50p.m., Chad Hillier

This course explores interactions between international human rights and non-Western cultures. Among topics that may be considered are: how culture, religion, gender, and human rights intersect; how Western and non-Western conceptions of human rights interact; and how to address local practices that conflict with international human rights (e.g., female genital mutilation, child slavery, and servile marital arrangements).

Winter 2018:

• M 8:30-11:20a.m., Robert Ame