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Unit of study_
HSTY2616: The Human Rights Revolution
2020 unit information
What accounts for the spectacular rise of human rights movements and norms from 1945 to the present? This unit investigates the causes and consequences of this radical global transformation in transnational activism, foreign policy and international law. The first portion of the unit explores the early history of natural rights, minority rights, women's rights and humanitarianism. The second portion examines the impact of domestic politics, gender politics and geopolitics on the postwar 'human rights revolution'.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Arts and Social Sciences
| Study level | Undergraduate |
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| Academic unit | History |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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12 Junior credit points in History or Ancient History or Asian Studies |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. A historical perspective on contemporary debates in the wider field of human rights scholarship, including over whether human rights are a Western imperial project, whether some categories of rights should take precedence over others, and the conflicting political uses and abuses of human rights
- LO2. Consideration of the cross-cultural dimensions of human rights through a comparison of their genesis across time and space
- LO3. Identification of problems with human rights and humanitarian practices in history so as to improve their implementation in the present
- LO4. Historically informed dialogue with scholars and fellow students on controversies over the human rights of diverse social groups in Australia today
- LO5. Application of new digital tools such as Text and Data Mining to human rights research
- LO6. Critical appreciation of new interdisciplinary approaches to human rights that integrate scholarship in fields such as imperial, transnational, and gender history with critical theory, cultural studies, and gender studies
- LO7. Proficiency in applying these methodologies in a research project of your ¿design
- LO8. Improved writing abilities and independent research skills resulting from the completion of a research essay on a topic of your choice
Unit availability
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
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