MSc Human Rights

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Studying at LSE

This MSc offers a concentrated 12-month engagement with the foundations of, and key problems in, human rights and does so under the guidance of leading scholars in the field. The nature of human rights makes it not just an object of study, but also a matter of policy, intervention and practice. The links between theory and practice will be discussed throughout this multidisciplinary programme. Given its multidisciplinary approach, the programme applies a broad definition of human rights.

The degree is unique in linking three usually separate areas:

• Legal, philosophical and political perspectives on human rights.
• Social scientific research on the causes and control of gross human rights violations.
• Policy formation, legal implementation and the daily practice of human rights work in official government bodies, international structures and non-governmental organisations.

In addition to teaching and research, the Centre for the Study of Human Rights runs a public events programme which includes public lectures, visiting speaker seminars and conferences. Through this programme, the centre enables scholars, practitioners, journalists, and policy makers from the public, private, commercial and non-governmental sectors to examine critical issues in the field of human rights. For further details on these public events and information about the Centre for the Study of Human Rights generally, see lse.ac.uk/humanRights|. The Centre has also set up a programme of visiting fellowships and has an active research programme on which MSc students assist from time to time. For more information about the programme structure and study at the Centre for the Study of Human Rights you can view the current year's handbook from the Department of Sociology web pages, located in the index of documents|.

See also Student, Alumni and Academic Profiles|

About the MSc programme

Through the Centre for the Study of Human Rights, students will have contact with policy makers and practitioners, especially those from London based human rights organisations. Many staff work with activist and advocacy organisations. The degree programme is not, however, strictly vocational, nor does it offer any professional qualifications, whether in law or for the human rights practitioner. We offer you in depth postgraduate studies that serve as a guide to critical thinking about human rights.

The degree will provide you with:

• Relevant background knowledge in sociology, philosophy and law.
• Specialised knowledge in human rights thematic topics.
• Focused engagement on the subject that you choose for your research dissertation.
• Exposure to key national and international debates about human rights as an 'issue of our times'.

The degree will provide a strong foundation for careers in academic research and teaching; non-academic research (monitoring, evaluation); law, especially international law and advocacy (albeit usually with other qualifications); foreign policy work; working for activist organisations in the humanitarian sector: human rights; development; civil liberties; welfare; as well as specialised agencies concerned with, for example, refugees; women's rights; torture victims; children's rights.

Preference will be given to applicants with a good first degree in law or any core social science subject. We will consider applicants with a good first degree in any discipline who have (and can demonstrate) a special interest and/or practical experience in human rights.

Programme structure

The compulsory multidisciplinary human rights course provides students with an overview of the philosophical, sociological and legal approaches to this subject. The course gets students thinking about the foundations, concepts and ideals of human rights, while taking a critical view of them as an academic subject and area of practice. The course serves as an introduction to the core standards and structures of human rights and discusses a range of key issues in the current, ongoing debates about the role of human rights. While these may change from year to year, thematic issues that the core course covers include: democracy, genocide, globalisation, humanitarian intervention, migration, minority rights, right to life, terrorism and human rights, transitional justice, and world poverty. The course provides a strong intellectual underpinning for your multidisciplinary study of human rights, which will be built on in your optional choice of courses and dissertation.

Dr Alasdair Cochrane (philosophy), Professor Conor Gearty (domestic law), Dr Claire Moon (sociology) and Dr Margot Salomon (international law) are the central course lecturers. LSE staff who are members of the Centre's Advisory Board are also working actively on research and policy projects in human rights and closely related areas and bring a rich array of expertise to the Centre and our students. A selection of topics that staff research are: animal rights, climate change and human rights, conflict resolution, criminal justice policy, democratisation development, ethical foreign policy, ethnic nationalism, genocide, globalisation and global government, hate speech and freedom of expression, media and public reactions to atrocities, minority and indigenous rights, policing, refugee and asylum studies, religious rights, terrorism, transitional justice, torture, women's human rights and world poverty.

In addition to the core course and optional courses, students write a 10,000 word dissertation, assessed as the equivalent of a whole course. You can choose any subject that interests you under the broad human rights rubric, and you may take either a interdisciplinary approach or one that is more sociological, legal or philosophical, using original research or secondary sources. After consultation with your assigned supervisor, your topic is approved at the end of the second term. You will normally get started in the spring, but do most of the work in the summer months before the dissertation is submitted in August 2011.

We encourage students to deal with key issues through the lens of a particular case study, social problem or body of law, such as (to pick a selection from past years): reporting and representing genocide and mass-atrocities – human rights, objectivity and bystander apathy; the changes in American foreign policy in the Middle East after September 11; international financial institutions in sub-Saharan Africa; Japanese social structure and women's human rights; public protest and the freedom of political expression in the UK; the human rights role of the UN Security Council; transitional justice, child soldiers and African conflicts.

Compulsory courses

• Approaches to Human Rights
• Dissertation

Options

(* half unit)

Choose two or more optional courses (to the value of two units) from a wide range offered by the LSE departments and institutes associated with the Centre for the Study of Human Rights.

Options vary from year to year, but will normally include:

Department of Anthropology

• Anthropology of Development*
• Law in Society: A Joint Course in Anthropology and Law
• Anthropology and Human Rights*
• Anthropology of Politics
• Anthropology of Economy (1):  Production and Exchange*
• Anthropology of Economy (2):  Transformation and Globalisation* 

Development Studies Institute

• Population and Development: An Analytic Approach*
• African Development*
• Complex Emergencies* 
• HIV/AIDS and Other Emerging Health Threats*
• Managing Humanitarianism*

European Institute

• Ethnic Diversity and International Society*
• Identity, Community and the Problem of Minorities*

Department of Government

• National and Ethnic Conflict Regulation*
• Globalisation and Democracy* 
• The State and Political Institutions in Latin America*
• War, Peace and the Politics of National Self-Determination*  

Department of International Relations

• Conflict and Peace Studies
• Introduction to International Political Theory*
• The International Political Theory of Humanitarian Intervention*
• The Politics of International Law*

Department of Law

• Human Rights in the Developing World
• International Criminal Law
• The International Law of Armed Conflict and the Use of Force
• International Human Rights
• Human Rights of Women
• International Law and the Protection of Refugees, Displaced Persons and Migrants
• Law of Human Rights in the United Kingdom*
• The Theory, History and Practice of Human Rights Law*
• Human Rights in the United Kingdom: Theory, Law and Practice
• Terrorism and the Rule of Law*
• World Poverty and Human Rights*
• The International Law of Self-Determination*
• International and European Labour Law and Protection of Social Rights*
• International Dispute Resolution: Courts and Tribunals*

Department of Social Policy

• Child Rights, Child Poverty and Development
• Social Rights and Human Welfare*
• International Planning and Children's Rights*
• International Social Policy and Children's Needs*
• NGOs and Development

Department of Sociology

• Political Reconciliation 
• Racial Formations of Modernity
• Topics in Race, Ethnicity and Postcolonial Studies
• Race, Ethnicity and Migration in Britain (post 1945)*
• Race and Biopolitics*
• Ethnic and Religious Violence in Post-Colonial Societies*

Registration for these options depends on availability, regulations and conditions of the host department. Further restrictions apply to the Law Department options that are part of the LLM degree.