SP20343: Atrocities, conflict, human rights
[Page last updated: 04 August 2021]
| Academic Year: | 2021/2 |
| Owning Department/School: | Department of Social & Policy Sciences |
| Credits: | 6 [equivalent to 12 CATS credits] |
| Notional Study Hours: | 120 |
| Level: | Intermediate (FHEQ level 5) |
| Period: |
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| Assessment Summary: | CW 100% |
 Assessment Detail: |
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| Supplementary Assessment: |
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| Requisites: | |
| Aims: | This unit aims to introduce students to human rights as a field of advocacy, practice, and scholarship. The unit will present competing disciplinary accounts and critiques of human rights practice and theory, while centering human rights as a site of criminological concern at a 'global level' through their relationship to grave crimes under international law. The unit aims to examine explanations of serious human rights violations and conflict, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and historical injustice, via a range of case studies. The unit then aims to introduce students to opportunities and challenges for redressing serious human rights abuses, particularly in relation to key debates in transitional justice, historical injustice and International Criminal Law. |
| Learning Outcomes: | At the end of this unit students will be able to:
* Assess competing accounts and critiques of human rights * Critically evaluate key human rights instruments, policy texts and reports * Apply theoretical explanations of human rights violations to a range of case studies * Critically evaluate different approaches for redressing and reckoning with human rights abuses. |
| Skills: | The unit will foster the following intellectual skills:
* The ability to draw on and synthesise evidence from a range of sources * The ability to assess the merits and appropriateness of different explanations for crime and deviance * The ability to develop a reasoned argument and exercise critical judgement The unit will foster the following professional/practical skills: * The ability to critically reflect on different theoretical/methodological approaches within criminology * Written and oral communication skills The unit will foster the following transferable/key skills: * The ability to develop and present a well-structured, coherent essay. * The ability to marshal evidence and theory to support or challenge an argument in such a way as to demonstrate a critical awareness of the origin and bases of knowledge * The ability to apply key concepts in criminology and cognate disciplines to a range of problems * The ability to work and communicate as individuals, as well as in a team * Skills in information technology * Critical and analytical skills. |
| Content: | This unit has three core strands. The first explores the historical and theoretical foundations of human rights as a set of ethical, legal, and political claims underpinning that underpin the contemprary human rights regime. The unit then considers key critiques of the human rights project. The second strand focuses on serious human rights abuses and violations of international law, exploring a range of historical and contemporary case studies. The final strand explores key debates in transitional justice, historical injustice and International Criminal Law concerning the appropriate and effective mechanisms and approaches for redressing human rights violations. |
| Programme availability: |
SP20343 is Optional on the following programmes:Department of Social & Policy Sciences
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Notes:
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