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Dept.: ANTH/ HRTS

Course No.: 280W

Credits: 3

Title: Human Rights in Democratizing Countries

Contact: W. Penn Handwerker

Content Area: CA4 Diversity and Multiculturalism

Diversity: CA4 International

WQ: W

Catalog Copy: ANTH 280W, HRTS280W Human Rights in Democratizing Countries Either semester. Three credits. May not be repeated for credit. Prerequisites and recommended preparation vary. Consent of instructor needed. Wilson Human rights, political violence, political and legal anthropology, prosecutions of human rights offenders, truth and memory, reconciliation, international justice.

Course Information: This course examines human rights issues in countries of Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe which are emerging from authoritarian rule and a history of mass atrocities and political violence. A theoretically and empirically grounded undergraduate course that explores selected topics dealing with human rights, constitutions, political violence, amnesty laws and truth commissions. The course is interdisciplinary and draws from law, political theory, and history, but highlights the contributions made by anthropologists to the understanding of building a democratic culture of accountability. The course will consist of 3-4 chapter or article readings per week, lectures, discussions, student presentations, a 3 page book review and a final term paper of 15-20 pages.

Meets Goals of Gen Ed: This course will assist students to become more articulate by requiring class participation and regular presentations on the weekly readings. Students will acquire intellectual breadth and versatility by reading and learning about a variety of historical contexts where societies have had to address a legacy of past human rights abuses. They will acquire critical judgment by reading conflicting views from lawyers, social scientists and philosophers on how to respond to mass human rights abuses and they will have to critically evaluate which views they prefer and defend their preferences and judgment, both in writing and in the class setting. Since the class focuses primarily on countries outside the United States , and especially Africa and Latin America , they will acquire greater consciousness of the diversity of human culture and experience.

CA4 Criteria: Given that this is a course directly about global human rights questions, it easily meets criteria # 4. ‘Develop an understanding of and sensitivity to issues involving human rights and migration; '. The course deals with how non-US societies in Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe have dealt with past human rights violations. This sensitizes students to cultural and societal diversity and to the rise of a global system of justice. By addressing questions of legal pluralism [ eg., formal law in the context of forms of mediation and adjudication outside of the standard legal framework] it deals with justice questions that are central to living in plural and multicultural societies.

W Criteria: 1. The writing assignments will compel the students to engage critically with specific questions in the course on the basis of their reading and classroom lecture and discussions. They will have to write a 3 page book review at mid term during the course [weight 10%] and a final term paper [15-20 pages, 60%]. Classroom participation and presentations will account for 30% of the course. 2. During the course there will be instruction in class on the expectations of the written assignments and each written piece will receive extensive individual written commentary. The instructor will meet with each student individually to discuss their question and outline of the final term paper. 3. Students will rewrite assignments on on the basis of instructor's commentary. 4. I confirm that the syllabus will inform students that they must pass the "W" component of the course in order to pass the course.

Role of Grad Students: Graduate assistants may be used to run the section discussion and discuss the readings and lecture with students and grade coursework practice essays [though not final term papers]. They would be given a thorough introduction to the course in the week before classes start and supervised on a weekly basis.

Supplementary Information: -KEY TEXTS Robertson, Geoffrey. 1999. Crimes Against Humanity. Barahona de Brito, Alexandra et al, eds., 2001. The Politics of Memory. Minow, Martha. 1998. Between Vengeance and Forgiveness. Ignatieff, Michael. 2001. Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry. Hayner, Priscilla B. 2001. Unspeakable Truths: Confronting State Terror and Atrocity. Krog, Antjie. 1998. Country of My Skull. Wilson, Richard A. 2001. The Politics of Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa . Borneman, John. 1997. Settling Accounts: violence, justice and accountability in postsocialist Europe . Mamdani, Mahmood. 2001. When Victims Become Killers: genocide in Rwanda