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127

Human Rights as an Academic Discipline:
Challenges and Opportunities
Buddhadeb ChaudhuriHuman rights are often examined only within the scope of law. It is true thatlegal provisions are essential to claim any right, including human rights,
but perhaps mere legal provisions are not enough to understand, protect
and promote human rights in most societies. Even though the general framework,
philosophy and perception of human rights should be universal, the crucial pointis, can we really understand the scope and dimensions of human rights without
considering the concerned society and culture? Can society, culture and economy
be neutral? These questions bring out the issue of holistic understanding of human rights. Anthropology with its holistic approach can contribute significantly inunderstanding the causes and factors of human rights violations and strengthening
the forces of struggle for promoting and protecting human rights at different levelsof society.
Rupees after one year. Considering the highinterest rate, a borrower is generally unable
to repay the loan and ends up working for theland-owner/money-lender just like a bonded
laborer during his/her lifetime. In one case,a father who took loan for his son’s marriage
ended as a bonded laborer along with the newly
married couple to the family of the lender. It
repeated the same experience of the father when
he got married. India has abolished by law thebonded labor system, but poverty perpetuates
it in many places.
Case 3. Among the tribals in the Uttar
Pradesh hill areas, the dowry custom (where thegroom’s family pays the bride’s family) continues. As per their cultural tradition, the higher
the amount (it may be cattle or money) paid, thehigher is the social status. In most cases, people
pay more even if it means taking huge loans.
But poverty prevents loan payment after theSocietal context
As an anthropologist I share some of theexperiences and observations that have influenced the thinking and planning for an academic
program on human rights in India.
Case 1. A man in South India felt very thirsty
and tired at mid-day due to the oppressive heatof summer. He wanted to drink water from awell. He was however denied water and wasseverely beaten by the people in the community.
His only fault was his low social status, a very
low caste, the Dalit caste. The water of the well
was only for the high castes.
Case 2. In remote rural villages in Bengal,
feudal relations are quite strong. The more
affluent landowners keep farm servants. Farm
servants can get loans with high interest under
the duni system. A loan of 10 Indian Rupees,
for example, means a payment of 160 Indian127

128  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

marriage. As a result, sending the newly marriedbride to nearby towns to work as a prostituteand earn money to repay the loan has become
the general practice in the area.
Case 4. Great disparities in the number ofboy students and girl students even at primaryeducation level are very common in India particularly in rural areas. Girl students are usuallymuch less in number. This is also true withregards to health facilities and in many othermatters. A boy child is much better treatedthan a girl child in many families. The family isoften noted for being more caring towards a boy
child, giving him better food. The low status of
women is also reflected in the gradual declineof sex ratio in many parts of India.
Case 5. Development projects are oftencauses of displacement and more poverty.
These financially profitable projects, like planting of eucalyptus trees under the afforestation
program of the government, adversely affectthe indigenous peoples. They eventually sufferfrom loss of their homeland and livelihood.
They are deprived of the forests, which are theprimary and traditional sources of fuel, herbal
medicines, and food. They therefore suffer fromhealth, livelihood and other problems. Womenare significantly affected because of their role inpreparing the food for the family.
Case 6. Religion provides an identity but also
often leads to communal tension and conflictin different parts of India. While one cannot
blame religion for communal tension and theconsequent human rights violations, as a traditional social cleavage that provides identity,
vested interest groups have used it in a negative
way leading to division among the people thatfacilitates human rights violations.
Case 7. A critical analysis of the population growth rate of indigenous people in Indiashows that the growth rate of certain indigenous
communities is much higher than the national
average. But then, negative growth rate is also
noted in indigenous communities threatenedwith extinction. This is more common amongsmall indigenous communities. Though births

in such communities are often reported in national newspapers, the reasons for the decline in
population or negative growth rate were neverseriously examined. Is it due to any genetic
disorder? Since the survival of a community is
involved, this issue should be examined fromhuman rights perspective.
Analysis of these cases makes it apparent thatthe existing socio-cultural system and economic
conditions are mainly responsible for the violation of human rights. The Constitution of India
provides that all should have equal access overnatural resources and there should not be any
deviation from this principle on the basis ofcaste, creed or sex. But the socio-cultural systemfacilitates not only the denial of water from thewells provided by the government but also severe beating of a person belonging to a very low
caste (Dalit) who use them. Forced prostitutionof women and bonded labor are either due to
traditional customs or poverty in their respective communities. Women are discriminatedbecause of their low status in certain cultures
leading to general demographic imbalance. It
has also been noted how the dominant development paradigm is responsible for displacementof indigenous people, affecting their access andcontrol over natural resources and is responsible
for health hazards. Thus mere legal provisions
cannot prevent human rights violations becauseof the given social and economic systems. These
are the emerging areas of human rights which
no human rights scholar or activist can ignore.
Survival is the most crucial aspect in humanrights.
While some communities are facing extinction, we have not shown concern on thismatter. Even though such communities may
only constitute a very small percentage of thehuman population, can we ignore the possible
extinction of a section of the human population
because the number involved is small and they
are all “backward” indigenous communities?
Perhaps not, since everyone has the right tosurvive. It is true that such events and situations

Human Rights as an Academic Discipline: Challenges and Opportunities  129

may not exist in all the countries, particularlyin the West, but that does not mean that suchaspects should not be considered in the field of
human rights. It again brings the importanceof understanding the concerned society, culture and economy within the ambit of humanrights.

Anthropological approach to human rights
As an anthropologist, I am not only interested in studying people but also equally concerned about their development and welfare. In
fact, I am interested in making a bridge between
academic knowledge and development theory
and practice. In that process, I am also involvedin the development and welfare of the people
through government initiatives and non-governmental efforts. Through my participation in
the activities of the different non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs) in South and Southeast
Asia, I had the opportunity to understand the
problems of the people at the micro-level in the
countries in these subregions. In these countries,
few NGOs work in the field of human rights
but many more are working on broader areas ofdevelopment and welfare of the people to help
improve their quality of life and in the processcontribute in the protection and promotion ofhuman rights. Many NGO workers suggested
to me the introduction of a course on humanrights at the university level since I was also associated with the university system. I realizedthat it could not be a conventional subject andthe conventional approach is not appropriate
for the introduction of such a subject. Alongwith theoretical inputs, considerable emphasisshould be given on empirical situations andexperiences. The human rights activities involved refer to documentation or mobilization
against powerful forces like the state, vested
interest groups, political parties or the affluent
dominant section of the society. So it would bea very challenging job.
Modification in the course structure andteaching methods are also implied if the course
is introduced as an academic discipline. One
must have good knowledge about the legal provisions and at the same time aware of the sociocultural and economic systems and realities. One
must also have training on research methodology to collect and document cases of violation,
protection and promotion of human rights andalso to get good understanding of the humansociety. Generally in the university system there
is some restriction about the background of
the person who can deliver lectures in class. It
is expected that one must have Post Graduate
degree, if not higher degree, to deliver lectures.
But I realized that a human rights activist may
be a very appropriate person to deliver lectureand share certain experiences but may not haveany formal higher degree. Inviting such persons
to deliver regular lectures is rather difficult inany conventional-traditional university like theUniversity of Calcutta. But it is really hearteningthat the university agreed to my suggestions anda Post Graduate Program on Human Rights wasintroduced in 2002.
Before starting the Post Graduate Programon Human Rights in the University of Calcutta, I organized a number of seminars andworkshops on disadvantaged people, womenand children, environment and development,
health, religion-ethnicity-communalism andhuman rights and other related issues. A small
workshop was organized in September 2001
inviting people from human rights organizations and human rights commissions, social
activists and academicians to formulate a broadcourse structure incorporating the emerging
situations and challenges of human rights.
Though it was a small group, it represented
the different countries of South and Southeast
Asia and varied backgrounds. Finally a course
structure was prepared and submitted to the
University of Calcutta. It approved an International Post Graduate Program on Human
Rights that started to be offered from 2002. In
2006, the Ph.D Program in Human Rights wasintroduced. The course structure is modified

130  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

and changed from time to time. In 2007, thecourse includes Information Technology-relatedand HIV/AIDS-related issues.

Program rationale
Human rights, though considered inherent
and universal, suffer severe violations in various
forms ranging from deprivation of basic needs todiscrimination against women, children, Dalit,
tribal, ethnic, linguistic and other minorities.
These violations resulted in conflict, insurgency
and general restiveness among people who havebeen evicted, forced to migrate, or experienced
untold sufferings.
Most countries in the world have experienced colonial, military, autocratic and chauvinistic majority regimes. Political repression in
the form of arbitrary arrest, detention, torture,disappearances, summary execution and extrajudicial killings existed in these systems. In suchsettings, human rights issues and concerns havebecome highly sensitive topics for public discourse, much more for classroom discussion.
On the other hand, global political andeconomic regimes and dominant development
model in this era of globalization have resulted
in the massive depletion of natural resourcesand exploitation of human labor leading tofurther marginalization and impoverishmentof the people.
Recent changes in global politics, however,ushered in changes that created democratic
space for people’s movements, NGOs, civil society and people’s alliances to engage in humanrights protection and promotion work. Somegovernments established national human rights
institutions. These agencies face numerous challenges including changing perceptions and attitudes, bringing about reform in the bureaucracy
and legal system, and democratization of institutions and governance through genuine people
participation and empowerment. To meet thesechallenges there is a growing need to develop
human resources for the establishment of a truly

democratic, just and peaceful society.
The new millennium ushered in new opportunities and yet the old questions and challenges remain. The tremendous leap in the fieldof pure sciences and technology has been great
and unparalleled in the past century, yet thepersistent scenario of massive poverty, rampant
violence and lack of peace, blatant deprivationand social injustices point out the dire imbalance and gap. At the forefront of the quest forenlightenment and conquest of the unknown
future is education. Unfortunately, the same
civilizing system of education which we havecreated in the hope of delivering humankind
from the dark clutches of ignorance and poverty
has frequently lend itself to be the instrumentof our continued enslavement and captivity
into life systems that has long become obsolete.
The system of governance riddled with muchcorruption, the economic system that promotes
consumerism as model of development and acultural set-up that does not recognize the traditional and indigenous values are the order ofthe day. All these have contributed in propping
up an educational system that have bred passivity, competition and indifference, isolated fromsocio-cultural milieu and divorced from realities.
This kind of education has not only failed inits mission of answering the questions but has
also chosen to keep silent and alienated fromthe realities. Our challenge then is to evolve an
educational system that is responsive to the callof the times. This is an education that is firmly
rooted in the context and realities of the people- the educants and the educators themselves.
This is where the significance of a humanisticand development-oriented approach to pedagogy come to fore. Aware of these challenges,
the University of Calcutta realizes the crucialrole it can play in developing and evolving analternative educational program that molds not
only the mind but the heart as well. It takes uponitself to respond by striving for an educationthat not only affirms the values of humanity
but also empowers humankind to confront thechallenges of modern times.

Human Rights as an Academic Discipline: Challenges and Opportunities  131

The University of Calcutta, one of the oldest
universities in India, has played a significant role
not only during the freedom struggle against
the colonial rulers but also in initiating many
progressive pro-people academic programs andactively supporting many democratic movements in its long colorful history. In the recent
past, it has also been recognized as one of theoutstanding universities in India securing thehighest grade in the assessment of National
Assessment and Accreditation Council. True tothat spirit and tradition, the university has started a postgraduate course in human rights.

Program objectives
The program has the following objectives:
1. To develop a program that shall provide aholistic and comprehensive understandingof human rights as a concept that is interdependent with democracy, development andsocio-cultural pluralism in an integrative andmulti-disciplinary pedagogical approach.
2. To enable graduates to become not only
knowledgeable persons but committed andhave the conviction to work as human rights
defenders and advocates.
3. To develop skills necessary for the effective
implementation of national and international
mechanisms for the monitoring, protection
and promotion of human rights.
4. To provide a venue for the systematic analysis and understanding of the situation andproblems of human rights in Asia in generaland South Asia in particular.
5. To develop research endeavours in the fieldof human rights and to evolve research approaches, methodologies and techniques
appropriate for such studies.

Admission
The program is designed for academicians,
educators, practitioners, and general students
interested in human rights issues and open to

all nationalities. Admission, decided by a Selection Committee, to the program requires thefollowing qualifications:i. Bachelor Degree
ii. Proficiency in Englishiii. Good experience/strong interest in humanrights and social issues
iv. Other qualifications related to human rights
are additional considerations.

Duration and academic requirements
The normal duration of the program is
two years. However, each student may not be
required to stay for the whole two years in theuniversity. The first year consists of theoreticalclasses for two terms. The second year consistsof work (either individually or as a group) withan organization (mostly working on humanrights issues) and submission of report on it
for the first term. The second term is devoted
to work on a project related to human rights
and submission of a thesis under the guidanceof a teacher. In the second year, non-Indian
students can go back to their own countries forthese two programs and submit the report andthesis accordingly.

Scope and general course contents
Human rights education should preferably
be inter-disciplinary and not compartmentalized
into academic disciplines. It has to be conceptualized in their entirety. These are central to allsocial science studies. The contents of humanrights courses should incorporate and reflect theconcerns for democracy, development and peace.
In particular, in a region like South Asia, theymust include issues of social justice, distributive
justice, bringing marginalized and historicallydeprived section to the mainstream of national
life, protecting environment and ecologicalbalance, and ensuring steady and meaningfulprogress and development in individual’s as132  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

well as national life.
To ensure comprehensiveness and incorporation of national, regional and international
perspectives, the broad contents of courses onhuman rights cover the following:i. Philosophical and cultural bases and historical perspectives
ii. Interdependence of and linkages between
human rights and democracy, pluralism,
development, ecological balance, peace andmilitarization at the national and international levels
iii.	National perspectives: The historical context;
colonialism and post colonialism; post independence national development; protectionof marginalized groups including minorities,
women and children, dalits, tribals, etc.; theviolation of rights by the state and its agencies, body of laws, by-laws and rules, etc.
inconsistent with human rights norms; violation of rights by armed political groups andterrorists; intra-societal violation of rights ofthe poor and weak by the dominant groups
including gender inequalities, exploitations
and injustices; the role of the judiciary, National Human Rights Commission and theother Statutory Commissions; the role of
the NGOs and the media in the context ofpromotion and protection of human rights
iv. Regional Perspectives: Features of the region
like pluralism, economic poverty, colonial
past, rigid social structure and social inequalities, mass illiteracy, constant threat topolitical stability and democracy, growing
consumerism and recently introduced globalization process in the context of protection and promotion of human rights
v. International Perspectives: The study of thetexts, treaties, arrangements and structuresand instruments innovated by the international community in the post-world war
period for the promotion and protectionof human rights; Role of institutions likethe United Nations Organization, Officeof the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR), UNESCO, World

Health Organization (WHO), International
Labour Organization (ILO) in the context
of human rights; Causes of success and failure of these institutions in protecting andpromoting respect for human rights.

Faculty
The members of the faculty include:• Academicians from different departments of various universities in India andabroad• Researchers in India and abroad• Chairpersons/ Members of Human
Rights Commissions•	Senior members of different national/
international organizations, particularly
human rights organizations•	Social activists in India and abroad.
Besides academic or theoretical studies inanthropology, a strong and major sub-discipline
in anthropology called applied or action anthropology (where studies are mostly focused on thedalits, indigenous peoples or ethnic minorities,
children, women, refugees, etc.) forms part ofthe program. Incidentally, the main subjects
of applied or action anthropology are mostly
the groups where human rights violations are
more evident.
The course focuses on the study and advocacy of human rights around the world not
only from an anthropological perspective. Its
aims include thinking critically about humanrights—seeing them not as a given category,
but as a set of conceptual frameworks throughwhich rights or claims are made and socio-political transitions are accomplished. It considers
ways in which human rights are constituted asa trans-national discourse and a field of action.
It examines the rights of indigenous peoples,
ethnic and religious minorities, the dalits,
women, children, prisoners of war, refugees
and populations assaulted by racism in varied
cultural and trans-national settings. Incidentally,Human Rights as an Academic Discipline: Challenges and Opportunities  133

anthropological-holistic understanding andmethodology are very appropriate to study thesecommunities or groups.

The experience so far
When the program was introduced, there
was no undergraduate course on human rights.
Since the program has an inter-disciplinary
perspective, it goes beyond the usual perceptionof rights as relevant to law. Thus apart fromstudents of law, students from social sciencebackgrounds (anthropology, sociology, psychology, political science, economics, geography,
philosophy and history) apply for admission.
There are even students with computer sciencebackground applying for admission. In the admission interview, they pointed out that in thecontext of globalization process, computers andthe Internet could play an important role forthe protection and promotion of human rights.
Such students were also selected. It should be
noted that people with background in humanrights activity, working in human rights organizations or NGOs with welfare and development activities are given preference over otherapplicants. Two to three students with suchbackgrounds are selected each year.
The large number of students applying
for admission to the program each year is anencouraging aspect. The fifteen available seatsin the program attract as many as two hundred
applicants. In many cases, students who didvery well (second place among university students) in examinations for Bachelor of Arts andBachelor of Science degrees joined the program
instead of their own field for the post-graduatelevel. This reflects genuine interest of the students in human rights. In each year around 50%of the students belong to this category.
The program, implemented as a distinct,
separate discipline for the first time in Asia andnot as part of law or sociology or anthropology or political science disciplines, has createdconsiderable interest among academicians andNGOs. On a number of occasions, the activities
or scope of the program were reported in manynational newspapers. It benefits from fruitfulcontacts with NGOs in Asia working on human rights issues. Students have participatedin seminars/workshops or training programs ofdifferent human rights organizations in India,
Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka andThailand before completing their course. The
students have participated on fifteen occasions
in training programs/seminars or workshops
outside India within the last two to three years.
Three students were selected as Interns in UNICEF in 2006 and as Intern in Thailand in 2003.
At present, three students of the first batch are
studying outside India, in the United States ofAmerica, United Kingdom and Thailand. One
completed a specialization course on Genderand Development at the Asian Institute on
Technology. The course was also introduced in
the undergraduate level in two good colleges
affiliated to the University of Calcutta. Four former students of the program work as lecturers
in these colleges. Some former students are also
working in the different national/ international
NGOs. One is attached to the Human Rights
desk of Reuters.
Inspite of limited resources, the students
are provided with national and international
exposure. We also organize regular lectures,
seminars and workshops independently or incollaboration with other organizations. During the last five years, we have organized fiveinternational workshops/seminars on different
human rights issues where all our students
got the opportunity to interact with national/
international participants.
The students also conduct fieldwork, document cases and prepare dissertation works on
different aspects of human rights. For fieldwork,
all students generally focus on a particular area,
whereas for documentation and dissertation
work, they separately work on their respective
issues. During the last four years, the fieldwork
was on indigenous communities (focusing on
their displacement) and child labor. For dis-134  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

sertation and documentation, studies focusedon women and children, environment and development, prison situation, old age problem,
dalit issue, refugee and displaced population,
HIV/AIDs, religion-communalism and human rights, indigenous peoples, beggars andurban poor, minority rights, media and humanrights, information technology and humanrights, health and human rights, etc. It is also
encouraging that students obtain jobs in different national and international organizations
related to the issues they focused on for theirdissertation work. There are at least four casesof students getting such jobs in different organizations. The students are also involved as
research staff in different research projects inthe university.
There is a plan to start an e-newsletter andpublish the studies made by the students. Thereis now a search for funds for these plans. They
will provide a good opportunity for student
involvement. They will also encourage the students to make good research since there is thepossibility of publication. Some students havepublished a number of articles in different journals or edited books. There are around twelve
research publications of the students publishedin national/ international journals and edited
books. They have also regularly contributed innational newspapers.
The students have performed quite well,in competition with other graduate students,
in participating in international activities. A
student was selected as one of the fourteen
participants from all over the world in a United
Nations-supported workshop on human rights.
She was selected on the basis of an article submitted for this purpose. The students have also
participated in regional programs organized by
the South Asia Forum for Peace and Human
Rights, ODHIKAR, FORUM Asia, Asian
Resource Foundation/Asian Muslim Action
Network, etc., again in competition with othergraduate students.

Conclusion
Human rights are now a topic of pressing
concern in a world of conflict, competition andseemingly relentless globalization. Anthropology, with its rich understanding of local cultures,has developed the theoretical and practical skills
for analyzing human rights issues in context. It
equips students with a reflective understandingof their own cultural and professional practices,
whether they work in organizations that increasingly concern themselves with human rights
issues, or are seeking a socially aware approachto a pressing topic of our time.
The program provides a lively and stimulating look at key human rights issues and the way
anthropology’s unique cross-cultural perspective has contributed to their understanding
and debate. Particular attention is given to casestudies of Asian situations, in order to explore
how rights operate in social life and are shapedby wider cultural forces. We explore important
topics relevant to the critical study of humanrights. Students gain grounding in the anthropology of law, power and rights and consider
how globalization is linked with the rise ofhuman rights and other rights-based concerns,
including: indigenous rights; environmental
and land rights; child, health and medical rights;
war, violence and social justice; and, cultural andintellectual property rights. The program offersa broad-based approach, with options on publichealth, children, international human rights law,as well as intensive training in ethnographic
research methods.
Anthropology’s cumulative knowledge of human cultures, and of human mental and physicalcapacities across all populations, types, and socialgroups, attests to the universality of the humancapacity for culture. This knowledge entails an
ethical commitment to the equal opportunity of
all cultures, societies, and persons to realize thiscapacity in their cultural identities and social lives.
However, the global environment is fraught withviolence, which is perpetrated by states and their

Human Rights as an Academic Discipline: Challenges and Opportunities  135

representatives, corporations, and other actors.
This violence limits the humanity of individuals
and collectives.
Anthropology as a profession is committed
to the promotion and protection of the rights ofpeoples everywhere. When a culture or society
denies or permits the denial of such opportunity
to any of its own members or others, an anthropologist has an ethical responsibility to protest
and oppose such deprivation. This is impliedin the basic document, Universal Declarationof Human Rights, and other international
human rights instruments, but based also on
the expanding definition of human rights that
include areas not necessarily addressed by international law. These areas include collective
as well as individual rights, cultural, social, andeconomic development, and a clean and safe
environment.
Anthropology as an academic discipline
studies the bases and the forms of human diversity and unity; anthropology as a practiceseeks to apply this knowledge to the solutionof human problems. Anthropology is concerned
whenever human difference is made the basis
for a denial of basic human rights, where “human” is understood in its full range of cultural,social, linguistic, psychological, and biologicalsenses.
An anthropologist recognizes and respects
human differences, both collective and individual, rather than the abstract legal uniformity ofWestern tradition. In practical terms, however,its working definition builds on the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social andCultural Rights, the conventions on torture,
genocide, and discrimination against women,
and other treaties which bring basic humanrights within the parameters of international
written and customary law and practice. It may
be emphasized that the concept of human rights
is consistent with international principles but
not limited by them. Human rights are not a
static concept. Our understanding of humanrights is constantly evolving as we come to know
more about the human condition. It is therefore
incumbent on anthropologists to be involved in
the debate on enlarging our understanding of
human rights on the basis of anthropologicalknowledge and research.
While anthropology can contribute significantly in the study of human rights, humanrights can in turn enlarge the scope of anthropological study and research. As it involves
rights, the legal parameters are obviously there.
Without legal provisions, the rights cannot
be claimed. But there are also traditional or
customary rights in many societies. Naturally,
if we consider the issue of human rights, wecannot confine our attention only within theframework of Western nation states. Thus it isequally important to consider the concernedsociety, culture and economy. Again, it is also
important to critically examine the development paradigm that often creates environmental
problems affecting certain sections of the humanpopulation. Thus, for human rights study andresearch, an interdisciplinary study and researchis needed. There are also interesting emerging
areas like environment, HIV/AIDS, Information Technology and Human Rights. In fact,
the understanding of human rights is constantly
evolving with the change and development of
human society.

136  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

Annex A
Human Rights Program
Course Structure:
I. Theoretical Courses: Paper I to Paper V(Each paper-100 marks)
II. Practical Courses: Paper VI to Paper X(Each paper-100 marks)
Paper I to Paper V: First year
Paper VI to Paper X: Second year
Paper I
1st Half		(a) Introduction to Human Rights(b) Philosophy, History and Development of
Human Rights
2nd Half 		(c) Social Theories
Paper II
1st Half			(a) Human Rights Laws, Mechanism andInstruments
2nd Half			(b) Human Rights Methodology - Social Action and Solidarity
Paper III
1st Half 			(a) Research Methodology and Human
Rights2nd Half 		(b) The Emergence of Civil Society(c) Human Rights in the context of Terrorism
and Militarization, Democracy and Peace
Paper IV
1st Half Globalization and Human Rights(a) Consumer Rights
2nd Half Ethnicity, Communalism and Human
Rights(b) Torture and Human Rights

Paper V
1st Half Human Rights and Disadvantaged
People(a)	Women, Children and Human Rights
2nd Half			(c) Human Rights and Environment, Education and HealthPaper VI(a) Status Report/Report Writing & Viva
Paper VII(a) Field-Work / Report Writing & Viva
Paper VIII
1st Half(a) Documentation, Reporting & Appeal withreference to Human Rights Issues (At least
3 case studies)
2nd Half			(b) Comprehensive Viva		
Paper IX & X
Dissertation Paper and Viva

Course Description:
1.		Introduction to Human Rights: The
course emphasizes the historical development of human rights in the context of universal experience of humankind, ideologicaland philosophical foundations of humanrights as well as modern concepts of humanrights. It pays special attention to developing students’ understanding and analyticalcapabilities of problems and policies in addressing current human rights situations.
	Ethical and moral bases of human rights; Indigenous and traditional concepts of humanrights; Social, cultural, economic, politicaland civil rights.
2.		Philosophy, History and Development of
Human Rights: This is a study and analysis

Human Rights as an Academic Discipline: Challenges and Opportunities  137

of economic, social and cultural rights andcivil and political rights on the basis of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International of Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, and the Internationalof Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It
encourages the analysis of economic development and human rights practice, humanrights and religion. It involves comparative
studies of human rights in societies with different political, economic, social and cultural
systems.
		Human rights situations; Comparative studyof South Asian constitutions with respect toprovisions on Human Rights; Evolution anddevelopment of human rights.
3.		Social Theories: The study of sociologicaltheories, concepts, determinants, and related
issues of human rights, particularly Easternconcepts and ideologies in order to develop
analytical ability and applicability to the process of social changes, and social interactions
related to human rights and democracy.
		Cultural relativism - Ethnicity, pluralism andnationalism; Democracy and governance
Peace and militarization; Theories of Development.
4.		Human Rights Laws, Mechanism andInstruments: This emphasizes the evolution
and conception of human rights, the attempt
to make human rights as natural rights become legal rights, problems and constraints
to enforcing legal instruments on humanrights. It also studies the legal dimensionof human rights, the human rights protection system of the United Nations and its
specialized agencies as well as comparativeinternational norms as expressed in international instruments and domestic laws. It
promote an understanding of evaluation of
the humanitarian thoughts and practice, thelatest developments in humanitarian law,role of international humanitarian organizations and the law of war, status of prisonersof war, protection of civilians and the rules
for the conduct of hostilities.
		International Humanitarian Laws, Constitution, and National laws; Mechanisms
and instruments for protection, monitoringand promotion of human rights-the United
Nations bodies, international institutions forhuman rights.
5.		Human Rights Methodology - Social
Action and Solidarity: This unit concentrates on the implementation of professional
ethics. It identifies and analyzes the context
of human right issues. This will be done
through the study of ethics and the practicalapplications of ethics in professions such as
health, education and research, mass media,
business, judicial process, and military. It
discusses the relationship between legal
norms and professional norms as well as
ethical problems posed by contemporary
development. It covers a comparative studyof constitutional law concerning humanrights of various countries. It compares otherlaws dealing with human rights. It considers factors limiting the effectiveness of law
enforcement in various countries, such asproblems in organizing public agencies andin criminal justice administration as well as
administrative law.
		Monitoring, promotion and protection
human rights; informational and educational campaign, planning and management.
Awareness building, community organizing
and social action. International solidarity
and networking.
6.		Research Methodology and Human
Rights: The course covers the basic theoryof statistics for research, the utilization of
packaged program, computer system andInternet as well as applied program for the138  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

management and searching of data relating
to human rights. In addition, the students
will study social science research methodology, definition and research process. The
course studies the introduction to inquiry,
how to formulate research problems, conceptual frameworks and hypotheses, research
designs, data collection, data analysis, interpretation and writing of research reports andthe ethics of social science researchers. It covers studying multiple classification analysis,
analysis of covariance, multiple correlation,
path analysis, discriminant analysis, factor
analysis, developing an index for humanrights, democracy and peace.
		Special emphasis on social action research,
participatory approaches, techniques, campaign building, advocacy and networking.
7.		The Emergence of Civil Society: This covers the spectrum of socio-political forces, human rights movements and achievements.
8.		Human Rights in the context of terrorism and Militarization, Democracy andPeace: This pays special attention to newchallenges to the realization of human rights
and democracy as well as human rights development and democracy in South Asia.
9.		Globalization and Human Rights: This
examines human rights and a new international economic and social order, rights todevelopment and the relationship between
development, democracy and universal enjoyment of all human rights.
10. Consumer Rights: This examines the
background of principles and concepts of
the necessity to proclaim consumer protection law, legal measures for the protectionof consumer rights, methods of law enforcement and solutions to the problems relating
to consumer rights. The comparative studiesof the principles of consumer protection

law in various issues in Thailand and othercountries will be also conducted.
11. Ethnicity, Communalism and Human
Rights12. Torture and Human Rights
13. Human Rights and Disadvantaged
People: This studies the rights of the groups
particularly exposed to discrimination suchas national ethnics, immigrants, and thefundamental rights of refugees. It investigates the implementation or enforcementof agreements and measurements. It studies
the basic rights of persons with disabilities
as important members of the human community. It explores the various situations
or conditions such as socio-economic,
political and cultural factors both positively
and negatively affecting their quality of life
particularly rights of these people at local,
national, regional and global levels. It also
investigate the process of the struggles forthe rights of disabled persons, their roles andparticipation of the people and organizations
involved in the promotion of the rights of /for persons with disabilities.
i) Minoritiesii)	Ethnic minorities (Indigenous People)iii)	Dalitiv) Refugees, Migrants and Stateless Populationv)	Disabled Personsvi)	Landless and Urban Poor.
14. Women, Children and Human Rights:
The study is divided into two major parts,
namely women’s rights and rights of thechild. Concerning women’s rights, the study
emphasizes global and regional standards ofhuman rights, policy and directions of thecountry to address women issues, women’s
rights in legal framework, and discrimination against women and political, economic
and social rights of women in light of theHuman Rights as an Academic Discipline: Challenges and Opportunities  139

Beijing Conference. For the rights of thechild, the attention is paid to the protection system of the rights of the child, theadministrative system in child-courts andthe legislation regarding minors.
15. Human Rights and Environment, Education and Health
16. Status Report/Report Writing andViva:[Each student will be required to write a report/status report on human rights situationin general or on a specific topic analyzing
secondary data.]
17.Field-Work/Report Writing and Viva:[Each student will submit a report on thesocio-cultural, economic and political situation of an area based on empirical data.
This would train student to understand thesocio-cultural, economic and political reality
and background that are often responsible/
instrumental for human rights violation.
This field-work can be conducted in a groupin a particular area or individually.]
18. Documentation, Reporting and Appeal
with reference to Human Rights Issues- (Minimum of three case studies):a) The students will be required to document
and report cases of human rights violation, problems related to human rights

issues and cases of protection of humanrights including appeal.
b) Comprehensive Viva of the wholecourse.
19. Dissertation Paper and Viva:[Each student will be required to submit athesis on a specific topic related to any areaof human rights mainly based on empirical
data. This would be different with respect toeach student in term of region and/or topic.
It is expected that considerable secondary
data would also be analyzed to prepare thereport. This would be more critical andanalytical compared to Paper VI]
The following programs will also be organized in which each student is expected toparticipate:
1. One seminar in each month
2.	Lectures on issues related to humanrights
3. One/two special lectures by distinguishedscholars/human rights activists
4. One international seminar in a year.
One/two visits to organizations working on
issues related to human rights in a year.
Note:
Viva - oral examination by experts mainly on
the basis of report/thesis submitted earlier.