Winterschool at the Graduate School for Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam: Medicine and Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspectives

Since the universal declaration of human rights in 1948, ‘human rights’ has become a dominant moral language which has spread into various domains and areas of practice, including international development and foreign aid, and health policies and programmes. However, what does it mean exactly to claim a human right, to health for instance, or medicine? How are abstract human rights principles understood and put into practice in various contexts and to what effects? These questions are pertinent especially since it has been argued that ‘rights have arrived but justice has not followed’ (Unnitthan & Pigg, 2014). In this winter school, participants will engage in a critical, cross-cultural conceptual and empirical examination of human rights in relation to medicine and health, drawing on anthropology as well as other social sciences, law, and public health. We focus on three themes: human rights in relation to medicine; migration and asylum; and sexual and reproductive rights.  Sessions are interactive and led by a range of guest lecturers, including academics and practitioners.The  course takes place on 5 intensive days from 10 AM to 4.30 PM between January 8th and January 19th, 2018. The winter school is open to professionals working in related fields to health, medicine, sociology and medicine, in particular NGOs and policy makers and students having a Bachelor's degree or higher from an international or Dutch university.Registration ends November 30th 2017. (http://www.uva.nl/en/programmes/winter-courses/medicine-and-human-rights-in-cross-cultural-perspectives/medicine-and-human-rights-in-cross-cultural-perspectives.html)

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