Human Rights are one of the most globalised political values of our time and increasingly transcend the nation state. Reflecting this reality, the Sussex MA in Human Rights goes beyond narrowly legalistic approaches to critically examine how human rights are implemented, appropriated and resisted in a number of contexts around the world. It considers how human rights are socially embedded in wider processes of poverty, war and mass displacement, and the creation of global forms of governance. This interdisciplinary MA welcomes applicants with first degrees from across the social sciences, humanities and law.
The programme consists of four units (two core courses and two options), each assessed by a term paper of 5,000 words.
Students also write a supervised dissertation of 10,000 words on a topic of their choice.
Students benefit from an independent workshop, the Justice and Violence Research Centre Seminar Series and a Human Rights Film Series (in the Spring Term).
Autumn Term Core Courses (assessed by Term Papers of 5,000 words):
Human Rights and the Politics of Culture (core course)
Liberalism, Modernity and Globalization (core course)
Spring Term Options (assessed by Term Papers of 5,000 words):
Migration under the European Convention on Human Rights (option*)
Human Rights in International Relations (option*)
Women and Human Rights (option*)
Refugees and Development (option*)
Genocide in World Politics (*option)
In addition, students can replace one of the above options with any appropriate course in the University with the approval of the MA Convenor and the tutor of the course. This has allowed recent students to take:
Idea of Race (*option)
The Politics of Citizenship and Immigration (*option)
International Law in World Politics (*option)
Complex Humanitarian Emergencies (limited places) (*option)
Peace and Globalisation (*option)
Embodiment and Institutionalisation of Violence, Conflict and Conciliation (*option)
Summer Term:
Ethnographic Methods and Data Collection
or
Methods in Development
Supervised Dissertation (10,000 words)
Further Information:
MA Human Rights in Postgraduate Prospectus
How to apply to the MA Human Rights
Funding for graduate studies
Postgraduate Open Days
MA Human Rights - Programme Overview [PDF 41.47KB]
Contact:
Harry Barnett (Post-Graduate Co-ordinator, School of Global Studies)
Arts C, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9SJ UK
Email: globalstudiespg@sussex.ac.uk
* Note that not all options run every year.
