Human Rights MA
Why choose this course?
This course explores how human rights link to politics, culture, institutions, organisations, nation states, pressure groups, movements and values.
You will analyse situations that have led to the violation of human rights. Examples include the use of drones in the "war on terror", United Nations negotiations to create a treaty on the human rights obligations of transnational corporations, the challenge of rising populism, questions of poverty and human rights in the USA and the UK, the rights of LGBTQI+ people, and the protection of refugees who flee conflicts and disasters. Optional modules and a dissertation will enable you to study your own interests in depth.
Originally founded by human rights practitioners, the course makes the most of its connections with organisations working on human rights. This has included working with large organisations such as Amnesty International and more local groups such as Refugee Action Kingston. These links have been used to facilitate opportunities for extracurricular experiences for our students.
Students are the driving force of our annual Human Rights Festival that brings together students, human rights practitioners, teaching staff and local people. By working on the event, students develop a wide range of skills including networking, teamwork, communication as well as deepening their knowledge and understanding of human rights in action.
Lively discussion is encouraged, with visiting speakers, leading academics and figures from human rights and international organisations contributing to the debate.
| Mode | Duration | Start date |
|---|---|---|
| Full time | 1 year |
September 2023 September 2024 |
| Part time | 2 years |
September 2023 September 2024 |
| Location | Penrhyn Road |
Reasons to choose Kingston University
- This course is taught in collaboration with Kingston University's Centre for Human Rights Practice. Staff include human rights practitioners, specialists and researchers.
- Guest lecturers, from human rights and international organisations, have included politician and activist Shami Chakrabarti, and the directors of non-governmental organisations.
- For the two years with a placement option, you will gain valuable experience through a placement in a human rights or social justice organisation.
Specialist careers support
You will take part in an Assessment Centre Experience, providing the opportunity to experience the pathway to employment with tailored feedback to help develop your employability skills for the world of graduate employment.
- Develop your understanding of the jobs market, including current trends and opportunities, different recruitment processes and how to identify relevant roles
- Receive personalised feedback reports to help you to improve and progress
- Access additional webinars on top tips, employer expectations and best practice
Kingston's Department of Criminology, Politics and Sociology
What you will study
You will look at the organisations and activities involved in the protection of human rights. You will explore social and campaigning movements, pressure groups, nation states, international and transnational organisations, and examine the scope of their contributions to the development of human rights and social justice.
You will analyse current international situations and relations between states and non-state organisations where conflicts have resulted in considerable violations of human rights.
You will investigate the challenges and demands that arise from the continual movements of peoples, refugees, asylum seekers and migrants who flee conflicts and disasters, seeking realisation of their fundamental rights.
Key topics in the curriculum are compiled on an annual basis, so your learning is based on major contemporary issues in human rights. For example, recent case studies in the core modules have addressed the human rights implications of the use of drones in the "war on terror"; the status of UN negotiations to create a legally binding treaty on human rights and transnational corporations; the challenge of rising populism; and the question of extreme poverty and human rights in the USA.
You will take 4 core modules and choose 1 option module from a broad selection.
Core modules
Option modules
Core modules
Politics Dissertation
60 credits
The masters programme culminates in the dissertation, an extended project that allows you to engage in independent research, applying and developing the content of the taught modules to a topic of your choice.
The dissertation is prepared for in Semester 2, and is then fully engaged in what is effectively a third semester.
Your dissertation research is supported by supervision, with the primary emphasis on independent study.
Research Skills and Dissertation/Project Proposal
30 credits
How is research conducted? What constitutes good research? How do you develop and carry out an independent piece of research?
This module is an integral part of this masters course. You are trained in the use of research sources, such as libraries and archives. The module guides you through a range of research techniques and methods and enables you to analyse how to choose the most suitable for a particular research project.
The module is designed to support other content-led teaching, especially the relevant core modules. In the first semester you are encouraged to apply skills to their course modules and evaluate what constitutes reliable, accurate and verifiable information. In the second semester you design a research proposal drawing on the lessons from the first semester. This will then form the foundation for you to research and write a dissertation over the summer.
Human Rights: Architectures, Actors, Activism
30 credits
This module is one of two core modules for students on the MA Human Rights, and can be taken as an option by some students in related fields who are interested in learning about the human rights architecture, its actors and their activism. It is aimed at clarifying central themes in the history and evolution of human rights, and looks also at the institutions and mechanisms operating at the international and regional levels to protect, promote and defend human rights. Through case studies, you will learn about the roles, functions and activities of key human rights actors and institutions at the international, regional and domestic levels. The module will include a critical evaluation of the challenges facing human rights actors and institutions in defending, protecting and promoting human rights and end with a critical consideration of the interplay between human rights actors, institutions and activism.
Strategies for Achieving Human Rights
30 credits
This module is one of two core modules for the students on the MA Human Rights, and can be taken as an option by some students in related fields who are interested in learning about practical strategies for campaigning for human rights. The main premise of this module is to critically assess the possibility of achieving human rights in various different contexts. You will explore what is meant by human rights and the protection of human rights. You will consider, in detail, the scope and content of a number of core rights. Through case studies illustrating various campaign methods and strategies, you will gain practical knowledge of how to design and deliver campaigns that have impact. You will simulate practitioners in the field and gain relevant expertise in campaign design. This module blends contemporary debates and contested issues with practical strategies of how to achieve the protection of human rights.
Option modules (choose one)
Crime, Harm and Justice
30 credits
This is a core module on the MA Criminology programme that aims to deconstruct the fundamental elements of criminology. In so doing, it develops a critical understanding of the concepts of ‘crime', ‘offender' and ‘victim', and their relationship to each other and to broader concepts of ‘harm'. The first part of the module explores a range of contemporary issues in crime and victimisation, fostering a critical awareness of their theoretical underpinning and of the role of power in defining and enforcing crime, and in labelling offenders and victims.
In the second part of the module you will engage critically with the concept of ‘justice' and criminological debates concerning to what extent justice is or is not accomplished through formal responses to crime. Within this section you will study the development, transformation, and the politics of policing as the gate keeping institution to ‘justice'. You will then study the philosophical justifications to punish, its theoretical explanations, and analyse its historical and contemporary forms. The module recognises the increasingly international nature of crime control and incorporates a comparative analysis of criminal justice. In so doing you will think critically about the role of structure and agency in understanding convergent and divergent practice in crime control and punishment.
Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
30 credits
This module will be examining some deeply troubling events in recent history and politics and the various ethical, legal and political responses that they have generated. It has been argued that the Holocaust was a critical turning point, a catastrophe which required a fundamental ethical, legal and political rethinking of how the rights of human beings could be protected when states in the modern world engage in the systematic attempt to murder large numbers of people, including many of their own citizens. The module begins with reflections on the Nazi attempt to eliminate a whole group of people (the Jews) and to murder and enslave millions of others. It then considers a range of responses, including the Nuremberg trials, the Genocide Convention, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It examines a number of cases of genocide and crimes against humanity that have nevertheless occurred subsequently. It evaluates the repeated failure for decades to halt or prevent these crimes and then considers the rethinking caused by the genocides in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and the setting up of ad hoc tribunals and an International Criminal Court to prosecute perpetrators and provide justice to victims. It concludes with reflections on how much progress has been made in protecting citizens in a world of sovereign nation states and what forms of justice can work after such crimes have been committed. These are highly contested questions and the module is designed to encourage the critical analysis and evaluation of a wide range of arguments that have been put forward from a variety of perspectives.
Conflict Theory and Resolution
30 credits
This module covers two aspects key to understanding and managing conflict within international relations. First, it looks at theoretical and analytical approaches to conflict. Drawing on insights from a range of social science disciplines – including history, psychology, anthropology, sociology, politics and international relations – this module critically examines the range of theories that have been put forward to explain how conflict arises and how it escalates. It also explores the way in which identity (such as religion and ethnicity), structural inequality, frustration and aggression can all play a part in creating the conditions for confrontation and conflict. Second, the module explores the wide range of ways in which international conflict can be managed and resolved and how a sustainable peace can be built in post-conflict situations. The module therefore explores topics such as
- The role of international law and international organisations in the management of conflict;
- The prevention and containment of conflict;
- Humanitarian intervention and peacekeeping;
- Mediation and negotiation;
- The role of NGOs and aid organisations in conflict; and
- Reconciliation and reconstruction.
Contemporary Issues and Case Studies in Security and Conflict
30 credits
This module approaches questions of security and conflict in the contemporary world by providing opportunities for their in-depth analysis in two contrasting ways: first, by focussing on a range of contemporary issues and dynamics raised by recent conflicts and security questions, each of them discussed with the help of a range of contrasting examples. Then, the second part of the module will provide an opportunity to explore two cases of conflicts and/or security crises, the study of which will allow in-depth discussion several of the issues explored in the first part of the module together.
Both parts of the module provide opportunities to use and challenge various theoretical and conceptual approaches of conflict and security issues at an advanced level. The range of issues analysed and studied in the first half of the module, as well as the choice of case studies selected each year for the second half, will evolve through time, but both will offer rich and contrasting grounds for an in-depth practical and critical understanding of contemporary security and conflict situations and management.
So for instance, issues, themes and dynamics explored and analysed in the first half will include: New forms of conflict in the post-Cold War period; Ethnicity and national citizenship in contemporary conflicts; Terrorism, insurgency and political violence; Issues of gender in conflict; Sovereignty, the Nation-State and international intervention; New forms of international conflict management, etc… Then, in the second half of the module, examples of case studies which will be developed may include: Recent conflicts in West Africa; Conflicts in Bosnia; the Northern Ireland conflict; etc. In analysing each of these conflicts, several of the issues and themes developed in the first part will be highlighted and explored within the case study itself – for instance the West African conflicts case study will provide ample opportunities to revisit and discuss issues such as ‘New forms of conflicts in the post-war period'; ‘Refugees, mass migration and citizenship', ‘Ethnicity and national citizenship in contemporary conflicts'. Students select two case studies in the second part of the module.
Terrorism, Political Violence and Human Rights
30 credits
This module introduces you to the study of terrorism and political violence, and engages with the primary debates in the field. The first half of the module addresses definitional, epistemological and methodological issues raised by the study of political violence. The module will also outline the history of modern political violence and the evolution of the way it has been defined and studied. In this context, the module will explore the nature and evolution of various forms of contemporary political violence, including: wars; ‘new wars'; insurgency and counterinsurgency; irregular warfare; guerrilla warfare; state and non-state terrorism; and counter-terrorism. Throughout, focus will be given to a range of mainstream and critical approaches to the field, ensuring that you become aware of the rich variety of perspectives which can be adopted in relation to the subject. In the second half of the module, time will be given to examining a range of human rights issues and debates which arise in relation to political violence and terrorism.
From State to Global Politics
30 credits
This module will enable you to acquire a thorough understanding of the multifaceted character of politics by outlining key orthodox and critical paradigms in political theory as well as examining different normative frameworks within an evolving global politics. It combines the examination of theories and ideologies concerning the state with a historical and issue-based exploration of the interplay between different political actors including states, intergovernmental organisations, multinational corporations, NGOs and the civil society in the context of normative frameworks for global governance.
The Theory and Practice of International Relations
30 credits
This module is a core module for the MSc International Relations. It can be taken as an option module by those studying in related masters fields.
How do we understand the contemporary international system? The module: i) explains and critiques a number of the leading theories that have been put forward to explain how the international system operates; and ii) applies those theories to a series of case studies. This combination facilitates the exploration of international relations through the practical application of theoretical standpoints.
In the first part of the module we explore the key ideas and philosophies underpinning the study of international relations (IR), including:
- traditional realist theories of interstate relations and great power politics
- Marxist inspired theories of structural inequalities
- contemporary pluralist theories focusing on the interaction of state and non-state actors.
In the second part we apply the theories explore in Part 1 to a series of student led international relations case studies of major international issues, both historically and contemporary. The cases will be chosen by you with guidance from the module leader.
As a bridge between Part 1 and Part 2 the students will explore a case study provided by the module leader to provide a framework for what is expected in the student-led case studies.
Working within the Human Rights Movement
30 credits
You have the opportunity in this module to gain valuable placement experience in human rights or political communication organisations which use these, and reflect critically on this.
Please note
Optional modules only run if there is enough demand. If we have an insufficient number of students interested in an optional module, that module will not be offered for this course.
Find out more about this course
What our graduates say
After you graduate
This course can help you start or advance a career in human rights advocacy, policy or communication. Graduates are employed by Amnesty International, Unicef, Save the Children and other prestigious organisations.
Entry requirements
Teaching and assessment
Who teaches this course?
You will be taught by an experienced teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on this course. The team includes senior academics and professional practitioners with industry experience. The following group of staff members are currently involved in the delivery of different elements of this course. This pool is subject to change at any time within the academic year.
Fees for this course
Additional costs
Depending on the programme of study, there may be extra costs that are not covered by tuition fees which students will need to consider when planning their studies. Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching, assessment and operating University facilities such as the library, access to shared IT equipment and other support services. Accommodation and living costs are not included in our fees.
Where a course has additional expenses, we make every effort to highlight them. These may include optional field trips, materials (e.g. art, design, engineering), security checks such as DBS, uniforms, specialist clothing or professional memberships.
Course changes and regulations
The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Course changes explained.
Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.
Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.
