Professor: Nergis Canefe
Office Location: Ross S654
E-mail: ncanefe@yorku.ca
Office Hours: T 9.30-11.30 or by appointment
Telephone: 416 736 2100 ext. 88843

YORK UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
POLS 4255 6.0/5000 6.0 Fall and Winter 2007-08
ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS

Course Description:

This is a fourth year and graduate degree combined course on International Human Rights. It is designed as a survey/seminar course whereby students actively participate in classroom debates.
The course is structured as a two-part learning enterprise. During the Fall term, students will primarily be introduced to classical and contemporary debates on the history, ethics, cultural dimensions, legitimacy, forms of application and limits of international human rights. During the Winter term, students will then be dealing with the framework within which international human rights are practiced through the examination of various case studies. Throughout the course, the discussion of pertinent issues is intertwined with historical and contemporary examples.  This is to ensure that the students become suitably comfortable with the working mechanisms of the contemporary human rights regime as well as supporters and critics of the modern human rights discourse in international politics.
Upon completion of this course, students are expected to have an in-depth and critical understanding of how the international human rights discourse came into being, contemporary forms of its practice, as well as its points of weakness and the potential for its sustenance and rejuvenation. This is not a law course on human rights. Neither is it a debate on the global political economy conditioning the human rights discourse. Students should be aware that this course has a marked emphasis on the political and ethical dimensions of both the theory and practice of international human rights and links human rights to human suffering.

*Pre-requisites/Co-Requisites: familiarity with human rights, migration and refugee issues, political philosophy and comparative politics; Degree Credit Exclusions (DCE): NA

Course Requirements, evaluation and due dates:

 All registered students are expected to attend to the weekly-held 3 hour classes regularly.

Evaluation and Assignments:

Take-home short essays	6 X 10 %= 60 %
There are three (3) take-home essay (1000 words) to be submitted during the term time for each term. These will be exercises on a chosen thinker(s) and his/her contributions to the contemporary debate on human rights, or, a theoretical debate on a chosen case or cases of systemic human rights abuse. Students will be given a set of questions/concerns pertaining to each reading or a combination of readings, depending on the course director’s choice, in advance.
1 long essay	30 %
There is one long essay (2500-3000 words) to be submitted at the end of the second term. Students are expected to submit an outline and a bibliography in advance, identifying critical issues and providing a framework for the debate in their essays.
Regular and active class attendance	10 %

Course Requirements for Graduate Students:

4 critical reviews per term (500-750 words each in length)	5% X 8 = 40 %
Content of the Reviews: These will be a comparative critical reading material we cover in class, and, you are welcome to add your choice of authors to your discussion as well. Students are strongly advised to use two or more readings together for the preparation of these review essays.
1 long essay	50 %
This is to be submitted at the end of the second term, the deadline being the last day of regular exams (April 30th).  This will be a case study guided by theoretical discussions covering some of the key issues we examined throughout the course. Maximum word limit is 4000.
Regular attendance and active participation	10 %

Where to hand in assignments

Note: the Department drop box is only to be used for late papers . Essays will be submitted class at an assigned date and time, or during the office hours. Please keep electronic copies of all your essays. Please use e-mail submission only in exceptional cases.

Late penalty

1 point grade per day of the total assignment grade will be taken out for the first 3 days. Afterwords, the assignment will only be graded at a 50 percent rate until 2 weeks past its due time. Past that date, the assignment will not be graded.

Note: It is not possible to accept papers and grade them in the last two weeks of classes.

Important: Students who encounter extenuating circumstances during the term that may interfere with the successful completion of exams or other course assignments should discuss the matter with the course director without delay.. Students with physical, psychiatric or learning disabilities may request reasonable accommodations in teaching style or evaluation methods, as outlined in Appendix A the Senate Policy on Students with Special Needs. They should advise the program director at the earliest opportunity, so that appropriate arrangements may be with the assistance of the Office for Persons with Disabilities, the Counseling Development Centre or the Learning Disabilities Program.

Departmental E-mail list: All Political Science majors should subscribe to the Departmental E-mail list that posts important announcements, job opportunities, special events, career information and scholarships and awards. To subscribe, follow the instructions on the Department website at www.arts.yorku.ca/politics, click on Undergraduate Studies, and follow the instructions on the pop-up menu.

Reading (Fall)

Reading (Winter)