Human Rights Law

LSLW 574

Spring 2012

Professor
Class Time and Location
Jack Baldwin Leclair, M.A, J.D., Ed.S.
6:30-9:10 P.M. on Wednesday

Tel: (O) (973).655.7953 Email: leclairj@mail.montclair.edu
Dickson 261

 

TEXTS: Required: I= Ishay, Micheline. The Human Rights Reader, 2nd Edition. (London, UK: Routledge Press, 1997 or Latest Edition ); S = Snyder, Rachel Louise. "Fugitive Denim: A Moving Story of People and Pants in the Borderless World of Global Trade, (New York: W.W. Norton, 2009).

 

GRADING:

Midterm Examinations: 40%

Final Examination: 40%

Presentation: 10%

Classroom attendance & Participation: 10%

PURPOSE OF THIS COURSE

This course is a graduate course. You must read the assignments prior to class, come prepared to discuss the issues intelligently, participate in class, and be prepared to apply your knowledge creatively to problems assigned in class. The purpose of the course and its rules are as follows:

  1. To become familiar with basic documents on human rights.
  2. To acquaint students with current theories of human rights as they have evolved.
  3. To develop a working knowledge of the principles guiding mechanisms which create, enforce, and destroy human rights.
  4. To learn how to analyze conflicts among peoples competing for power, property, and freedom in various social and governmental contexts.
  5. To understand the limitations of human rights law in modern transnational and internal disputes.
  6. Reading assignments must be prepared in advance of the class meeting date.
  7. Not all course material is covered in the readings. Examinations may include material covered by lecture, class discussion, handouts, demonstrations or lab sessions in addition to assigned readings.
  8. There will be two written examinations.
  9. Grades will be lowered if assignments are completed late.
  10. Class attendance is not mandatory but cut class at your own risk.
  11. Recommended reference books and supplemental reading materials will be made available during the semester. Specific reading materials will be assigned.

TOPICS AND ASSIGNMENTS

All assignments refer to the textbook, handouts, and reserved reading materials. Specific assignments within the pages assigned may be announced in class. All topics will be covered on a flexible schedule depending on the needs of the class and other factors. Preliminary dates are provided.

IS=Ishay

DATE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------TOPIC-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------READINGS

PART I - Ideas and principles shaping conceptions and theories of human rights
DATE TOPIC READINGS
9/18 WED Introduction: The Dhammapada
9/25 WED The Origin of Human Rights: From the Bible to the Middle Ages (IS:1-72) - The Magna Carta
2/01 WED Origin continued and reconsidered (reread IS:1-72
2/08 WED Liberalism and Human Rights: The Enlightenment (IS:73-174)
2/15 WED Socialism and Human Rights: The industrial Age (IS:175-232)
2/22 WED Contemporary Perspectives on the Human Rights Debate: Late 20th Century  
PART II - Rights in Practice
2/29 WED MIDTERM EXAM
3/07 WED The Right to Self Determination (IS:281-318)
3/21 WED How to Achieve Human Rights (IS:319-402)
3/28 WED Challenges to Human Rights law in the 21st century: fetal tissue, organ transplantation,deadly diseases and hot zones, birth control, technological control of human life, space colonization, religious conflicts with secular legal principles, international crime, and transnational/multinational corporations. Begin Reading S:Fugitive Denim
4/04 WED Continued
4/11 WED Continued
4/18 WED Latin American Model and African Model and European Models  
4/25 - 5/02 WED  The Future of Human Rights - Truth Commissions and artifical persons.
5/09 WED  FINAL EXAMINATION