Undergraduate Courses

This page provides an overview of our course offerings, to help students as they make decisions and plans for the academic year ahead. Please note that this schedule will be updated periodically and may be subject to change. Students are encouraged not only to revisit this page but also to confirm the course listings in the online Directory of Courses and Vergil, where fuller course descriptions and class meeting times will be posted.
  • Spring 2026 Courses Offered by ISHR    
  • HRTS UN3190 International Human Rights Law
  • HRTS UN3940 History of Human Rights
  • HRTS UN3995 Human Rights Senior Seminar
  • HRTS UN3996 Human Rights Thesis Seminar
  • HRTS GU4270 Digital Advocacy for Human Rights: Social Media and Open Source Intelligence
  • HRTS GU4380 Advocacy for Socio-Economic Rights
  • HRTS GU4460 Climate Justice
  • HRTS GU4930 International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights
  • HRTS GU4940 Human Rights and Education
  • HRTS GU4975 Borders, Surveillance, Rights
  • HRTS GU5555 Oral History & Justice: Memory, Power, and Trauma
  • Courses listed as "pre-approved" under "Course Type" below may also 
  • be counted for the major or the concentration. Please submit all human rights
  • courses to ISHR for approval, prior to finalizing your schedule. 
 
Each semester, the program publishes a list of pre-approved courses that fulfill major or concentration requirements as well as a list of non-pre-approved courses of potential interest. Courses that are not on the pre-approved list may also be approved for the degree if the student can demonstrate that he or she can complete substantial coursework specifically focusing on human rights in that course. We maintain this list as a courtesy to our students who seek interdisciplinary engagement.
Please note that, with the exception of certain HRTS courses, enrollment in a specific course is not guaranteed, nor is it required by ISHR to complete major/concentration requirements. It is determined solely at the discretion of the course instructor or the academic department offering the class. We advise you to identify backups, in order to ensure that you have a robust selection of courses that fulfill degree requirements. The following course list is subject to change upon receipt of additional course information. If you would like to suggest an addition or modification to this list, please email the relevant course information, including the syllabus if available, to uhrp@columbia.edu.
 

We try to keep this information as up-to-date as possible, but students should confirm course times and locations with the Directory of Classes  or the department offering the course.

Before each semester’s registration period, students should submit major, minor, or concentration worksheet to uhrp@columbia.edu in order to confirm that courses of interest will fulfill remaining degree requirements.

For additional information on requirements and course advising, please see the major and concentration requirements pages.

 

Major  - Pre-approved distributional courses

In order to fulfill the distributional requirement of the major, students must take one course in three of these four categories: Politics and History; Culture and Representation; Political Theory and Philosophy; and Social and Economic Processes. Please see the major requirements for additional information about this program.

 
The pre-approved courses below fulfill the distributional requirement of the major. Students wishing to take courses not on the pre-approved list should refer to course advising procedure mentioned above.
 

Minor or Concentration - Pre-approved courses

All pre-approved distributional courses for the major may be counted towards the minor or concentration. 

*Please note, as of Fall 2024, the University is phasing out Concentrations. Students who entered Columbia prior to the 2024-25 academic year may pursue a Concentration in Human Rights. Students who previously enrolled in the Concentration are also welcome to discuss switching to a Minor (details above). The policies outlined above regarding Grades and Double-Counting Courses also apply to students pursuing the Human Rights Concentration.

 

Non-pre-approved courses

These are other courses that may be of interest to human rights students. Other courses on the Directory of Classes may fulfill degree requirements if the student can demonstrate that they will complete substantial coursework specifically focusing on human rights. Students who would like to count one of these courses towards the degree must consult with the program in advance to seek approval, sharing a syllabus for review. Generally speaking, the department cannot make more than one special approval outside of the pre-approved list.

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Dept Course # Format Title Instructor(s) Credits
AFRS BC2005 LEC Caribbean Cultures and Societies Horn, Maja 3.0
AMST UN3931 SEM Topics in American Studies: Equity in Higher Education Delbanco, Andrew 4.0
ARCH GU4300 SEM The Just City: Global Debates in Urban Planning and Policy Smith, Nick 4.0
CLSL GU4012 SEM Holocaust Literature: Critical Thinking Dynes, Offer 3.0
COMS BC1428 SEM Writing With/On Computing Akhtar, Saima 4.0
CPLS GU4162 SEM Transnational Feminisms: China and Beyond Hong Fincher, Leta 3.0
CSER GU4004 SEM Data, Race, Power and Justice Luna Lucero, Brian 4.0
CSER GU4350 SEM Cinema of Subversion Gamalinda, Eric 4.0
CSER UN3940 SEM Comparative Study of Constitutional Challenges Affecting African, Latino, and Asian American Communities Ouyang, Elizabeth 4.0
CSER UN3942 SEM Race and Racisms Fennell, Catherine 4.0
CSER GU4340 SEM Visionary Medicine: Racial Justice, Health and Speculative Fictions Dasgupta, Sayantani 4.0
ECON GU4480 LEC Gender and Applied Economics Edlund, Lena 3.0
EDUC BC3043 SEM Making Change: Activism, Social Movements and Education Qadir, Fawziah 4.0
EDUC BC3070 SEM Growing Up Palestinian Abu El-Haj, Thea 4.0
HIST UN2432 LEC The United States In the Era of Civil War and Reconstruction McCurry, Stephanie 3.0
HIST UN3517 SEM The Historical Imagination in Caribbean Literature Lightfoot, Natasha 4.0
HIST BC2477 LEC Race, Class, and Politics in New York City Vaz, Matthew 3.0
HRTS BC1025 LEC Human Rights in Theory and Practice Brown, Widney 3.0
HRTS BC3360 SEM Human Rights Our Bodies and the Struggle to Define Personal Autonomy Brown, Widney 4.0
HRTS BC3601 SEM International Law and UN in Practice Flaherty, Martin 4.0
HRTS GR3190 SEM International Human Rights Law Cooper, Belinda 3.0
HRTS GU4380 SEM Advocacy for Socio-Economic Rights Rosenthal, Mila 3.0
HRTS GU4460 SEM Climate Justice Dugard, Jackie 3.0
HRTS GU4930 SEM Int'l Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Cronin, Bruce 4.0
HRTS UN3934 SEM Seeking Sanctuary in New York City Trowbridge, Jennifer 5.0
HRTS UN3940 LEC History of Human Rights Mitoma, Glenn 3.0
HRTS UN3995 SEM Human Rights Senior Seminar Tibbitts, Felisa 4.0
HRTS UN3996 SEM Human Rights Thesis Seminar Holland, Tracey 3.0
INAF U6202 SEM Internet Governance and Human Rights Micek, Peter 3.0
POLS BC3254 LEC First Amendment Values Franzese, Paula 3.0
POLS UN2601 LEC International Politics Schlesinger, Jayme 4.0
POLS UN3528 LEC New/Old Forms of Political Protest Superti, Chiara 3.0
POLS UN3619 LEC Nationalism and Contemporary World Politics Snyder, Jack 3.0
POLS UN3921 SEM American Politics Seminar: The First Amendment Amdur, Robert L 4.0
PSYC GU4612 SEM Frontiers of Justice Dixon, Peter 4.0
SDEV UN2100 SEM Introduction to Climate Justice Aronowsky, Leah 3.0
SDEV UN3355 LEC Climate Change and Law Gerrard, Michael/Foster, Sheila 3.0
SOCI BC3202 LEC Structural Determinants of Health Momplaisir, Maati 3.0
SOCI BC3248 LEC Race, Ethnicity, and Education in the US Walker, Dominic 3.0
SOCI BC3934 SEM Global Activism Anastasi, Andrew 4.0
SOCI UN3241 LEC Transnationalism, Citizenship, and Belonging Serhan, Randa 3.0
SUMA K5888 LEC Geographies of Environmental Justice and Sustainability Williams, John 3.0
SUMA PS4490 LEC Women in Cities Blaustein, Susan 3.0
SUMA PS5250 LEC Building a Sustainable Detroit: A Case Study in Urban Resilience Givens Davidson, Donna 3.0
URBS UN3451 LEC Urban Environmental Justice: Gender, Race, Class and the Environment Hernandez, Maricarmen 3.0
WMST BC2140 LEC Critical Approaches in Social and Cultural Theory Pittman, Alexander 3.0
WMST BC2150 LEC Intersectional Feminisms Solomon, Marisa 3.0
WMST BC3514 SEM Historical Approaches to Feminist Questions Haley, Sarah 4.0
WMST GU4330 SEM SWANA Diasporas: Culture, Politics, and Identity Formation in a Time of War Moradian, Manijeh 4.0