Professor Inga Winkler and human rights students attend a visit to the United Nations.
Concentration Requirements
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.
Regulations for human rights concentrators are available on the Undergraduate Requirements section of the human rights bulletins for Columbia College and General Studies.
The concentration in human rights requires a total of 8 courses for a minimum of 24 total credits. To fulfill the requirements of the concentration, students must take the following:
Introduction to Human Rights (HRTS UN3001)
International human rights is a powerful idea in our time, but also the focus of numerous controversies: it not only embodies a set of ideals but also functions as a political tool, which different forces try to bend to their own ends. The result of this struggle is a process of norm contestation and norm change that the course seeks to understand. The course looks at the laws and institutions that define human rights as an international regime, in the context of key intellectual controversies and political puzzles surrounding human rights theory and practice. It discusses how human rights norms change, and it analyzes some of the challenges of contemporary human rights advocacy.
Seven additional human rights courses
One of these seven courses must be a seminar course.
Please see the undergraduate course list for the current list of courses that fulfill the concentration requirements, and any stipulations.
Guidelines for all Human Rights Concentrators
Student should also consult the general academic policies of their school.
Course Planning & Approval
Students should consult with the program prior to each semester's registration period in order to verify that selected courses will fulfill remaining degree requirements. To facilitate this process, students are asked to use the concentration worksheet to plan and track degree progress. Please consult the course list for additional information.
Grades
No course with a grade of D or lower is credited towards the concentration.
One course, with the exception of Introduction to Human Rights, can be taken for Pass/D/Fail. The student must receive a grade of P for the course to count toward the requirements of the concentration. All other courses must be taken for a letter grade.
All seminar courses must be taken for a letter grade.
Transfer Credit/Study Abroad Credit
Human rights concentrators may transfer a maximum of two courses from other institutions. This includes study abroad credit. No more than one Advanced Placement course can be counted for the concentration. The application of transferred courses to the concentration must be approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies or the undergraduate adviser.
Students wishing to count transfer courses toward the concentration should email uhrp@columbia.edu with their Transfer Credit Report, the syllabi of the courses they want to count toward departmental requirements, and a statement of how they want to apply the transfer credits to the requirements.
Double-Counting
In accordance with the academic policies of their school, students pursuing another program of study (a major or a minor) may double‐count a maximum of two classes towards the Human Rights Minor, provided that the classes are approved to fulfill a requirement for each program. Students should consult the academic policies of their school for specific information regarding the double-counting of courses taken to fulfill Global Core or other school requirements.
