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 course descriptions and class meeting times will be posted.
Each semester, the program publishes a list of pre-approved courses that fulfill major or concentration requirements as well as a list of additional 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.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 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 following courses fulfill the distributional requirement of the major. Students wishing to take courses not on this list should refer to course advising procedure mentioned above.
Concentration - Pre-approved courses
All pre-approved distributional courses for the major may be counted towards the concentration.
Additional courses
These are additional courses that may be of interest to human rights students. Courses on this list, as well as others listed on the Directory of Classes, may fulfill degree requirements if the student can demonstrate that he or she can complete substantial coursework specifically focusing on human rights. Students who would like to count one of these courses towards the degree should consult with the program.