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.
  • Fall 2025 Courses Offered by ISHR    
  • HRTS UN3001 Introduction to Human Rights
  • HRTS UN3190 International Human Rights Law
  • HRTS UN3970 Introduction to Genocide Studies
  • HRTS UN3994 Human Rights Senior Seminar: Research Methods
  • HRTS UN3995 Human Rights Senior Seminar
  • HRTS GU4011 Indigenous Rights and Settler Colonialism in North America
  • HRTS GU4215 NGOs & the Human Rights Movement
  • HRTS GU4260 Human Rights and Populism
  • HRTS GU4500 Socio-Economic Rights
  • HRTS GU4600 Human Rights in the Anthropocene
  • HRTS GU4650 Children's Rights Advocacy
  • HRTS GU4950 Human Rights & Human Wrongs
  • HRTS GU4965 Gender-Based Violence & Human Rights
  • HRTS GU4970 Refugees, Citizenship, Migration
  • HRTS GU4985 Human Rights, Activism, and the US Carceral State
  • 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
AFAS UN1001 LEC Introduction to African-American Studies Fort, Nyle 4.0
AFRS BC3110 COL The Africana Colloquium: Caribbean Women Herstories Naylor, Celia 4.0
AMST UN3930 SEM Topics in American Studies: The Supreme Court in American History Rosenberg, Benjamin 4.0
ANTH GU4196 SEM Mexico's Disappeared Practicum Lomnitz, Claudio 4.0
ARCH GU4305 SEM Abolition Architecture Siddiqi, Anooradha 4.0
ARCH UN2530 LEC Life Beyond Emergency: Ecologies and Inhabitations of Migration Siddiqi, Anooradha 3.0
CSER GU4400 SEM Histories and Representations of the Bronx Paredez, Deborah 4.0
CSER UN3490 SEM Post 9/11 Immigration Policies OuYang, Elizabeth 4.0
CSER UN3928 SEM Colonization/Decolonization Jacoby, Karl 4.0
EDUC BC3040 SEM Migration, Globalization, and Education Almansouri, Orubba 4.0
EDUC BC3043 SEM Making Change: Activism, Social Movements and Education Qadir, Fawziah 4.0
HIST BC2567 LEC Women, Race, and Class Nadasen, Premilla 3.0
HIST UN2618 LEC The Modern Caribbean Lightfoot, Natasha 4.0
HIST UN3030 SEM Immigration and Citizenship in American History Lee, Jessica 4.0
HIST UN3418 SEM The Carceral United States Haley, Sarah 4.0
HIST UN3928 SEM Comparative Slavery and Abolition in the Atlantic Lightfoot, Natasha 4.0
HRTS GU4011 SEM Indigenous Rights and Settler Colonialism in North America Wyman-McCarthy, Tim 3.0
HRTS GU4215 SEM NGOs and the Human Rights Movement: Strategies, Successes and Challenges Bickford, Louis 3.0
HRTS GU4260 SEM Human Rights and Populism Wyman-McCarthy, Tim 3.0
HRTS GU4500 SEM Socio-Economic Rights Dugard, Jackie 3.0
HRTS GU4600 SEM Human Rights in the Anthropocene Chasin, Noah 3.0
HRTS GU4650 SEM Children's Rights Advocacy Becker, Jo 3.0
HRTS GU4950 SEM Human Rights and Human Wrongs Cronin, Bruce 3.0
HRTS GU4965 SEM Gender-Based Violence and Human Rights Rajan, Julie 3.0
HRTS GU4970 SEM Refugees, Citizenship, Migration Molavi, Shourideh 3.0
HRTS GU4985 SEM Human Rights, Activism, and the US Carceral State Mercer, Christia 3.0
HRTS UN3001 LEC Introduction to Human Rights Nathan, Andrew J. 3.0
HRTS UN3190 SEM International Human Rights Law Cooper, Belinda 3.0
HRTS UN3970 SEM Introduction to Genocide Studies Mitoma, Glenn 3.0
HRTS UN3994 SEM Human Rights Senior Seminar: Research Methods Holland, Tracey 4.0
HRTS UN3995 SEM Human Rights Senior Seminar Molavi, Shourideh 4.0
NMED K5230 SEM Advocacy and Organizing De La Cruz, Mario 3.0
POLS BC3410 COL Colloquium on Human Rights in a Diverse World Gundogdu, Ayten 4.0
POLS BC3521 LEC Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Franzese, Paula 3.0
POLS BC3695 LEC Race and Ethnic Politics TBA 3.0
POLS UN1601 LEC International Politics Rose, Gideon 4.0
POLS UN3911 SEM Seminar in Political Theory: Arendt in 20th Century Maier, Clara 4.0
RELI BC3671 SEM Religion and Human Rights Vasko, Timothy 4.0
SDEV UN3310 LEC Ethics of Sustainable Development Gondek, Adela J 3.0
SOCI BC3244 LEC Environmental Sociology Hernandez, Maricarmen 3.0
SOCI BC3931 SEM Social Justice and Human Rights Seminar Brown, Widney 3.0
SOCI BC3934 SEM Global Activism Anastasi, Andrew S. 4.0
SOCI UN3235 LEC Social Movements Minkoff, Debra 4.0
SUMA K5888 LEC Geographies of Environmental Justice and Sustainability Williams, John 3.0
SUMA K6135 LEC Art and Sustainability Reiss, Julie 3.0
WMST GU4305 SEM Decolonization and Feminist Critique Tadiar, Neferti 4.0
WMST UN3915 SEM Gender, Sexuality and Power in Transnational Perspectives Gonsalves, Tara 4.0