F1HH 5060 - Investigate, Expose, Change: Foundations of Human Rights Work

This workshop prepares students for a “real” professional life in the human rights world, should it be in investigation, documentation, alert and denouciation, communication or advocacy. It goes from theory to practice and teaches the practical skills covering the following learning outcomes: how to identify and design a research project, how to plan and conduct the research, including field investigations, and how to present the findings effectively to the media and advocacy targets. Covered topics include investigative methodology (interviewing victims, and witnesses; collection and analysis of photo, video, documentary and material evidence; as well as the use of new technologies; some psychological aspects of addressing trauma and particularly sensitive issues). Students will also learn to select, conceptualize, and develop human rights research projects, and enrich their writing skills to present human rights findings in a clear, concise and compelling manner.
Alexandra (sasha) KOULAEVA
Séminaire
English
4-5 hours per week
Spring 2024-2025
1) Class participation (15%): class discussion (10%), “report of the week” (5%)
2) Written assignments (85%):

- Group Assignments (45%): project design memorandum (25%), interview questionnaire (20%)
- Individual Assignments (40%): 1 page press-release (15%), 1-2 page advocacy letter (25%),
Seminar; a combination of lectures and interactive exercises
1. Excerpts from Steiner, Alston and Goodman, eds., International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics, Morals, third edition, 2007
2. Excerpts from Dermot Groome, Handbook of Human Rights Investigation (Northborough, MA: Human Rights Press, 2001)
3. Excerpts from Jo Becker, Campaigning for Justice: Human Rights Advocacy in Practice (Stanford University Press, 2012).
4. Handbook on Fact-Finding and Documentation of Human Rights Violations, Ravindran, Guzman, and Ignacio, FORUM-ASIA, 1994.
5. Rebecca Milne and Ray Bull, Investigative Interviewing: Psychology and Practice (NY: John Wiley and Sons, 2008)
1. Aryeh Neier, The International Human Rights Movement: A History (Princeton University Press, 2013
2. Jack Donnelly, Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice (3rd Ed., 2013) Universal human rights in theory and practice. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
3. William Easterly, Tyranny of Experts: Economists, dictators, and the forgotten rights of the poor. New York: Basic Books. (2013)