Graduate Course List

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.
  • ISHR Spring 2025 Graduate Courses
  • HRTS GR6800 International Human Rights Law 
  • HRTS GR6990 Human Rights Research Seminar 
  • HRTS GU4210 Equality, Identity, and Rights 
  • HRTS GU4380 Advocacy for Socio-Economic Rights 
  • HRTS GU4460 Climate Justice 
  • HRTS GU4850 Beyond Human Rights Critique  
  • HRTS GU4880 Human Rights in the United States
  • HRTS GU4930 Int'l Humanitarian Law and Human Rights 
  • HRTS GU4940 Human Rights and Education 
  • HRTS GU4975 Borders, Surveillance, Rights  
  • HRTS W4915 Human Rights and Urban Public Space

As part of Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), our students take courses in a range of departments, including Political Science, Religion, Anthropology, Women’s Studies, and Sociology. Students can also take human rights related courses offered by other schools at Columbia.

Each semester, the program publishes a list of courses of potential interest to graduate students. We try to keep this information as up-to-date as possible, but students should also consult the Directory of Classes, departments offering the course, and school bulletins for additional course information when planning their course schedules.

This 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 relevant course information and syllabi to humanrightsed@columbia.edu. Courses that are not on the pre-approved list may also fulfill degree requirements if the student can demonstrate that he or she can complete substantial coursework specifically focusing on human rights in that course.

Before each semester’s registration period, students should confer with the program to verify that courses of interest fulfill degree requirements.

Approval of a class for the degree does not guarantee enrollment in that course. Students are responsible for following all registration and cross-registration procedures. Consult the Directory of Classes and individual departments/instructors regarding any permission/application/prerequisites needed for a course.

Types of Courses

Pre-Approved Courses

Pre-Approved Courses automatically count towards the degree as an elective human rights course. They fulfill the concentration requirement of the degree, depending on the student’s selected concentration.

Additional courses

These courses are additional courses of potential 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.

 

Dept Course # Format Title Instructor(s) Credits
ANTH GR6157 SEM Idea of a Black Radical Tradition Scott, David 3.0
ANTH GU4196 SEM Mexico's Disappeared Practicum Lomnitz, Claudio 4.0
ARCH GU4305 SEM Abolition Architecture Siddiqi, Anooradha 4.0
CSER GU4400 SEM Histories and Representations of the Bronx Paredez, Deborah 4.0
HROH UN5555 SEM Oral History and Justice: Memory, Power and Trauma Vijayan, Suchrita 4.0
HRTS GR6020 SEM Introduction to Human Rights Ikawa, Daniela 3.0
HRTS GR6020 SEM Introduction to Human Rights Mitoma, Glenn 3.0
HRTS GR6800 SEM International Human Rights Law Dugard, Jackie 3.0
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 GR9040 Internship Dugard, Jackie 1.0
NMED K5230 SEM Advocacy and Organizing De La Cruz, Mario 3.0
SUMA K5888 LEC Geographies of Environmental Justice and Sustainability Williams, John 3.0
SUMA K6135 LEC Art and Sustainability Reiss, Julie 3.0
SUMA PS5040 LEC ESG-Aligned Corporate Governance Wasser, Jessica 3.0
SUMA PS6125 LEC Fashion Policy and the Politics of Governance Cline, Elizabeth 3.0
WMST GU4305 SEM Decolonization and Feminist Critique Tadiar, Neferti 4.0