Summer Session I 2019  [June 24 - August 2, 2019]

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Human Rights 001. Human Wrongs / Human Rights (4 units)

Sarah Rachelle-Neace

TWR 11:00A-1:15P
80 SS&H Bldg
CRN 53863

Course Description: Introduction to Human Rights and the problems they seek to address. Using key episodes of inhumanity like slavery, genocide, and racism. Examines how international movements for social justice led to the emergence of the international Human Rights system.

Prerequisite: None.

GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture; Discussion.

Textbooks:

  • Nadia Murad, The Last Girl : My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State  (Tim Duggan Books, 2018)
  • Joe Sacco, Palestine  (Fantagraphics Books, 2014)
  • Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier  (Sarah Crichton Books, 2008)

Human Rights 161. Human Rights in Latin America (4 units)       [cross-listed with HIS 161]

Daniel Coral

TWR 2:10-4:25P
166 Chemistry Bldg
CRN 53864

Course Description: Why are human rights violated? When and why are human rights protected? As a history course on the origins, denial, and protection of human rights in Latin America, we will use several case studies to answer these questions. For each country, we will examine the historical context surrounding the rise of military dictatorships and civil wars, the emergence of organized resistance by civil society, the efforts to enact political reform and defend human rights, and the ongoing problems posed by justice, memory and peace. One goal of the course is to ask how our reading and research can advance projects for global rights by merging cultural critique and political action.

Prerequisite: None.

GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Visual Literacy, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture; Term Paper.

Textbooks:

  • TBA

Summer Session II 2019  [August 5 - September 13, 2019] 

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Human Rights 140B. The Art & Politics of Memory in Latin America: Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation (4 units)

Renzo Aroni

MW 2:10-4:40P
116 Veihmeyer Hall
CRN 74237

Course Description: In the second half of the 20th Century, Latin America and the Caribbean experienced a new cycle of violence perpetrated in the context of the Cold War and under different frameworks: long-term political violence, civil wars, military dictatorships, and authoritarian regimes. The memories of these processes of violence still resonate strongly in Latin America today. Why do these societies still struggle with the aftermath of their violent past? How do they rebuild democracy, construct truth, advocate for memory, and seek justice and reconciliation? And what does memory have to do with human rights?

The course will focus on the politics of “memory struggles,” in which diverse actors compete to establish their version of the past events to structure the present. These battles for memory have been represented in a wide range of cultural productions, memory museums, memorials, performances, and visual arts. The regional focus will be on Chile, Argentina, and Peru. We will approach these cases using diverse source materials—academic reflections, memoirs, films, and even music and fiction—to examine how decades of dictatorships, civil wars and political violence are being remembered and dealt with since the return to democracy. The course will have a broad interest for students of human rights, history, politics, literature, and creative writing because of its interdisciplinary approach. No prior knowledge is necessary. The course is also pre-approved to fulfill one of the Human Rights Minor Core Requirements as well as the Latin American-Hemispheric Minor.

Prerequisite: None.

GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture; Discussion/Term Paper.

Textbooks (available at the university bookstore):

  • Michael J. Lazzara, Luz Arce and Pinochet’s Chile: Testimony in the Aftermath of State Violence

  • José Carlos Agüero, The Surrendered (Los Rendidos, in Spanish 2012). Edited and Translated by Michael J. Lazzara and Charles F. Walker (Work in progress)

  • Short readings will be available on Canvas