COURSE INFORMATION Course Title: POLITICS OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Code	Course Type	Regular Semester	Theory	Practice	Lab	Credits	ECTS
PIR 351	B	5	4	0	0	4	5

Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature)	NA
Main Course Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	M.A. Aldo Bumçi abumci@epoka.edu.al , Monday, 13.40-14.30
Second Course Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	NA
Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours:	NA
Language:	English
Compulsory/Elective:	Compulsory
Study program: (the study for which this course is offered)	Bachelor in Political Science and International Relations (3 years)
Classroom and Meeting Time:	Monday, D 203; 9.40-13:30
Code of Ethics:	Code of Ethics of EPOKA University Regulation of EPOKA University "On Student Discipline"
Attendance Requirement:	Compulsory
Course Description:	What do we mean by “human rights”? Are these rights universal? How are they legitimated by victims and their advocates? Under what conditions have human rights been most systematically violated since the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948? Who were the primary violators, and who were the victims? What types of international, state, or local institutions have been most effective in addressing these violations, and why? What have been, or should have been, the respective roles of international institutions, states, citizens, and non-governmental organizations in promoting human rights protections? Why should “we” (in the United States) care about promoting human rights abroad, or should we? What are the trade-offs between national sovereignty and international action in compelling respect for human rights?
Course Objectives:	Upon completion of the course students will be able to have a general understanding of the historical development of human rights doctrine; explain the concept of human right and recognize the different categories of rights. Have knowledge of the UN system and major treaties and covenants governing human rights; the crucial influence that the European Regional Regime of Human Rights has on the former-communist countries, taking Albania as a case study. The place that human rights occupy in the foreign policy of US, and in explaining humanitarian interventions such as the case of Kosova. The Rights of Women, Minorities and Refuges will be given special attention.

BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE COURSE

1	Human Rights as means to live a life with dignity
2	Historic development of Human Rights
3	The expansion of Human rights after the Second World War
4	Global and regional human rights systems
5	Persecution during communist Albania; how societies deal with gross violations of human rights
6	Measuring human rights and freedoms
7	Women rights
8	the evolution of Minority rights
9	The right of migrants and the need for border controls

COURSE OUTLINE

Week	Topics
1	Introduction and course overview
2	Historical and Ideological perspectives: Human Rights Development to WWII
3	Post-War Establishment of Human Rights; The United Nations
4	European Regional Regimes of Human Rights: NATO, CoE, EU, OSCE
5	State Repression in Communist Albania: The Communist Legacies. Domestic Responses to Severe Human Rights Violations
6	Measuring and Monitoring Human Rights: the State of Human Rights in Albania
7	The Role of NGOs, Media, Activism and Multinational Corporations
8	Midterm Exam
9	Human Rights in US Foreign Policy
10	Humanitarian Interventions: Special Focus on Kosova
11	Minority Rights
12	Women's Rights
13	Refugees, Emigrants and Border Controll
14	Current Debates in Human Rights

Prerequisite(s):
Textbook(s):	Carey, Sabine C., Mark Gibney & Steven C. Poe. 2010. "The Politics of Human Rights, the quest for dignity". Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Forsythe, P. David. 2012, "Human Rights in International Relations". Cambridge University Press,
Additional Literature:	- Ishay, R. Micheline, (ed.) 2007. "The Human Rights Reader". Routledge. - Donelly, Jack, 2013, "Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice", Cornell University Press
Laboratory Work:
Computer Usage:
Others:	No

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

1	Acquire knowledge of the historical development of Human Rights, ancient foundations and ideological perspectives.
2	Acquire an understanding of the UN system in promoting human rights
3	Demonstrate knowledge of the European regional regime and the role of NATO, EU, CoE and OSCE in promoting human rights and its influence on the former communist countries
4	Acquire knowledge and critically evaluate state repression, and communist legacies in Albania and the domestic responses to severe human rights violations
5	Demonstrate an understanding of the role of human rights in the US foreign policy
6	Show an understanding of international humanitarian interventions
7	Acquire knowledge of the role of activism, NGOs and media in promoting and defending human rights
8	Acquire knowledge of the development of Women's rights
9	Demonstrate knowledge and critically evaluate human rights debates regarding refugees, migration and border control
10	Demonstrate understanding of the debates regarding minority rights

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES (Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution)

No	Program Competencies	Cont.
Bachelor in Political Science and International Relations (3 years) Program
1	Having and using advanced knowledge and comprehension supported by textbooks including actual knowledge in political sciences and international relations literature, materials and the other scientific resources.	3
2	Analyzing data, ideas and concepts of current political issues and international relations, determining complex events and topics, making discussions and developing new suggestions in accordance with researches.	3
3	Having knowledge and thought about actual topics and problems together with their historical, social and cultural aspects.	4
4	Introducing those who are interested in politics and international events with the topics of Political Science and IR and teaching clearly the problems and the types of solutions.	3
5	Improving skills of working together with the main social science disciplines and other disciplines which are related to Political Science and International Relations.	4
6	Improving critical thinking and skills in making research independently.	3
7	Developing solutions about the problems and conflicts which are common in national and international arena.	2
8	Improving skills for leadership and research and analyze capacity of those who is responsible with national and international ones.	2
9	Knowing any foreign language enough to communicate with colleagues and understand actual researches and articles.
10	Gaining IT skills to use computer and technology) in order to reach actual knowledge.
11	Gaining skills to follow societal, scientific and ethic values during collecting, interpreting, conducting of data related to social and political developments.	4
12	Having consciousness about human rights and environment.	5
13	Gaining the skills to follow actual developments and pursue long-life learning.	5

COURSE EVALUATION METHOD

Method	Quantity	Percentage
Midterm Exam(s)	1	25
Presentation	4	5
Project	1	15
Final Exam	1	30
Attendance		10
	Total Percent:	100%

ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)

Activities	Quantity	Duration(Hours)	Total Workload(Hours)
Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours)	16	4	64
Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice)	16	2	32
Mid-terms	1	5	5
Assignments	1	4	4
Final examination	1	8	8
Other	4	3	12
Total Work Load:			125
Total Work Load/25(h):			5
ECTS Credit of the Course:			5

CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE COURSE LECTURER

We should try more to improve the ability of the students to publicly argue and defend a case.