The study of human rights is necessarily interdisciplinary. It is central to a contemporary understanding of some of the oldest philosophical issues: the nature of freedom, equality, representation, and justice, the meaning of human dignity, indeed, the very identity of the human. At the same time, it has crucial bearing on some of the newest technological, economic, and social issues: the promises and dangers of biotechnology, the ethics of mass media, the logic of high-tech weaponry, the ramifications of cultural and economic globalization, the future of global terror and the new justifications for violence that accompany it.

Over the past few decades, human rights have become crucial touchstones of contemporary ethics and politics. With the proliferation of human rights institutions, the concept of human rights has taken a central place in such contemporary debates as those over the role of war crimes tribunals and truth commissions, the problems of humanitarian intervention, and the changing role of global economic institutions. At the same time, transformations in global culture (with increasing economic and media globalization in the wake of the Cold War) have produced a new set of questions, and a new generation of scholars—rethinking the history of human rights, looking hard at the institutions and mechanisms that sustain them, assessing their relation to their founding traditions.

The courses offered by the Human Rights Program, drawn from the offerings of individual departments, are designed to engage Columbia students in this emergent interdisciplinary discussion: to provide them with a knowledge of the theory and practice of human rights; to stimulate a critical examination of the historical and conceptual antecedents, selection and formulation, enforcement and violation, political and discursive uses of human rights; to allow students to reflect (alongside scholars, writers, and practitioners) on the rich past and complex future of a set of beliefs and practices fundamental to the shaping of their world.

The Program also offers advice on internships and co-hosts various lectures and other events. Students interested in human rights should consider doing the HR Special Concentration. They are also encouraged to participate in the lectures, conferences and other events sponsored by the Center for the Study of Human Rights and the HR programs in the School of International & Public Affairs, Law, and Public Health.

Finally, numerous academic resources on human rights are available in the Columbia libraries and in the Human Rights Reading Room open to students engaged in coursework and independent research on related topics.