A graduate certificate in human rights offers students the opportunity to develop a competency in human rights theory and practice by taking courses taught by expert faculty from across UConn’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, School of Education, School of Law, and School of Social Work.
The program requires a minimum of 12 credits (1 core course and 3 electives). We recommend that students begin with their core courses, before moving on to electives. Core courses cover the main historical, philosophical and legal questions in human rights. Elective courses allow students to branch out into the various subfields of human rights such as indigenous and cultural rights, economic rights, and human rights in Latin America and Europe. Certificate courses do not require prerequisites, except for Advanced Constitutional Law, as indicated.
How to Apply
CLAS, Neag, and SSW students, please apply to our graduate certificate program via The Graduate School’s application.
Detailed instructions can be accessed here.
Law students, please apply to our graduate certificate program by emailing the Law School Certificate Coordinator Professor Molly Land.
Detailed instructions can be accessed here.
Note: This graduate certificate program is only open to students who are enrolled in a graduate program at the University of Connecticut.
If you have questions, please reach out to our educational program coordinator, Alyssa Webb.
Deadlines
To graduate at the end of:
- Fall semester, submit your application by July 1.
- Spring semester, submit your application by December 1.
Please note:
- Students should accept admission and be matriculated to the graduate certificate program prior to the first day of the semester in which they plan to graduate to ensure a timely conferral of the certificate. Late applications will be accepted, but may result in the certificate being conferred at a later date, and may face additional administrative fees.
- J.D. students may apply at any time, but are encouraged to apply in their second year to facilitate course planning and communication about human rights programming and professional opportunities.
Coursework
The Graduate Certificate in Human Rights requires a minimum total of 12 credits, consisting of 1 core course and 3 electives, as detailed below.
Course substitution requests are considered on a case-by-case basis by our Graduate Advisory Committee. To request a course substitution, please complete and submit the Course Substitution Request Form.
A complete listing of our current graduate course offerings can be viewed on our Course Offerings page.
Core Courses
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences-Storrs Campus
- HRTS 5301: Contemporary Debates in Human Rights
UConn Law School-Hartford
- LAW 7878: International Human Rights
- LAW 7883: Human Rights and Post Conflict Justice
School of Social Work-Hartford
- SWEL 5385: Human Rights and Social Work
NEAG School of Education-Storrs Campus
- EDCI 5847: Human Rights and Social Justice in Education
Elective Courses
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences-Storrs Campus
- ANTH 5315: Gender and Culture
- ANTH/HRTS 5327: Propaganda, Disinformation, and Hate Speech
- ANTH 5377/PH 5497: Global Health and Anthropology
- ANTH 5390: Cultural Rights
- ANTH 5391: Human Rights in a Diverse World
- ANTH 5395: Health and Human Rights (Special Topics Course)
- ANTH 5395: Dignity and Health (Special Topics Course)
- ANTH 5395: Decolonial Alternatives - Sense Making, Political Practices, and Collective Experiences (Special Topics Course)
- ALDS/GERM/CLCS 5324: Teaching for Intercultural Citizenship and Human Rights I
- ALDS/GERM/CLCS 5325: Teaching for Intercultural Citizenship and Human Rights II
- BLAW/BADM 5254: Managing the Future of Social Enterprise
- CLCS 5317: Classical Rhetoric & the Institution of Slavery (Special Topics Course)
- CLCS/GERM 5350 Theater and Human Rights
- CLCS/GERM/HEJS 5355 German Jewish Literature and Human Rights
- ECON 5128/HRTS 5390: Economic Rights
- ECON 5473: Economic Development
- ECON 6473: Economic Development [Prereq: ECON 5311: Econometrics I]
- ENGL 6540: Seminar in Literature and Human Rights
- GEOG 5810: Race, Sex, & Place
- GERM 5314: The Environment and German Culture
- GERM 6480/ CLCS 5317: Literature and Human Rights (Special Topics)
- GERM 6480 German-African Connections (Special Topics)
- HIST 5195: The Origins and Evolution of the Genocide Debate (Special Topics)
- HIST/HRTS 5270: History of Human Rights
- HIST 5525: Society and Culture in the Civil War Era, 1830-1880
- HIST 5622: Historical Literature of Latin America: Human Rights in the late Twentieth Century
- HRTS 5055: Theory and Practice of International Criminal Justice
- HRTS 5095: Special Topics in Human Rights
- HRTS 5254: Managing the Future of Social Enterprise
- HRTS 5270: History of Human Rights
- HRTS 5282: Practicum in Human Rights
- HRTS 5351: Topics in Human Rights Practice
- HRTS 5390 Economic Rights
- HRTS 5401: Methods in Human Rights Research and Practice
- HRTS 5428: Torture
- HRTS 5450: Contemporary Issues in Genocide Studies
- HRTS 5460: Human Rights and Armed Conflict
- HRTS 5499: Independent Study
- HRTS 5899: Variable Topics in Human Rights
- PHIL 5315: Seminar in Moral Philosophy
- POLS 5010 : Gender Inequalities, Gender Policies, and Gender Rights
- POLS 5010: The Politics of Torture
- POLS 5010: Studying War Critically through International Relations and the Humanities
- POLS 5115: Theories of Human Rights
- POLS 5322: Assessing Human Security
- SOCI 5515: Sociology of Immigration
- SOCI 5614: Sexual Citizenship
- SOCI 5801 Political Sociology
- SOCI 5806: Theories of the State
- SOCI/HRTS 5825: Sociology of Human Rights
- SOCI 5895: Human Rights
- SOCI 5895: Women’s Rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are Women’s Rights
- SOCI 5895: Contesting Development - Southern Epistemologies
- SOCI 5895: Gender and Globalization
- SOCI/HRTS 6825: Topics in the Sociology of Human Rights
- SPAN 6402: Literary and Cultural Theory and the Hispanic Tradition: War and Modernity in Latin American Literature and Culture
- SPAN 6405: Precarity in Latin American Literature and Culture (Transnational, Border, North/South frameworks)
- SPAN 6416: Nationalism, Violence, and Human Rights in Latin America
- WGSS 5395: Sexing (Geo) Politics
- WGSS 5398: Gender and War
School of Social Work-Hartford Campus
- SWEL 5317: Women, Children, and Families: Policies and Programs
- SWEL 5318: Child Adolescent Trauma & Mental Health
- SWEL 5345: International Development
- SWEL 5348: International Social Work Global Issues
- SWEL 5350: Comparative Social Welfare Policy between the U.S. and the 2nd World
- SWEL 5360: Economic Justice: Labor and Social Work
- SWEL 5375: War, Militarism and Social Work
UConn Law School-Hartford Campus
- LAW 7380: Critical Race Theory
- LAW 7357: Insurance and Discrimination
- LAW 7358: Topics in Human Rights
- LAW 7360: Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Profession
- LAW 7386: Clinic - Immigration Detention and DACA
- LAW 7529: Immigration and Workplace Rights
- LAW 7558: Human Rights and Intellectual Property
- LAW 7609: Asylum & Human Rights Clinic [open only to Law School students. only 3 credit classroom component counts towards Certificate]
- LAW 7653: European Human Rights
- LAW 7655: Employment Discrimination Law
- LAW 7672: Immigration Law
- LAW 7679: International Law
- LAW 7695: Philosophy of Human Rights
- LAW 7722: Clinic: Human Rights/International Law
- LAW 7759: The Nuremberg Trials
- LAW 7814: Refugee Law
- LAW 7815: Workers' Rights in a Global Economy
- LAW 7831: Comparative Constitutional Law
- LAW 7838: Advanced Constitutional Law: Individual Rights [prerequisite Constitutional Law]
- LAW 7872: Comparative Law and Rights
- LAW 7876: Philosophy of Collective Rights and Self-Determination
- LAW 7914: American Slavery and American Law
- [Note: The most suitable courses at the Law School for students from CLAS at Storrs are LAW 7653, LAW 7679, LAW 7872, LAW 7759, and LAW 7883.]
Health Center-Farmington
- PUBH 5463/LAW 7942: Comparative Health Systems
- PUBH 5497: Reproductive Ethics, Rights, and Policies
- PUBH 5497/ANTH 5377: Global Health & Anthropology
- PUBH 5497/LAW 7592: Health and Human Rights
Prepare for Graduation
In order to graduate with your certificate, you must submit your plan of study by no later than the 4th week of the semester in which you intend to graduate.
Instructions:
- Download a plan of study form for CLAS, Neag, SSW or the Law School.
- CLAS, Neag, and School of Social Work students should have their plans of study signed by the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute's Director of Graduate Programs, and should submit their completed plans of study to the Degree Audit department in the Office of the Registrar.
- Law School students should have their plans of study signed by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Law School, and should submit their completed plans of study to the Office of the Registrar at the Law School
- Apply for graduation during your final semester via the Student Administration System.
Note: Your plan of study for a graduate certificate in human rights is distinct from the plan of study you will submit for your primary degree program.
Graduate Program Advising
David Richards
Director of Graduate Programs, Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute
Associate Professor, Political Science & Human Rights
Alyssa Webb
Educational Program Administrator, Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute