WHY AN INTERDISCIPLINARY HUMAN RIGHTS MASTER'S DEGREE
As the dominant moral language of our times, human rights occupies centre stage in influencing human relations in and across all social contexts, between nations and peoples, governments and citizens, minorities and majorities, individuals and groups, business and society, people and their environment, etc. Human rights has become the most prominent idiom in which claims of a common humanity and the basic conditions for a dignified existence are voiced. It is the bedrock of South Africa’s constitutional democracy and the reference point for conflicting aspirations regarding resources, rights, and protections. As such, it has permeated most disciplines; not just Law, but also the Health Sciences, Social Sciences, Economic and Management Sciences, Theology, the Humanities, and Education.
PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION
Postgraduate study of human rights calls for a scholarly approach that accommodates and integrates the many different intellectual spaces in which human rights challenges are currently being posed. This recognition underlies the unique interdisciplinary character of our Master’s degree in Human Rights. The programme is constructed in a way that makes it accessible to students and professionals coming from various academic disciplines. With its mode of delivery online with no residency requirement, the programme can be completed part-time. In order to obtain the Master of Human Rights degree, students are required to participate in resource-based learning, ie self-study, with the aid of study guides and prescribed reading materials.
The courses in this programme are offered English.
PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES
Given the wide reach of human rights concerns, an advanced knowledge of human rights standards, decision making, violations, and methods of enforcement is not only of vital importance for legal professionals, but will enrich most professions, in both the public and private sector. The promotion and protection of human rights feature – as a constitutional imperative – in the planning, policy formulation, decision making, and public interaction of all public sector institutions, and increasingly occupy a focal point of business and commercial social responsibility agendas. In addition, a coursework master’s degree in Human Rights will be of great benefit to students and professionals who intend to pursue a career in one of the numerous human rights-related non-governmental organisations.
APPLICATION GUIDELINES AND PROGRAMME REQUIRMENTS
PROGRAMME CONTACT INFORMATION
Dr Gerard Kamdem Kamga
Coordinator, Research and Postgraduate Division
Free State Centre for Human Rights, University of the Free State
Bloemfontein Campus, Mabaleng Building
Office: C218
T: +27 51 401 2064
E: KamdemKamgaGE@ufs.ac.za