POL 324 - Human Rights in Latin America

This course combines normative theory, empirical research, and a historical perspective to critically examine human rights in Latin America. By reviewing civil, political, economic, and sexual rights in Argentina, Peru, Chile, and Mexico, the course seeks to familiarize students with human rights in the region. To accomplish this goal, the course reviews human rights issues that have afflicted (and continue to affect) Latin American countries since the Cuban Revolution (1959). The topics covered in the class include 1) transitions from authoritarianism to democracy, 2) violations of human rights and their effects on the selected countries, 3) the creation, work, and consequences of truth commissions, 4) the use of human rights framings to extend sexual and reproductive rights, and 5) violence and human rights abuses in present-day Mexico, Colombia, and Chile.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group II
Prerequisite(s): HUM 110
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

Evaluate data and/or sources.
Analyze institutions, formations, languages, structures, or processes, whether social, political, religious, economic, cultural, intellectual or other.
Think in sophisticated ways about causation, social and/or historical change, human cognition, or the relationship between individuals and society, or engage with social, political, religious or economic theory in other areas.