HUMR5501 – Ethnic Challenges to the Nation State: Studying State Responses from a Human Rights Perspective
Course description
Course content
The course is still available in a 10 credits version: HUMR5502 – Dealing with Diversity: Human Rights Approaches to Ethnic Conflict
This course addresses challenges faced by States with cultural/ethnic heterogeneous populations within their borders. With a multi-disciplinary and case-oriented approach, it will consider the state’s theoretical, political, and legal responses to these challenges. The course will offer comparative perspectives on the development of legal and political orders in nations-states and regional entities in response to the standards of the international human rights system. You will address the particular situation in States, such as China (PRC), Ethiopia, Indonesia, Norway, and the Palestine. You will survey issues such as democratic theories, ethnicity, devolution, autonomy, self-determination, indigenous rights, minority rights, and non-discrimination. You will see the existence of tensions between group and individual rights and between different rights, and even that a “rights – based approach” has limitations.
Learning outcome
You will be expected to analyze individual situations (case studies) with the ability to offer creative solutions. This course is an application of international human rights law that enables you to understand the difficulties of creating state policy. You are expected to have a good understanding of the following (based on assigned literature) in relation to the presented case studies:
- Collective (aspects of) rights in international human rights
law - Challenges for their implementation at the national level
- The formation of group identity
- Problems and tensions in guaranteeing the implementation of
individual rights while considering group claims.
Admission
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
You may register for this course if you have admission to a Master's programme at UiO. All applicants must fill the formal prerequisites.
Priority is given to students on the Master of Philosophy programme in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights.
International applicants, if you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures for international applicants
Prerequisites
Recommended previous knowledge
Students with no background in human rights studies are strongly advised to prepare in advance the recommended readings.
Teaching
Lectures and seminars with active student participation.
Examination
Written assignment.
Use of sources and rules for citing.
Be sure that you are familiar with the use of sources and the rules for citing/quoting from others’ work
UiO uses a plagiarism checking tool as one of several instruments for detecting suspicion of cheating and attempted cheating.
Examination support material
Auxiliary materials allowed during examinations for courses taught in English.
Language of examination
English
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Explanations and appeals
Resit an examination
If a student has submitted a written assignment a second time in the same course s/he can only submit it in a new version. This means that there must be another title and theme, or that the new version must be considerably changed from the first version.
Students who wish to retake the exam in a later semester are not guaranteed that the course is ever repeated with a similar reading list, nor that the exam arrangement will be the same.
Withdrawal from an examination
A student can sit for this exam up to 3 times. If a student wishes to withdraw from the exam, s/he must do this in StudentWeb at least two weeks prior to the first day of the exam. Failure to do so will be counted as one of the three opportunities to sit for the exam.
A study programme may have rules that further limit the number of times a student may re-take this exam. In such instances the rules of the study programme will have priority.
Special examination arrangements
Application form, deadline and requirements for special examination arrangements.
Please se Detailed regulations for the Faculty of Law, Chapter 3 regarding application, responsibilities and special measures.
Evaluation
The course is subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students to participate in a more comprehensive evaluation.