PSY4506 – Human Rights, Democracy and Reconstruction after Conflict; A community based approach
Course description
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
The aftermath of serious human rights violations and climate conflict
This course aims at giving the students an introduction to international human rights with special focus on ways of dealing with serious human rights violations in the aftermath of these based on psychological knowledge and a psychological perspective.
An overview of international provisions and implementation in relation to justice, accountability and reparation after gross human rights violations will be presented. We then look at different cases - related to topics such as terrorism; genocide; psychological interventions in conflict, as well as climate conflict. We look at the role of psychology for persons involved in and affected by serious human rights violations and conflicts.
The course aims at introducing ways in which psychology can contribute with respect to reconstruction of democracy and justice following violence and conflict, as well as the role of psychology in climate related disputes and rights violations.
Different consequences of international conflict and climate related challenges will be discussed, including power dynamics as to who suffers the consequences of the problems and who are allowed to be part of the discourses on important topics. As part of the discussions and analysis of these phenomena, a culture and gender perspective will be given emphasis.
Develop critical analytical skills
A central feature of this course is to develop the students’ capacity to understand and apply principles and standards from international human rights into a community context. Insight into and knowledge about conflicts and consequences of these, will be given weight. Likewise a focus will be given to the development of critical analysis and understanding of these social phenomena based on a psychological approach.
The students will after their examination have acquired skills and knowledge within the field of post-conflict and reconstruction of societies after war, violence, and related to the climate crisis. The course prepares the students to further studies and research within their chosen field of study.
Learning outcome
Knowledge
After completing this course, you will:
- Be acquainted with human rights, both historical, as ideas and as principles for application and respect.
- Have knowledge about community approaches to human rights, democracy and reconstruction after conflict
- Have knowledge about democratic development, the power dynamics of intergroup conflict and climate conflict, and be familiar with different forms for interventions in societies in transition.
- Be able to apply theory and research in order to explore or present such phenomena and be able to relate the knowledge to social, health, developmental and cultural psychology.
Skills
After completing this course, you will know how to:
- Analyze and discuss issues related to human rights and consequences of serious violations of these, in a psychological context and be able to refer to models for interventions both on individual, group and community level.
- Analyze and discuss rights as well as well as how these can be ensured and implemented, in both a gender and a cultural perspective.
General competence
After completing this course, you can:
- Apply and relate actively to human rights and human rights violations in conflict and uneven power situations
- Analyse conflict and reflect on the position and backdrop of the different actors
- Critically investigate what role psychology and psychological knowledge can contribute with in a conflict situation
Admission to the course
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.
Formal prerequisite knowledge
The course builds on the knowledge from a bachelor`s degree in psychology.
Overlapping courses
- 5 credits overlap with PSYM4506 – Human Rights, Democracy and Reconstruction after Conflict; A community based approach.
Teaching
Teaching will be given as lectures (10 hours) and seminars (10 hours) and requires active participation from all students. Students will be required to work in groups and prepare presentations for the seminars related to topics discussed in lectures.
Attendance is compulsory in both seminars and lectures (80%) and participation in group presentations in the seminar is also part of the required activity.
Compulsory tuition activities are valid for the 2 next semesters after approval date.
A student who has completed compulsory instruction and coursework and has had these approved, is not entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework. A student who has been admitted to a course, but who has not completed compulsory instruction and coursework or had these approved, is entitled to repeat that instruction and coursework, depending on available capacity.
Examination
- Individual essay based (between 2000 - 2500 words). This is a home exam and the problem formulation will be given 14 days before deadline.
Examination support material
All exam support materials are allowed during this exam. Generating all or part of the exam answer using AI tools such as Chat GPT or similar is not allowed.?
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.
If only Norwegian students enroll in the course, the teaching and examination text may be given in Norwegian.
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.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.