Human Rights in the History of Politics and Philosophy

The historiography of human rights is a dynamic field with ongoing ideological and conceptual debates. In this course, you critically analyse the political and philosophical history of human rights in modern times. The focus is on current trends in philosophy and historiography, examining how the understanding and language of human rights have evolved over time and how this affects our current use and understanding of them. You will study the formation of concepts and ideas about the role of human rights in political and philosophical history. You will also debate various methods of legitimisation, authorisation, and critique of human rights and study original texts of central importance. In addition, you will analyse how human rights have been legitimised and justified throughout history and explore how both the understanding and language of human rights have changed over time. 

Course syllabus

The syllabus contains the formal and legal details of the entire course. It’s a legal document outlining the course structure and requirements, intended mainly for administrative use.

Course literature

The course literature listed may be updated up to eight weeks before the course begins.

Teaching methods include lectures and seminars where you engage with current trends in philosophy and historiography.

The course can normally be included in a first or second cycle degree. If you want to continue studying human rights, you can take stand-alone courses in Human Rights Studies up to 60 credits.

Prerequisites

A first-cycle exam in the humanities or social sciences, with a bachelor thesis oriented towards human rights studies. English 6/English B.

Selection criteria

Seats are allocated according to: ECTS (HPAV): 100 %.

Tuition fees for non-EU/EEA citizens

Citizens of countries outside:

• The European Union (EU)
• The European Economic Area (EEA) and
• Switzerland

are required to pay tuition fees. You pay an instalment of the tuition fee in advance of each
semester.

Tuition fees, payments and exemptions

Full programme/course tuition fee: SEK 33,750
First payment: SEK 33,750

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Note that you may also need to pay an application fee, or provide proof of exemption.

Application fee

No tuition fees for citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland

There are no tuition fees for citizens of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland.