Course Description

This legacy course is an introduction to human rights and to today’s human rights movement (the
organizations and people working to promote and protect your rights). We will learn its modern history
which starts with the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the birth of the United Nations.
We will also discuss current events. Along the way, we will read about the contributions of the major
world religions and philosophies to human rights as well as the important events that led to today’s
movement. This multidisciplinary course will involve history, a little philosophy, and political science.
We will rely on variety of texts including one by a white historian and another by a black historian,
memoirs by survivors of human rights abuses, and other primary sources. We will listen to music about
human rights, watch film clips about human rights, and host a guest speaker who works on human
trafficking.

Texts

A course reader with chapters from the books: The Evolution of Human Rights: Visions Seen and Eyes off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson

Requirements

Almost every week there will be a reading assignment followed by a writing assignment consisting of
questions about the readings. There will be a few short papers as well.

About the Instructor(s): Sarita Cargas

Dr. Sarita Cargas has been teaching human rights in the Honors College for about a dozen years. She is
currently writing an introductory book on human rights. She also does research on food and housing
insecurity among UNM students. Another teaching focus she has is on teaching the skills of critical
thinking.