Academic Programs

The Pozen Center is an interdisciplinary center; we encourage students from all fields of study to take Human Rights courses and explore critical theories and concepts from a range of perspectives.

Our Human Rights Curriculum includes introductory and elective courses for both undergraduate and graduate students, a Human Rights Civilizations Core sequence in the College, and a Spring Quarter study abroad in Vienna.

The Pozen Family Center for Human Rights is excited to announce the launch of a new College major in Human Rights.  This interdisciplinary major integrates the academic study of human rights from across the humanities, social sciences, and law with sustained experiential learning.  

The Undergraduate Minor in Human Rights is available to any student in the College. Requirements include one introductory course and four approved electives.

Our Human Rights Lab BA Fellowship is available to rising fourth-year students whose BA theses examine human rights issues related to prisons, policing, and the criminal legal system (e.g. solitary confinement, the criminalization of sexuality and reproduction, police misconduct and violence, felony disenfranchisement, selective enforcement, and alternatives to incarceration).

The Center’s Graduate Teaching Opportunities include teaching assistantships, internships in the Core, lectureships for self-designed courses, and co-teaching opportunities with faculty. 

The Graduate Certificate in Human Rights Studies is available to doctoral students with approved human rights coursework and research. 

Our Pozen Doctoral Fellows Program is a yearlong writing and professionalization experience for University of Chicago doctoral students whose research focuses on human rights.