Undergraduate Minor

About

The Human Rights Minor provides College students across the University with the opportunity to become familiar with different aspects of human rights scholarship and practice.

The flexibility of our minor complements majors in any discipline. Students minoring in Human Rights pursue majors ranging from Biology to Political Science to English Literature. 

Human Rights provides an ideal background for graduate study in a variety of disciplines or for careers that incorporate human rights analysis or advocacy, including medicine, law, filmmaking, social work, public policy, teaching, journalism, and government service.

Requirements

The Human Rights Minor requires a total of five courses, including:

(A) One of the following introductory courses: 

Human Rights: Contemporary Issues and Concepts 
Human Rights: Philosophical Foundations
Human Rights: History and Theory
Human Rights in Vienna (any of the three courses offered)

(B) Four approved Human Rights courses or cross-listed courses

It is recommended but not required that students who minor in Human Rights take “Human Rights in World Civilizations I and II” (HMRT 10100 and HRMT 10200) to fulfill their general education requirement.

Courses in the minor program (1) may not be double-counted with the student’s major(s) or with other minors and (2) may not be counted toward general education requirements.

Courses in the minor must be taken for quality grades, and more than half of the requirements for the minor must be met by registering for courses bearing University of Chicago course numbers.

Read what the College’s updated Spring 2020 Pass/Fail policy means for Human Rights minors.

Apply

Students must receive approval from Associate Instructional Professor Ben Laurence, using the minor request forms from their College adviser. Minor request forms should be emailed to Professor Laurence by the end of Spring Quarter of the student’s third year.

Questions 

Please direct any questions to Ben Laurence, Coordinator of Undergraduate Studies.