Course Descriptions

PHL 210 - Human Rights and Democracy in Domestic and International Contexts

3 Credits

This course introduces students to (i) the general conceptual and normative claims of democracy and the modern human rights movement and (ii) specific problems of democracy and human rights. General issues include the role and limits of national sovereignty and the moral and legal bases of human rights. Specific problems are drawn from among the following: genocide and humanitarian intervention, global poverty, religious liberty and religious tolerance, feminism and the roles of women, cultural differences in conceptions of democracy and human rights. We study both conceptual and practical issues in democracy and human rights.

Learning Attributes: WR, GR

SUNY General Education: SUNY-OWC - Other World Civilizations (SOW2)

MCC General Education: MCC-GLO - Global Understanding (MGLO), MCC-SSD - Social Science and Diversity (MSSD), MCC-VE - Values and Ethics (MVE)

Course Learning Outcomes
1. Explain how concepts of democracy arose in or were introduced to at least one non-Western civilization. (history)
2. Summarize the relationships between human rights and central values of at least one non-Western civilization. (culture)
3. Compare central political concepts in Western political thought and central concepts in at least one form of non-Western political thought. (culture, society)
4. Explain differences in Western and non-Western understandings of globally endorsed concepts in political philosophy.
5. Evaluate theories of distributive justice that incorporate Western and non-Western concepts. (economics, institutions)
6. Compare theories of individual rights in Western and non-Western civilizations. (culture, society)
7. Evaluate constraints on property rights in at least one non-Western civilization. (institutions, economy)
8. Explain how concepts of human rights arose in or were introduced to at least one non-Western civilization. (history)

Course Offered Fall

Use links below to see if this course is offered:
Fall Semester 2023
Summer Session 2023