Open-Access Online Course on "International Human Rights Law: Prospects and Challenges"

Beginning this Monday, March 31, 2014, Laurence R. Helfer (Duke Univ. - Law) will teach a massive open-access online course (MOOC) on “International Human Rights Law: Prospects and Challenges.” Details (and enrollment information) are available here. Here's the course description:

This course introduces the international and domestic laws, institutions, and legal and political theories that protect basic liberties of all human beings. The course provides an overview of the internal law of human rights and the principal mechanisms and strategies for holding governments accountable for violating those rights. Students engage with thought-provoking issues of human dignity, state sovereignty, and internal justice. Cutting-edge topics include: genocide and humanitarian intervention, the right to life and capital punishment, the right to health and HIV-AIDS, and counterterrorism and human rights. Students also learn about the different mechanisms available to redress for human rights violations, such as United Nations political and expert bodies, international litigation, domestic criminal prosecutions, and truth commissions. The course is intended for anyone interested in learning about human rights, including undergraduate and graduate and professional students. No prior knowledge of law, international relations or human rights is required, although the course will be of interest to those who have studied or worked in these areas.