The objectives of the concentration are to cultivate in students:

• a familiarity with major developments in the history of human rights and humanitarianism;
• an understanding of the institutional frameworks governing human rights and humanitarianism, including international law, international organizations, civil society movements, etc.;
• an understanding of the theoretical and philosophical debates about the meanings of human rights and humanitarianism;
• a capacity to understand and evaluate practical debates over the methods, motivations, and consequences of human rights and humanitarian action, including but not limited to questions of policy-making, fieldwork, and media and artistic representation;
• a familiarity with a range of current and past global (including local, national, and international) human rights problems.