PHA-Exchange> human rights training around the world
claudio at hcmc.netnam.vn
claudio at hcmc.netnam.vn
Sat Nov 25 23:04:37 PST 2006
from Human Rights Tools <editors at humanrightstools.org> -----
Since the last issue we have been hard at work collecting every human rights
course we could find for our brand new training section, freshly published
today:
http://www.humanrightstools.org/training/training.htm
We put together what is perhaps the most up to date and comprehensive listings
of human rights training opportunities - in total 107 courses: 75 Masters
degrees and 32 short courses (with more to be added soon: Spanish, French, and
distance learning):
http://www.humanrightstools.org/training/training/masters.htm
http://www.humanrightstools.org/training/training/short.htm
A geographical analysis of these degrees shows that an extraordinary number
are concentrated in the UK. Out of 75 Masters programs, no less than 46 take
place in the UK, given by 29 universities!!! What on earth is happening over
there? Even within the English-speaking world, the disproportion is
tremendous. For the US - the largest anglophone country, we only found one
Masters in human rights, although it has several excellent international
relations and law programs to which you can a very strong human rights focus.
And we only found one Masters in Australia.
In London alone there are now seven universities providing Masters degrees in
human rights. Until recently there was a joint degree offered by several
universities, allowing students to choose courses from all schools involved,
but this has apparently come to an end for reasons which have little to do
with students' interests.
We certainly seem to be headed for a glut in terms of human rights academic
study in the UK. This is not necessarily a bad thing for students: it will
force universities to compete on price and quality. Diversity of offerings
will also increase, as each university seeks to carve out a niche by
specializing in a particular area of human rights. It may eventually even
force them to cooperate together a bit more.
In this light, the Venice degree shines in a very positive light, as a true
example of cooperation among universities, drawing together each university's
respective strong points, and providing a very rich learning experience for
the students. No less than 39 European universities participate, by sending
professors to teach for a few days in the hyper-active winter semester which
takes place on the Lido in Venice. This gives the students the chance to
discover a topic which they really want to explore during the second semester
and the dissertation. For the second semeser, students then move to one of the
participating universities, where their preferred topic is taught best.
Because of this system, the participating human rights institutes, which are
often small, do not have to worry about offering a full-fledged generalist
Masters program at home, but can focus on deeper research and teaching in a
particular area - a far more sensible investment of resources for all involve
d: the student, the institutes, and the taxpayer.
Most other countries only offer one human rights degree, if any. In this
regard, a special tribute should go to the Raoul Wallenberg institute in
Sweden and the Danish Institute for Human Rights - they are cooperating with
partners in other continents on Masters degrees and other training programs in
Costa Rica, China, Thailand, South Africa, and Uganda:
http://www.rwi.lu.se/coop/asia/thailand.shtml
http://www.humanrights.dk/departments/international/PA/UMP/
Another interesting area for comparison is price. In our training section, we
systematically list tuition fees, because this is an important factor for
prospective students and we want to provide visibility to universities that
make an effort to remain affordable. And we noted a great disparity in price:
some degrees cost tens of thousands of dollars (and exactly how is a human
rights worker going to pay for that, anyway?), and other degrees are
completely free! In fact in Sweden its illegal for a public learning
institution to charge a student.
Of course the expensive universities will argue that its not their fault that
their governments do not subsidize them to the extent of the Scandinavian
countries, and will also quickly point out that they provide some scholarships
to needy students. Fine, we accept that. But this argument cannot explain
everything. Have a look at the price disparity among the degrees offered in
the UK - the better ones are not necessarily the most expensive. Its worth
shopping around for the best deal - don't give your hard-earned money to
universities that overcharge.
This brings us to the eternal question: is it worth the expense to go to a
famous university? Will that label on your CV help get you the dream job?
Well, a reputable university may not be uniformly good - the department or
course you are interested in may be badly run by a lazy professor (this
happens!). In the same vein, a small-town university may have a very dynamic
staff who will provide you with very close attention and excellent tutoring.
In other words, its very important to investigate your choice carefully. This
is why each course on our lists comes with a "Comments" link where you can
add comments: please help your peers and add a frank and fair review of both
strong and weak points. Even if means remaining anonymous. A degree is a major
investment and we need to know your opinion to make an informed choice.
A final word: beware of application deadlines, this is one of the first things
to check. It may take some time to put together your application - not to fill
in the forms of course, but to collect the letters of recommendation you will
need, from professors who may actually have retired since you graduated (no,
we are not getting any younger). It would be a shame to be rejected because of
an application which arrived two days late (this happened to your editor for
the Venice EMA - how silly!). Even when there is no deadline, if you apply
late you will diminish your chance of finding a place.
We hope you will enjoy this new section, and that it will help you find the
degree of your dreams!
And as usual, please forward this email to your friends and colleagues, as
they may also be interesting in taking a year out, or even a short course of
two weeks. And if you have received this from a friend, sign up here for this
newsletter here so as not to miss the next one!
http://www.humanrightstools.org/news/newsletter.htm
Best regards,
Daniel D'Esposito, editor
PS: if you find a course that is missing on our lists, please let us know by
responding to this email.
Human Rights Tools
<http://humanrightstools.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/u/news/>
<http://humanrightstools.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/list/news>
------------------------------------------------------------------
This mail sent through Netnam-HCMC ISP: http://www.hcmc.netnam.vn/
More information about the PHM-Exchange
mailing list