Human Rights

This is an open-book, take-home exam. The exam will become available on Blackboard and via e-mail at 9 am on 16 December 2020. Due on Blackboard at 11:30pm on 17 December 2020. Late submission will affect your grade, unless you have an accommodation with the Ross Center.

You will need to write two essays in response to essay questions 1  (15%) & 2 (15%).  You will also need to write a short response to question 3 (5%). If you havent completed any of the extra credit assignments during the Semester, please respond to question 4 (4% in extra credit).

Essays should not exceed 5 pages in double space. Please use the sub-questions to structure write a coherent essay. Do not write a separate response to each sub-question.

Your short answer to question 3 (and to question 4 if you are completing the extra credit question) should not exceed 1.5 pages in double space. Please submit all your answers in one document.

This exam accounts for 35% of your final grade.  You will need to demonstrate that you have  attended class, completed the readings, and that you have thought critically about these readings.  It is important that you draw on multiple relevant sources that we have read and discussed in class, such as chapters from Interdisciplinary Approaches to Human Rights, articles and book chapters assigned as required reading, reports, and declarations, conventions, and agreements.  Your answers will need to be well-organized, well-argued and well-written.  A good strategy is to start by reading and comprehending the question, and then writing an outline to use in structuring your essay/response. It is always a good idea to read or re-read a whole chapter, article, report or convention where needed. 

Including a bibliography is optional. Please revise and edit your essays prior to submission so they are free from grammar mistakes, typos, or other errors.

If you have any question, please email me at: [email protected] or email Meg at [email protected]

Good Luck. I look forward to reading your essays.

Essay Question: Intersectionality and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (15%)

In May 2020, Women Enabled International (WEI) published the report: COVID-19 at the Intersection of Gender and Disability: Findings of a Global Human Rights Survey, March to April 2020.

https://womenenabled.org/pdfs/Women%20Enabled%20International%20COVID-19%20at%20the%20Intersection%20of%20Gender%20and%20Disability%20May%202020%20Final.pdf

Please read this 18 pages (in large print) report; re-read AWIDs Intersectionality: A Tool for Gender and Economic Justice (2004)  — https://www.awid.org/publications/intersectionality-tool-gender-and-economic-justice and then answer the following questions (in the form of a coherent essay), linking the content, themes and analysis in the WEI report to other relevant readings we covered during the Semester.

Write a brief summary of WEIs report, list the three most important findings in it, and write why you think these findings are crucial.
Why has WEI carried out this research and published it in a report?
Do the arguments in this report resonate with some of the arguments Rosemary Garland-Thompson make in Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory? In what ways?
The report draws on several conventions and general comments that we covered in class. Name one convention or general comment and show how effective/ineffective it could be in supporting the argument(s) in the report.
Name a feminist concept or theory that we covered in class that WEI used to frame this report. Define this concept.
Which social groups does the report focus on? Why is it important to focus on the experiences of these social groups, according to the report?
Are there any other social groups that the report should have focused on?
Write an analytical critique of the report (identify things you like/dislike about it).

Essay Question: Refugee Rights (15%)

In Refugee Camps and the (Educational) Rights of the Child, Rajini Srikanth argues that While there is no doubt about the severe mental health challenges that refugee children experience,  research has shown that even small investments in educating refugee children yield enormous results in terms of reducing the deleterious impact of the violence of war or the upheavals of natural disasters. Discuss!

Who is a refugee according to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees?
Name three fundamental Principles that underpin the Convention Relating to the Rights of Refugees. Define these terms/principles.
What are some of the advantages of educating refugee children, according to Srikanth?
If the future that awaits children in refugee camps is an uncertain one, what skills and attributes would most enable them to navigate this uncertainty, according to Srikanth?
Srikanth discusses several initiatives and programs designed to educate refugee children. Name one such initiative and discuss its impact/potential impact.

Convention on the Rights of the Child

https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx

Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees

https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/3b66c2aa10