Overview

The details

Course: Human Rights and Cultural Diversity

Start date: October 2020

Study mode: Full-time

Duration: 1 year

Location: Colchester Campus

Based in: Law (School of)

Are you interested in human rights? And how human rights relate to problems of cultural inequalities around the world?

Our MA Human Rights and Cultural Diversity is suited to you if you have a particular interest in this specialised area of study. You acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of the central issues and debates surrounding the application and justification of human rights within a culturally complex and diverse world.

These problems are legal, social, political and philosophical, and our course reflects this in our multidisciplinary approach. In contrast to our other human rights courses, this MA examines human rights specifically in relation to cultural diversity. You explore topics including:

Theoretical foundations of human rights
The practice of human rights in the context of cultural diversity
Regional perspectives upon human rights
Contemporary issues of cultural diversity

Our interdisciplinary Human Rights Centre is the UK’s leading centre for the study of the theory and practice of international human rights, and has a worldwide reputation for research, teaching and practice. In February 2010, we were awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize in recognition of our work in advancing human rights across the globe.

In the School of Law at Essex, we specialise in commercial law, public law, and human rights law. We are ranked among the top 200 departments in the QS World University Rankings (2019) and we are top 20 in the UK for research excellence (REF 2014, mainstream universities, THE 2014).

This course is also available on a part-time basis.

Why we're great.

Explore legal, social, political and philosophical problems
Work with our advisors to top organisations such as OHCHR, UNHCR and WHO
We are top 20 in the UK for research excellence (REF 2014, mainstream universities, THE 2014)

THE Awards 2018 - Winner University of the Year

Our expert staff

Our work has always been informed by human rights practice and our senior staff have held - and continue to occupy - key positions in the United Nations human rights and development fields. We have also conducted numerous cases in Strasbourg, establishing far-reaching precedents that have shaped the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights.

At Essex, our objective is to ensure you receive a rigorous academic education that also prepares you for working as a human rights advocate. Every member of our teaching team is a leading human rights academic, as well as a practitioner in the field.

Our team includes former UN Special Rapporteurs, members of UN treaty bodies, the UK member of the UN Human Rights Committee, a member of the Government’s new Advisory Group on Human Rights. We are also advisers to a range of international organisations (like the OHCHR, UNHCR and WHO), as well as to NGOs around the world, and litigators before national courts, regional human rights commissions and courts, international courts and tribunals, and the UN treaty bodies.

Specialist facilities

Participate in various legal competitions to hone your debating, mediation and negotiation skills
Work on key human rights projects at our Human Rights Clinic
Network at our student-run Law Society, Human Rights Society, and Bar Society, which provides legal advice to the Commonwealth Students’ Association (CSA)
Our Essex Street Law project is one of the first of its kind and is the primary pro-bono project provided by our Law Society
Volunteer at the Essex Law Clinic where you can work alongside practicing solicitors to offer legal advice to clients
Gain commercial awareness at our Business and Legal Advice Clinic
Join our Model United Nations society, which can improve your skills of argumentation, oral presentation and research
Take advantage of networking opportunities throughout the year with visiting law firms

We also offer a range of opportunities for working with projects associated with our Human Rights Centre:

Essex Transitional Justice Network
International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy
Human Rights in Iran Unit
Essex Autonomy Project
Detention, Rights and Social Justice Programme

Your future

Graduates are well placed for careers as a journalist, a policy analyst or researcher, as an official in the United Nations system or as an activist in humanitarian and policy-making non-governmental bodies in the UK and abroad. We also prepare you to undertake further independent research in the field of human rights.

We are first university in the UK to sign a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). This creates internship and research opportunities for our postgraduate students and is based on our long-established expertise in international humanitarian law.

During the year, we hold a careers session for our students in which we reflect upon our own careers and how they have been built as well as those from former students. We are always available to discuss career options and if you are interested in a particular area of human rights, we can link you up with the relevant alumni to offer advice.

We also work with the university’s Careers Services to help you find out about further work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities.

Entry requirements

UK entry requirements

Admission to the MA requires the possession of the minimum of a high 2.2 undergraduate degree. We accept undergraduate degrees from across a range of social and political sciences, law and degrees in any of the recognised humanities subjects. Students with undergraduate degrees in the natural sciences, engineering or medicine may be also be admitted subject to their ability to demonstrate a commitment to human rights through professional or voluntary work or activity.

International & EU entry requirements

We accept a wide range of qualifications from applicants studying in the EU and other countries. Get in touch with any questions you may have about the qualifications we accept. Remember to tell us about the qualifications you have already completed or are currently taking.

Sorry, the entry requirements for the country that you have selected are not available here. Please select your country page where you'll find this information.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5 overall with a minimum component score of 5.5 except for 6.0 in writing

If you do not meet our IELTS requirements then you may be able to complete a pre-sessional English pathway that enables you to start your course without retaking IELTS.

Additional Notes

The University uses academic selection criteria to determine an applicant’s ability to successfully complete a course at the University of Essex. Where appropriate, we may ask for specific information relating to previous modules studied or work experience.

Structure

Example structure

Most of our courses combine compulsory and optional modules, giving you freedom to pursue your own interests. All of the modules listed below provide an example of what is on offer from the current academic year. Our Programme Specification provides further details of the course structure for the current academic year.

Our research-led teaching is continually evolving to address the latest challenges and breakthroughs in the field, therefore to ensure your course is as relevant and up-to-date as possible your core module structure may be subject to change.

The example structure below is representative of this course if taken full-time. If you choose to study part-time, the modules will be split across 2 years.

See full list of modules

Human Rights: Theories and Applications

What are the founding principles of human rights? What perspectives and methodologies can you apply to human rights? And what are the important contemporary debates in the theory and practice of human rights? Gain answers to these questions, while acquiring methodological skills for future independent research.

View Human Rights: Theories and Applications on our Module Directory

Contemporary Issues in Human Rights and Cultural Diversity

View Contemporary Issues in Human Rights and Cultural Diversity on our Module Directory

Dissertation: MA Human Rights and Cultural Diversity

What angle of human rights fascinates you? What do you want to study further, with support and guidance from the expert staff within our Human Rights Centre? The dissertation is your opportunity to build valuable research skills and in depth knowledge on a topic that interests and challenges you.

View Dissertation: MA Human Rights and Cultural Diversity on our Module Directory

Human Rights Clinic (optional)

Want to work as a human rights professional? Using the UN human rights mechanisms, learn the essential skills to become a human rights practitioner. Apply this knowledge practically through engagement with projects by our Human Rights Centre Clinic.

View Human Rights Clinic (optional) on our Module Directory

Religion and Human Rights (optional)

How do Islamic legal traditions impact on international human rights discourse? And on Muslim state practice? Study the debates surrounding Islam and universal human rights. Examine the diversity of perspectives surrounding human rights in Islamic thought and practice. Develop the tools for cross-cultural understanding and engagement.

View Religion and Human Rights (optional) on our Module Directory

Human Rights, International Relations and Diplomacy (optional)

How does the international system enhance the advancement of human rights? And how does it constrain it? Study the international system and its influence on human rights. Examine the role of foreign policy instruments in promoting human rights. Analyse how human rights can advance foreign policy goals by states.

View Human Rights, International Relations and Diplomacy (optional) on our Module Directory

The Morality and Politics of International Human Rights (optional)

View The Morality and Politics of International Human Rights (optional) on our Module Directory

International Security Studies (optional)

The field of security studies has become increasingly important over the last decade. While old conflicts are reigniting and new ones are emerging, scholars and decision-makers debate about changes to the concepts of security, the redundancy of military force, and the centrality of the state in order to face these ever-important issues.

View International Security Studies (optional) on our Module Directory

From Cradle to Grave: Social Justice in Childhood, Adulthood, and Death (optional)

Theories of justice are still being worked on and developed today. You question contemporary theories of justice through applying them to some of the most controversial issues dominating contemporary politics.

View From Cradle to Grave: Social Justice in Childhood, Adulthood, and Death (optional) on our Module Directory

Language and Human Rights (optional)

This module articulates empirical, comparative sociolinguistic views of language use and conflicts within speech communities, contextualizing them within a human rights perspective. This module surveys important topics in human rights, focusing on the types of conflicts which occur around language, considering the principles upon which they can be understood and investigated, and examining efforts at solutions, as well as locating attempts to identify and make language rights manifest within a broad context of national and international agreements.

View Language and Human Rights (optional) on our Module Directory

European Union Law and Human Rights (optional)

What impact does EU law have on human rights? What are the human rights aspects of EU rules for asylum and immigration? Examine the agreement on EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights. Understand the scope and content of the EU’s own Charter of Fundamental Rights.

View European Union Law and Human Rights (optional) on our Module Directory

Conflict and the UN: Law Relating to the Use of Force, Peacekeeping, Sanctions & Counter Terrorism (optional)

How does public international law apply to peace and field operations? What about international human rights law? Or the international law of armed conflict? Understand the institutional law of the United Nations. Examine foundational legal aspects of peace operations, as well as key unresolved legal issues.

View Conflict and the UN: Law Relating to the Use of Force, Peacekeeping, Sanctions & Counter Terrorism (optional) on our Module Directory

International Human Rights: Theories and Institutions (optional)

What are the contemporary issues within international human rights law? How does the UN promote and protect human rights? Gain a critical and contextual introduction to international human rights law. Build your analytical skills in relation to the subject. Discuss current issues and events in group work.

View International Human Rights: Theories and Institutions (optional) on our Module Directory

Public International Law (optional)

What does it mean to be an international lawyer? Understand the founding principles of international laws. Apply the tools and techniques of legal reasoning to the international system. Understand how the system of international law works and form your own views through discussion of contemporary issues.

View Public International Law (optional) on our Module Directory

The Protection of Refugees and Displaced Persons in International Law (optional)

What protection does international law offer refugees and internally displaced persons? Examine legal definitions of refugee status. Understand the guarantees provided for such groups by international human rights law. Evaluate the limitations of such laws by states in Europe and North America.

View The Protection of Refugees and Displaced Persons in International Law (optional) on our Module Directory

European Convention on Human Rights I (optional)

What are the achievements of the European Convention on Human Rights? What are the challenges that it now faces? And the constraints? Examine the history of the Convention. Explore how the focus and methodology of the Court is now changing. Address the key states of the litigation of a case.

View European Convention on Human Rights I (optional) on our Module Directory

The Protection of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples in International Law (optional)

You’ll look at how minorities and indigenous peoples are protected in international human rights law by considering the rights that have been established, the jurisprudence that has been developed and the mechanisms for implementation. You’ll receive the opportunity to reflect on the contrasting regimes that focus on the individual rights accorded members of minorities and the collective rights recognised for indigenous peoples. You’ll study the contemporary challenges relating to political participation, conflict, development, climate change and other matters that affect minorities and indigenous peoples.

View The Protection of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples in International Law (optional) on our Module Directory

Human Rights and Development (optional)

What does right to development mean? How does it relate to human rights treaties? What is a human rights-based approach to development? Study international human rights law, exploring theoretical and practical implications of linking human rights and development. Analyse specific human rights themes. Evaluate the role of governments and organisations.

View Human Rights and Development (optional) on our Module Directory

International Trade, Investment and Human Rights. (optional)

What are the global standards set by the GATT/World Trade Organisation? And by World Bank policies? Examine relationships between human rights, international trade and foreign investment. Study legal issues, plus ethical, political and economic arguments on current topics. Evaluate cases to see the practical effect of linking trade and rights.

View International Trade, Investment and Human Rights. (optional) on our Module Directory

Human Rights and Women (optional)

You’ll receive an introduction to the protection and promotion of women’s and girls’ human rights under international law. Your focus will be on the universal human rights mechanisms, with some analysis of regional human rights mechanisms, especially relating to violence against women. You’ll consider sexual and reproductive rights, economic, social and cultural rights, administration of justice, women’s rights in conflict and post-conflict, and violence against women. You’ll also look at the persistence of gender stereotyping, theories of equality and discrimination, and the efforts of human rights defenders.

View Human Rights and Women (optional) on our Module Directory

Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Africa (optional)

In this module you’ll critically examine the promotion and protection of human rights from the perspective of African political and human rights institutions. Topics you’ll cover include: human rights in Africa; the Organisation of African Unity and African Union; the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights; other African human rights treaties; African states within the UN; domestic protection of human rights; and women's rights.

View Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Africa (optional) on our Module Directory

The Inter-American System of Human Rights (optional)

In this module you’ll study the work carried out by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court, which are usually referred to as the two bodies of the Inter-American System. In particular you’ll study the rights to life, humane treatment, personal liberty, fair trial, judicial guarantees, indigenous rights, violence against women, non-discrimination and equality, socio-economic rights, and the right to reparation. Films and guest speakers will enhance your understanding of the achievements, challenges and impact of the System.

View The Inter-American System of Human Rights (optional) on our Module Directory

Business and Human Rights (optional)

What are the human rights responsibilities of private companies? And what about public or private institutions financing projects aimed at world development? Evaluate principles regulating human rights and examine how they contrast with principles regulating multinational commercial interests. Consider real-life cases from both national and international courts.

View Business and Human Rights (optional) on our Module Directory

International Human Rights Law: Law and Practice (optional)

View International Human Rights Law: Law and Practice (optional) on our Module Directory

Human Rights and Artificial Intelligence (optional)

View Human Rights and Artificial Intelligence (optional) on our Module Directory

Gender, Peace, Security and the Law (optional)

View Gender, Peace, Security and the Law (optional) on our Module Directory

Psychoanalysis of Groups and Organisations (optional)

What is the unconscious? And how does it influence the behaviour of groups? Explore how a psychoanalytic approach can illuminate the dynamics of groups and organisations. Understand the classic theories of Freud and Bion, then develop perspectives on how psychoanalytic ideas explain individual and group behaviour.

View Psychoanalysis of Groups and Organisations (optional) on our Module Directory

Psychosocial Perspectives on Human Rights (optional)

What psychological complexities are involved when working with people whose human rights were violated? How do you, as a worker, interact with them? In what way do wider contexts impact on these interactions? Explore the psychosocial parameters of human rights violations. Engage with issues, debates and literature on psychosocial perspectives of human rights.

View Psychosocial Perspectives on Human Rights (optional) on our Module Directory

Advanced Social Psychology (optional)

By studying a range of theory and research surrounding human thinking and behaviour in a social world you will develop a clear understanding of the topics social psychologists are interested in and how they approach their study. You will also discover how theory and research in social psychology might help us to understand current issues in society.

View Advanced Social Psychology (optional) on our Module Directory

Philosophy and Aesthetics (optional)

This module is dedicated to the theoretical reflection on aesthetic practices and objects and their history (from artworks to the aesthetic strategies of protest movements). It also reflects on the distinctive experiences that are involved in relating aesthetically to one's life, social world, or art. The module examines why aesthetic practices and experiences play such a central role in continental thought from Kant and Hegel to Adorno and Rancière. This Autumn term, among the questions to be discussed will be the following: How to conceive of the relationship between art/aesthetics and politics? How can one tell apart progressive/emancipatory aesthetic-political strategies from regressive ones (such as Nazi and Stalinist aesthetics)? What are the aesthetic-political strategies deployed by political activists and how do they work? In what sense can aesthetic practices and experiences (and the theoretical reflection on them) be critical? Are aesthetic practices part and parcel of political freedom? Is there such a thing as a democratic or totalitarian aesthetic? What is the role and place of aesthetics in democratic life?

View Philosophy and Aesthetics (optional) on our Module Directory

Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Theory (optional)

How can feminist and queer theory be used to analyse sociological issues? What impact does gender and sexuality have on topics like kinship, globalisation, digital intimacies, and the body? Explore contemporary sociological developments in the study of gender, sexuality and intimacy.

View Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Theory (optional) on our Module Directory

Citizenship, International Migration and Human Rights (optional)

View Citizenship, International Migration and Human Rights (optional) on our Module Directory

Dynamics of Home and Work (optional)

How are work and home life organised differently across the globe? Does gender add to this? Can we challenge our traditional understandings of work and home? As work helps to define your identity, explore the nature of both formal and informal work, using case studies from around the world.

View Dynamics of Home and Work (optional) on our Module Directory

Formative Debates in Criminology (optional)

How do we challenge our conventional understanding of crime? And what can we do about this? Examine the history of criminology and learn about the contemporary debates. Study topics like criminalisation, social deviance, and surveillance and punishment. Look ahead with analysis of new work by leading authors in the field.

View Formative Debates in Criminology (optional) on our Module Directory

Current Controversies in Criminology (optional)

How do we understand crime in our increasingly globalised world? And what about forms of control and criminal justice policy? Critically examine criminological thought on globalisation, migration, policy convergence, punishment, and crimes against the state.

View Current Controversies in Criminology (optional) on our Module Directory

Colonialism, Cultural Diversity and Human Rights (optional)

How has colonialism created human rights problems, now and in the past? And what part did mandates for free markets, industrialism and state sovereignty play? Study thinkers like Cesaire, Fanon, Arendt, Agamben and Taussig. Discuss specific international situations like Palestine, forced removal of Aboriginal children and the war on terror.

View Colonialism, Cultural Diversity and Human Rights (optional) on our Module Directory

Teaching

You will be taught and supervised by our staff who are world leaders and experts in the field
Your MA will include five taught modules and a dissertation
We run activities including tours to European institutions, trips to Kosovo, Right Skills for Rights workshops, a seminar series and a celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Assessment

All modules on our courses take the form of take-home exams and essays
Modules from our Department of Government offer a formal sit-down examination

Dissertation

Your dissertation is of 15,000 to 20,000 words, and you are allocated a supervisor to cover a range of human rights topics

Fees and funding

Home/EU fee

£8,340

International fee

£17,900

Fees will increase for each academic year of study.

What's next

We hold Open Days for all our applicants throughout the year. Our Colchester Campus events are a great way to find out more about studying at Essex, and give you the chance to:

tour our campus and accommodation
find out answers to your questions about our courses, student finance, graduate employability, student support and more
meet our students and staff

If the dates of our organised events aren’t suitable for you, feel free to get in touch by emailing tours@essex.ac.uk and we’ll arrange an individual campus tour for you.

2020 Open Days (Colchester Campus)

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Find out more

You can apply for our postgraduate courses online. You’ll need to provide us with your academic qualifications, as well as supporting documents such as transcripts, English language qualifications and certificates. You can find a list of necessary documents online, but please note we won’t be able to process your application until we have everything we need.

There is no application deadline but we recommend that you apply before 1 July for our taught courses starting in October. We aim to respond to applications within two weeks. If we are able to offer you a place, you will be contacted via email.

If you are applying to one of our taught courses in the Human Rights, you will need to provide a copy of your CV with your application.

Home to over 13,000 students from more than 130 countries, our Colchester Campus is the largest of our three sites, making us one of the most internationally diverse campuses on the planet - we like to think of ourselves as the world in one place.

The Campus is set within 200 acres of beautiful parkland, located two miles from the historic town centre of Colchester – England's oldest recorded town. Our Colchester Campus is also easily reached from London and Stansted Airport in under one hour.

How to get to Colchester Campus

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At Essex we pride ourselves on being a welcoming and inclusive student community. We offer a wide range of support to individuals and groups of student members who may have specific requirements, interests or responsibilities.

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