About the Program

Minor

Human rights have become the moral language of today, the idiom in which we discuss our common humanity and weigh competing claims for resources, rights, and protections. The Human Rights Interdisciplinary (HRI) minor at UC Berkeley allows students to shape their education around coursework which investigates the legal, political, historical, economic, social, psychological, and representational dynamics of human rights.

Helping undergraduates explore issues via multiple forms of thought and media of expression—through literature as well as politics, journalism as well as law, film as well as anthropology—the HRI minor emphasizes the many different intellectual spaces in which human rights questions are currently being posed. In so doing, it encourages students to recognize how human rights are intertwined with fields as disparate as postcolonial literature and medical ethics, as well as with the more familiar fields of political science and international law.

Declaring the Minor

The first steps in declaring the HRI minor are to fill out the application form, the program worksheet and meet with a Human Rights Interdisciplinary Minor advisor to get the forms approved and have yourself declared in CalCentral.

The department encourages students to meet with an HRI minor advisor early in their academic careers. Advisors will help craft a plan of study, approve elective courses, and help students connect with the faculty members whose work best fits their academic interests.

Visit Program Website

Minor Requirements

Students who have a strong interest in an area of study outside their major often decide to complete a minor program. These programs have set requirements and are noted officially on the transcript in the memoranda section, but they are not noted on diplomas.

General Guidelines

1. All minors must be declared no later than one semester before a student's Expected Graduation Term (EGT). If the semester before EGT is fall or spring, the deadline is the last day of RRR week. If the semester before EGT is summer, the deadline is the final Friday of Summer Sessions. To declare a minor, contact the department advisor for information on requirements, and the declaration process.
2. All courses taken to fulfill the minor requirements below must be taken for a letter grade.
3. A minimum of three of the upper division courses taken to fulfill the minor requirements must be completed at UC Berkeley.
4. A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 is required for courses used to fulfill the minor requirements.
5. Courses used to fulfill the minor requirements may be applied toward the Seven-Course Breadth requirement, for Letters & Science students.
6. No more than one upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs.
7. All minor requirements must be completed prior to the last day of finals during the semester in which you plan to graduate. If you cannot finish all courses required for the minor by that time, please see a College of Letters & Science adviser.
8. All minor requirements must be completed within the unit ceiling. (For further information regarding the unit ceiling, please see the College Requirements tab.)

A complete Human Rights Interdisciplinary minor application consists of:

1. Minor Application Form and Program Worksheet.
2. The Completion of L&S Minor form.

Requirements

Permanently Approved HRI Minor Courses

The courses below may be counted in any semester they are offered.  There may be other courses available on campus that are suitable for the minor, however, such courses will require a curriculum petition.  Note: Special topics courses require approval by an HRI minor advisor.

Faculty and Instructors

+ Indicates this faculty member is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award.

Faculty

Miguel A. Altieri, Professor. Environmental Science, Policy and Management, agriculture, environmental science, pest management.

Stephanie Ballenger, Lecturer. International and Area Studies.

Peter Bartu, Lecturer. International and Area Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Middle Eastern Studies.

David Beecher, Lecturer. International and Area Studies, Political Economy.

Karenjot Bhangoo Randhawa, Lecturer. International and Area Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies.

Crystal Chang, Lecturer. International and Area Studies, Asian Studies, Political Science.

Margaret Chowning, Professor. Mexico, history, gender, women, Latin America.

Beverly Kay Crawford, Professor Emeritus. International and Area Studies, Political Economy Group Major.

Jack Davey, Lecturer. International and Area Studies.

Alain De Janvry, Professor. Agricultural & Resource Economics, economics, labor management and policy.

J. Bradford Delong, Professor. Economics, globalization, economic growth, convergence, economics of post WWII Europe.

+ Munis D. Faruqui, Associate Professor. Mughal India, Delhi Sultanate, Islam in South Asia/India, Urdu.

Emily Gottreich, Associate Adjunct Professor. Middle Eastern Studies, Islamic Urban Studies, Jewish history, Morocco, North Africa, Sephardic Studies.
Research Profile

Gillian P. Hart, Professor Emeritus. Geography.

Fatmir Haskaj, Lecturer. Political economy, development, critical theory and urban studies.

+ Khalid Kadir, Lecturer. Global Poverty & Practice Minor, International & Area Studies.

Alan Karras, Associate Director, Senior Lecturer. International and Area Studies, Political Economy.
Research Profile

Cecilia Cissell Lucas, Lecturer. International and Area Studies.

Erin Murphy-Graham, Associate Adjunct Professor. Educational equity, cultural studies, gender equity, diversity, international education, alternative schooling, democratic education, ethnic issues.

Mario Muzzi, Lecturer. International and Area Studies.

Laura Nathan, Lecturer. International and Area Studies.

Bruce Newsome, Lecturer. International and Area Studies.

Clara I. Nicholls, Lecturer. International and Area Studies, Latin American Studies.

Tiffany L. Page, Lecturer. International and Area Studies, Latin American Studies.

Lanchih Po, Associate Adjunct Professor. International and Area Studies, East Asian Languages and Cultures.

Elisabeth Sadoulet, Professor. Economics, agriculture, labor management and policy.

Manuela Travaglianti, Lecturer. International and Area Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies.

Khatharya Um, Associate Professor. Education, memory, Southeast Asian Studies, Asian American histories and communities, Southeast Asian diaspora, refugees, international migration, transnational and diaspora studies, genocide studies.
Research Profile

+ Michael J. Watts, Professor Emeritus. Islam, development, Africa, social movements, political economy, political ecology, geography, South Asia, peasant societies, social and and cultural theory, US agriculture, Marxian political economy.

Keiko Yamanaka, Lecturer. Department of Ethnic Studies, Asian Studies.

Darren C. Zook, Lecturer. International and Area Studies, Political Science.

Daniel Zoughbie, Lecturer. International and Area Studies.

Lecturers

Clare Talwalker, Lecturer. Global Studies, Global Poverty and Practice, Political Economy, South Asia.