MSc in Human Rights and Multiculturalism
University College of Southeast Norway
Key Information
Campus location
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
4 semesters
Pace
Full time
Tuition fees
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Application deadline
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Introduction
This is Human Rights and Multiculturalism
This is an interdisciplinary program focusing on human rights and culture at local, national, regional and international levels.
The program is designed to accommodate students with degrees in different academic disciplines. It is also a post graduate degree course in teacher education.
Because human rights knowledge and awareness of the public issues are crucial elements in the realization of human rights, the study of human rights education and human rights in professional practice are important elements in the program.
Why Human Rights and Multiculturalism?
The MSc in Human Rights and Multiculturalism offers an interdisciplinary higher education in human rights and multiculturalism for teachers with specialisation within the social sciences and others with a Bachelor degree containing at least 90 ECTS studies within the social sciences.
The student will attain analytical skills in issues related to human rights and multiculturalism both at the micro- and macro-levels, applying methods ranging from social science research to education and hermeneutics.
The program pursues an interdisciplinary approach to Human Rights and Multiculturalism, mainly building on the humanities and social science. It builds on expertise within the disciplines of religious studies, political science, philosophy, international law, education and social anthropology.
Where can I work?
Students with a Master's degree in Human Rights and Multiculturalism will be able to work in public services and administration, education, media, humanitarian organisations, private corporations and as consultants.
What you will learn
Through the course of study, the students will look at human rights from the perspectives offered by different cultures as well as academic disciplines and how human rights are to be perceived in the light of cultural diversity.
While a purely human rights discourse will emphasize rules, rights, norms that apply (more or less) universally assisted by institutions for monitoring and assessment, a purely multiculturalism discourse will focus on culture(s), complexity in culture, a host of exceptions and the interpretation of various cultural practises in society.
However, it is when these discourses are brought together that the debate gets highly complicated and the easy answers seem hard to find.
Individuals have rights, and cultures should not be oppressed. There is no quick fix regarding how to reconcile such claims.
The processes of globalisation, migration and Western secularisation contribute in making the many questions related to Human Rights and Multiculturalism even more important and relevant.
Civil wars and problems of state- and nation-building in the world may also be addressed and explained by knowledge about the relation between human rights issues and multicultural challenges.
This relation is also important regarding issues at micro levels, such as a local community in for example Scandinavia and the schools there.
Among the questions that will be pursued in the programme are the following ones:
- Do human rights protect multicultural diversity?
- Do human rights give robust guidance for normative and legal assessment of cultural customs, practices and traditions that can prevent unacceptable infringement of human rights within minority groups?
- Do human rights, including minority rights, offer legal, institutional and policy mechanisms that may help to reconcile conflicts among groups in multicultural contexts, and between minorities and the majority?
Moreover, the notions about the universality of human rights will be discussed.
The students will examine the concepts of human dignity and human rights as they may or may not be expressed in political, judicial and ethical contexts within selected religions and secular philosophies/ideologies.
Also contemporary integration regimes regarding asylum seekers and labour migration are on the curriculum of the Masters program.
Semester exchange to USN
Within this programme there are several exchange opportunities for students from our partner universities. Please contact our program administrator for details and course lists. The application deadline for exchange is April 15 for the autumn semester and October 15 for the spring semester.
Detailed course information
During the first semester, students complete one compulsory course (“Introduction to Human Rights and Cultural Diversity”) and compulsory “Research tutorials”, and choose one of the two following electives: “Human rights and multiculturalism in international human rights protection” or “Human rights education and diversity”.
In the second semester, students complete one compulsory course (“Epistemologies, Research Methodologies and Interdisciplinary research in the field of human rights and multiculturalism”) and compulsory “Research tutorials”, and choose one of the two following electives “National policies and theoretical models of integration, multiculturalism and human rights protection” or “Critical, cultural and religious perspectives on Human rights”.
In the second year of study, students first complete a compulsory course “The philosophy of Human Rights – ethical and professional perspectives” and then work on their master thesis.
Further studies
The students gain experience in interdisciplinary research, and will also be qualified to pursue academic research in the field of human rights and cultural diversity.
Study Plan
A study plan describes the content, structure and organization of a study programme. To each study plan there is a set of subject plans that describes the different subjects. In the subject plan you will also find a reading list. Below you will find a study model that shows you which subjects that are taught each term. In the study model you'll also find links to each subject plan.
Link to the latest published study plan