Human Rights and Social Change
UndergraduateMAQ-MHIX33032027
Course information for 2027 intake
Rights claims can become forces for social and political change. Examine movements, advocacy and competing ideas of rights, then consider how people and institutions challenge injustice.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Enrol by
- 18 July 2027
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 13 weeks
- Start dates
- 26 July 2027
- Price from
- $2,355
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Human Rights and Social Change
About this subject
On successful completion, a student will be able to
- Analyse the historical development of human rights across key moments, movements, and legal frameworks, from early charters to contemporary global issues.
- Evaluate the cultural, political, and philosophical dimensions of human rights discourse, including the tensions between theory and practice.
- Interrogate archival sources to assess their potential and limitations in constructing histories of human rights and identifying voices often excluded from official narratives.
- Create persuasive, evidence-based resources that engage critically with historical materials to advocate for social change and the uptake of specific human rights in local and global contexts.
- A week-by-week guide to the topics you will explore in this subject will be provided in your study materials
This unit explores global social and political change from World War Two to now. The second half of the twentieth century witnessed an explosion of rights claiming and making against the backdrop of the Cold War and international human rights. History was itself revised as we entered the age of the apology. We explore key moments and events from human rights to the 60s and 70s revolutions, the Vietnam war protests and decolonisation, as well as key social movements including anti-apartheid and antiracism, Women’s and Indigenous rights, climate justice and the Black Lives Matter movement. We consider gains and losses and reflect on legacies. The unit deepens and complicates understandings of modernity. It provides crucial historical background, context and terminology for students interested in careers in global politics, international law, foreign aid, human rights and social justice.
- Archive Task (20%)
- Assessing claims about human rights (25%)
- Research Essay (50%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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Entry requirements
Prior study
You must have successfully completed the following subject(s) before starting this subject:
one of
- MAQ-MHIX2202-Merchants, Markets, and Globalisation
- MAQ-MHIX2201-Encountering the Middle Ages
- MAQ-AHIX2250-Ancient Egypt: Culture and Society
Others
Pre-requisite-120cp at 1000 level or above
NCCW (2020 and onwards)
MHIS3303 Human Rights and Social Change
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
UndergraduateMAQ-HIS-DEG
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