The Human Rights minor is an option for students who are interested in this rapidly emerging field of study. This is a coordinated tri-campus initiative (UW Tacoma, UW Seattle, and UW Bothell). Students benefit from being able to choose from many courses on different campuses, as well as meeting and collaborating with students from other programs. Students may, but are not required to, take courses from more than one campus in order to earn the minor.

You may benefit from the minor if you:

  • Are applying to law school;
  • Want to work in international human rights NGOs (non-governmental agencies) or humanitarian nonprofits;
  • Want to work in government;
  • Are interested in the relationship between culture and international law;
  • Are interested in women's rights as human rights and the impact of the gendered state on women and labor;
  • Are interested in environmental justice issues, environmental law or science in the service of human rights or international humanitarian relief;
  • Are a Business student interested in the issue of globalization and labor;
  • Are a Nursing student interested in health and justice issues or international health.

All courses in the minor must be completed with a cumulative 2.0 GPA.

The SIAS majors have been designed to allow a student to earn a minor without additional credits beyond that required for graduation. With proper planning, most of the SIAS majors will work well with the Human Rights minor. See your program advisor for further details.

Students are highly encouraged to take courses from the other two UW campuses as well as UW Tacoma to complete this minor. The expertise available on all three UW campuses has the potential to make the experience a richer one, providing more choices for internships and specialization of study within the minor. The below information is provided for those students who want a summary of the UW Tacoma offerings.

LIST A: HUMAN RIGHTS AS CORE CONCEPT: 10 CREDITS
LIST B: HUMAN RIGHTS IN CONTEXT: 5 CREDITS

Courses concerned with human rights in a broader context (poverty, race/ethnicity, gender, labor, social change)

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS & INTERNSHIP
  • Ten (10) additional credits from List A or B are required in addition to the above.
  • At least three (3) credits in a human rights related internship, practicum, study abroad or equivalent are required.

Important notes regarding internship:

The primary objective of a human rights internship is learning about human rights work and facilitating a synthesis between classroom learning and practical engagement. Appropriate human rights internships may be supervised by any University of Washington faculty member. Students who choose this route to fulfill the minor’s requirements must find an appropriate internship and register for TIAS 496 Internship.

Note: The new Human Rights Minor form MUST be stapled to the TIAS 496 Internship form when you submit it to the IAS program if you want the internship to count for the minor. Be sure to have supervising faculty sign it or your minor may be incomplete.

Declare a minor by completing the Request to Declare/Change a Major or Minor form and submitting it to the Office of the Registrar. You must have earned a minimum of 45 credits and declared a major before declaring a minor. If you have any questions about this process, please see your advisor.