Human Rights Advocacy Internship module (PO42017)

The module combines theory and practice to introduce you to theoretical debates and controversies in human rights advocacy and real-world experience of running an advocacy campaign. The aim of the module is to help you to learn by reading, reflecting, and doing.

You will have the opportunity to work, as part of a group, with Scholars at Risk, an international human rights NGO, on an advocacy project, and develop real-world skills that will enhance your employment opportunities. The module will also include guest presentations when applicable.

What you will learn

In this module, you will:

• learn what human rights are
• study the politics and constraints of advocacy
• understand what is information politics
• develop knowledge of advocacy strategies and their effectiveness
• evaluate advocacy strategies and campaigns and their outcomes

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, and practical relevance of the normative debates on human rights advocacy
• differentiate between and develop for themselves the multiple administrative, organisational, strategic, and design skills necessary for a career advocating for human rights
• plan, design, and implement an advocacy campaign on a real-world case, evaluate the successes and failures of this campaign, and recommend constructive changes to the NGO working on this campaign in real time
• demonstrate a range of employability skills - working with a group to design and implement a project to a deadline, communication and problem-solving skills, presentation skills, writing short and long reports, and working with a ‘client’ remotely to meet their needs

Assignments / assessment

• individual advocacy strategy document (1,500 words) - 30%
• group video submission summarising the campaign - 10%
• individual engagement - 10%
• individual end-of-term report on the process of advocacy (3,500 words) - 50%

This module does not have a final exam.

Teaching methods / timetable

The module will be taught over Sem 1 and Sem 2 through:

• block seminar of two hours every 2 weeks
• an advocacy workshop of two hours for training and guidance on the practical sections of the module every 2 weeks

This module is assigned 30 SCOTCAT credits even though it runs across 2 semesters.