POL 2500 Human Rights in Latin America Medical Spanish & Health Sciences Program Spring 2023 Winter Semester - San Jose

This course will provide students with an introduction to the issues surrounding the development and abuse of human rights in Latin America. Students will explore the most recent advances in this field along with the most pertinent problems pertaining to their adoption and implementation. A particular emphasis will be given to the case of Costa Rica, giving the students an opportunity to explore the development of human rights in the following areas: women's rights, children's rights, HIV/AIDS, the CAFTA agreement and labor rights, indigenous groups and human rights, disability and age issues, and the prison environment. Specific attention will be given to testimonies of human rights abuses and the development of the Costa Rican legal framework in relation to these aforementioned areas. By analyzing these cases and the issues involved, students will gain an understanding of how human rights are being implemented through Costa Rica's laws, policy framework and its institutional commitment to human rights.

This is a social studies and sustainability course, it is elective, theoretical and practical and responds to the professional formation questions: What is the Global and Latin American framework for implementing human rights and how is the region advancing with its adoption? What can the human rights vulnerabilities and testimonies reveal about the quality of the global shift toward human rights as a key mechanism for welfare, equality, security and anti-discriminatory processes and how can these be overcome?

To be able to respond to the above questions the following themes will be covered:
- The central values and principles of human rights and responsibilities.
- Global, regional and local entities and Institutions
- Legal and policy frameworks for the implementation of human rights in Costa Rica
- Definition, type, development and implementation of public policy.
-Civil society, social movements and human rights at a regional level.
- Study and evaluation of vulnerable groups and human rights´ abuses.
- Individual responsibility and human rights
- The Inter-American Court of Human Rights System: Cases and reparations.
- Proposals for solutions, creativity for reparations and the future.