This course will explore the interaction between religion and human rights. We will examine questions such as: What are the religious foundations of human rights? How do different religions conceive of the notion of human rights? How do Western religious traditions (Abrahamic/montheistic faiths: i.e. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) differ from how Eastern religious traditions (e.g. Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism) approach human rights? How has the freedom of thought, conscience and religion been interpreted as a human right? What do religious human rights include? How has religion - and conflict among religions - led to abuses of human rights? What have been the achievements and failures of various international declarations and conventions on religious freedom?

Full Page Version