Human Rights and Diversity - Period 5

European societies are increasingly diverse in terms of ethnic, religious and gender identities. Human rights instruments grant everyone the right to be equal before the law -regardless of gender, race/ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation - and guarantee freedom of religion and freedom of education to all, including minority groups. In this course we will take a closer look at these instruments to understand how human rights law regulates diversity and the conflicts of identity to which it gives rise. The course focuses on the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), but attention is also paid to EU fundamental rights law, the Framework Convention on National Minorities and UN instruments. After an introduction of principal concepts (state neutrality, multiculturalism, minority rights) and the social/political/historical context (state secularism, migration, politics of identity) the course will address specific themes relating to religious diversity; linguistic diversity; educational rights;
non-discrimination and LGBTI+rights. The selection of themes is subject to annual variation but can include topics such as the regulation of religious manifestations (ritual slaughter, circumcision), the role of religion in public schools, ethnic discrimination in the labour market, the regulation of same-sex marriage and language rights.

Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course therefore, CEA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by VU Amsterdam. 1 ECTS equals 28 contact hours assigned by VU Amsterdam.