School of Social Sciences

Human Rights MA

Year of entry: 2025

Course length: 12 months full-time|24 months part-time

About the course

PATHWAYS:

Can there be space for human rights in world affairs? Who is responsible for the protection of human rights in world politics? Theoretical and practical concerns like these form the central focus of our Human Rights MA.

The course provides you with an advanced, critical, multidisciplinary and systematic understanding of human rights issues within a global context. It is an interdisciplinary degree which will expose you to developments in international politics, political theory and law, in order to better understand the complex global environment in which human rights claims are made. The research routes are particularly suited to those wishing to progress to PhD study.

Click on the links above to see the full course profiles on our website.

Join one of the UK's Top 5 universities for Politics & International Studies

(Times Higher Education Rankings 2024)

Study at a university ranked second in the world for progress against UN Sustainable Development Goals

(Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, 2024)

Our graduates are among the most targeted by top UK employers

(High Fliers 2024)

Where will your degree take you?

Equipped with specialist knowledge, a top education and outstanding multidisciplinary skills such as research, debate, problem-solving and communication, our Human Rights graduates go on to a variety of highly rewarding careers in national, international and multinational organisations.

Another popular route is academia, with many graduates, particularly those from the research routes, pursuing PhDs to become researchers and teachers at Manchester and at other leading institutions around the world.

Compulsory Units

Research Design and Skills
Human Rights in World Politics
Dissertation
Theories of Rights
Comparative Political Analysis

Optional Units

Gender, war and peace
The United Nations and International Security
The Ethics of Killing
Debating Justice
The Arab Uprisings in Revolutionary State formation
European Union Foreign Policy

Compulsory and optional units differ by pathway. These are examples of units offered in 2023/24 and are subject to change.

See the full list of units and find out more on the full course profiles >

Dr. Luke G.G. Bhatia

Lecturer in International Politics

“The protection of human rights remains a central focus in international politics. The MA Human Rights / Human Rights Law pathway provides students with the intellectual grounding to understand these issues from an ethical human rights perspective.

Students will gain an understanding of the institutions associated with the protection of human rights as well as of grassroots movements working at the local level. The pathway also demonstrates the diversity of careers available, in many different fields that can have a positive impact on human rights, globally.“