SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER
PROFESSOR DELESO ALFORD
WOMEN’S RIGHTS AS INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS
SUMMER 2016
London, England
COURSE SYLLABUS
CLASS DATES: TBA
OFFICE HOURS: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
CONTACT INFORMATION: deleso1@yahoo.com
UK phone number: TBA
Required Course Materials:
WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS: THE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW
CASEBOOK by Susan Deller Ross (Phila., Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008) ISBN13: 978-0812220919 [hereinafter “Casebook”]
*Ross has created a helpful online companion website at www.RossRights.com to supplement
the required textbook, providing cited cases in their entirety, as well as maps and organizational
links.
[hereinafter “Supp.”]
**Any other assigned readings will be provided on-line and/or supplied by the Professor
Attendance: Class attendance is mandatory for the Summer Abroad program. In the event that you miss
more than one class, you will be disqualified and receive and F in the course. This policy will be strictly
enforced.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS: THE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW
CASEBOOK by Susan Deller Ross (Phila., Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008)
The course in WOMEN’S RIGHTS AS INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS critically examines the
international human rights system through the particularized lens of women and their gendered focused
“lived experiences” by contextualizing specific harms, including emerging biomedical issues in the UK
and US. The course will address international and regional human rights treaties in depth, including treaty
language and the jurisprudence and general interpretive guidelines developed by human rights bodies.
Further, the course broadens the traditional scope of international human rights by focusing on such
issues as Global Critical Race Feminism, Critical Race Feminist Bioethics, Violence Against Women,
Culture and Equality in Marriage, Cultural Relativism: Female Genital Mutilation and Breast Implants:
Female Breast Mutilation, Non-therapeutic Research, Research in Developing Countries, Religion and
Women's Reproductive Rights.
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EXAMINATIONS AND GRADING:
Your final grade will be determined as follows:
-
75% - One final paper consisting of a minimum 10 pages on a relevant scholarly topic
addressing any of the thematic topics covered in the course, and specifically related to
women’s rights as international human rights. The paper must be typed (double-spaced, 1"
margins maximum, 12-point type, on 8 1/2" x 11" paper in Times New Roman font only). It
will be evaluated based upon proper grammar, punctuation, clarity, originality of thought,
critical analytical ability, and proper citation to works regarding thoughts and ideas other than
your own.
-
25%- Class participation which will be assessed as below:
(10%- Panel Presentation – at the end of the course (Week 6) each student will be
grouped into specific interest panels and provided an opportunity to support their
thesis before the class)
(15%- Accountability Check Points- during the course each student will
individually present the following to the Professor for comment/input)
It is imperative that you review the thematic areas that will be covered prior to
beginning this course. I will be available to further elaborate upon request.
At the end of Week 2- submit evidence of research and thesis statement
At the end of Week 3- one double-spaced paper toward your Final Draft
At the end of Week 4- one double-spaced paper toward your Final Draft
At the end of Week 5- one double-spaced paper toward your Final Draft
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Welcome to Women’s Rights as International Human Rights
ASSIGNMENTS
1. Introduction to course and Thematic issues to be covered
Read:
Casebook- pp. 2-23, Chapter 1- Women’s Status and CEDAW
Supp. – Convention on the Elimination Against Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW), Familiarize yourself with key concepts in order to be prepared
Other- Introduction to Global Critical Race Feminism concept by Adrien Katherine Wing
(materials provided by Professor)
2. Equality Doctrines and Gender Discrimination
Read:
Casebook- pp. 54 – 66; pp. 91-111
Supp. – Familiarize yourself with key concepts in order to be prepared
UN Charter ;Universal Declaration of Human Rights; International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); International Covenant on Economic,
Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
*Be prepared to cover Case Study: Philippine Family Law
3. Freedom of Religion and Equality Rights
Read:
Casebook- pp. 134- 147; pp. 206-263
Supp. – Familiarize yourself with key concepts in order to be prepared
UN Charter ;Universal Declaration of Human Rights; International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); International Covenant on Economic,
Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and
CEDAW
Other- Article:
Adrien Katherine Wing and Monica Nigh Smith, Critical Race Feminism Lifts the
Veil?:Muslim Women, France, and the Headscarf Ban, 39 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 743
(2006)(available on Westlaw)
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4. Enforcing Women’s International Human Rights Under Regional Treaties
Read:
Casebook- pp. 274- 291; 299-311
Supp. –
American Convention on Human Rights ; African Charter on Human and Peoples’
Rights; Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of
Women in Africa ; European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms; Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention for the Protection
of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
*Be prepared to cover Case Study: Costa Rican Nationality Law Revisited in a Costa Rican
Court
5. Enforcing Women’s International Human Rights Under Regional Treaties
Read:
Casebook- pp. 355- 380
6. Economic Empowerment and Employment Discrimination: Europe and the United States
Compared
Read:
Casebook- Chapter 7
*Be prepared to engage in a Team Based Learning Activity (comparing the European
System and the United States System)
7. CEDAW IN PRACTICE
Read:
Casebook- pp. 326- 351; 352 – 368
8. Enforcing International Human Rights Law in Domestic Courts
Read:
Casebook- pp. 369- 382; 383 – 401; 402 – 408
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9. Strategies for Domestic Violence Against Women: International and Regional
Read:
Casebook- pp. 409- 425; 426 – 435; 449-460
Other- Article:
Benedetta Faedi, Violence against Women to Women's Violence in Haiti, 19 Colum. J. &L.
1029 (2010) (available on Westlaw)
10. Cultural Relativism
Read:
Casebook- pp. 461-480 (FGM); pp. 486-489 (Breast Implants: Female Breast
Mutilation) ; pp. 490- 511 (National Legal Approaches)
Other- Article
Radhika Coomaraswamy, Identity Within: Cultural Relativism, Minority Rights and the
Empowerment of Women, 34 Geo. Wash. Int’l L. Rev. 483 (2002-2003) (available on
Westlaw)
*Be prepared to engage in a Peer to Peer Activity
11. Religion, Culture, and Equality in Marriage
Read:
Casebook- pp. 516- 525; 526 – 546; 547-555
*Be prepared to cover Case Study: Uganda
12. Women’s Reproductive Rights
Read: Chapter 14
*Be prepared to engage in a Team Based Learning Activity
13. Critical Race Feminist Bioethics
Other- Professor’s Article entitled, Critical Race Feminist Bioethics: Telling Stories in Law
School and Medical School in Pursuit of “Cultural Competency” 72 Alb. L. Rev. 961 (2009)
(available on Westlaw)
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14. International Bioethics: From Bioethics to Human Rights in Biomedicine
Other: Assigned Reading Excerpt pp. 1-25 from The Law and Ethics of Medical Research
International Bioethics and Human Rights By Aurora Plomer, 2005 (Materials provided by
Professor)
Supp. - The Conventions on Human Rights and Biomedicine (CHRB) (Materials provided by
Professor)
15. Biomedical Issues in UK and US
Other: Assigned Reading Excerpt c from The Law and Ethics of Medical Research International
Bioethics and Human Rights By Aurora Plomer, 2005 (Materials provided by Professor)
16. Bioethics in Practice: Domestic v. International
Other- Professor’s Article entitled, Examining the “Stick” of Accreditation for Medical Schools
through Reproductive Justice Lens: A Transformative Remedy for Teaching the Tuskegee Syphilis
Study, 26 J. Civ. Rts & Econ. Dev.153 (2011)(available on Westlaw)
Reverby, Susan. Ethical Failiures and History Lessons: The U.S. Public Health Service Research
Studies in Tuskegee and Guatemala. Public Health Reviews. 2012; 34. (Materials provided by
Professor)
17. Non-Therapeutic Research: Domestic and Convention Rights
Other: Assigned Reading Excerpt pp. 59-66 from The Law and Ethics of Medical Research
International Bioethics and Human Rights By Aurora Plomer, 2005(Materials provided by
Professor)
18. Research in Developing Countries: A Human Rights Perspective
Other: Assigned Reading Excerpt pp. 113- 136 from The Law and Ethics of Medical Research
International Bioethics and Human Rights By Aurora Plomer, 2005(Materials provided by
Professor)
Supp. - The Conventions on Human Rights and Biomedicine (CHRB) (Materials provided by
Professor)
19. CONT’D
20. FINAL PANEL PRESENTATIONS
21. FINAL PANEL PRESENTATIONS
22. FINAL PANEL PRESENTATIONS
*FINAL PAPER SUBMITTED
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