MA in Human Rights

Earn a valuable degree

Combining theoretical and practical perspectives, this program prepares you to make an impact in national, regional and international human rights protection. An internship program with local NGOs, a course at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and the Vienna Human Rights Model United Nations Conference offer unique experience-based learning opportunities.

QUICK FACTS

Full-time duration:

1 year

Starting in:

September

Tuition fee:

€13,000 per year  

Location:

Vienna, Austria

Degree:

Dual Austrian and the U.S. degree

The program combines social science, policy-based approach with legal science, thus non-lawyers are given an opportunity to benefit from a curriculum with a legal focus. It offers practical instruction in the specific legal mechanisms and institutional processes which may be used by national human rights organizations to effectively approach human rights issues that transitional and established democracies might confront. Teaching is designed to incorporate both theoretical perspectives and concrete empirical analyses of the most important questions in human rights.  

Select areas of study

International and regional protection of human rights · Equality and non-discrimination · Advocacy and litigation strategies · Civil and political rights in established and emerging democracies

Rigorous and closely monitored coursework provides the tools of analysis, critical reading and writing necessary to enable students to make a significant and lasting contribution both to the rights protection in their home countries and to enforcement of human rights at large.  

Areas of research and teaching cover – among others – constitutional and international mechanisms for the protection of human rights, with particular focus on the Council of Europe and the United Nations, freedom of expression and freedom of religion, human rights and criminal justice, political rights, non-discrimination, minority protection, human rights in Africa, politics and theories of European integration from a human rights perspective.

Courses include:

1. Archives, Evidence and Human Rights

2. Business and Human Rights

3. Critical Race Theory: Race and Law from the United States to Europe

4. Equality Policy in Comparative Perspective

5. European Anti-Discrimination Law

6. Global Law and Religion

7. Human Rights Legal Research Methodology

8. Illiberal Democracy and the Rule of Law

9. International and European Refugee Law and Policy

10. International Rule of Law Assistance: Law and Development

11. Introduction to Law

12. Introduction to the Protection of Human Rights

13. The Law and Politics of Combating Violence Against Women

14. Theories of Human Rights: Intercultural Perspectives

15. The UN Human Rights System

Apply

Admissions requirements:

1. Completed online application form

2. Proof of English proficiency

3. Letters of recommendation

4. CV

5. Bachelor’s degree

6. Academic records

7. Academic essay (for the capstone track) or research proposal (for the thesis track)