HUMR5191 – Human Rights Methodology: Research, Analysis and Thesis Preparation

This course provides insight into research methodologies in the legal and the social sciences as well as the humanities relevant for writing a thesis in the field of human rights. It will also assist the student in refining the thesis project.

After having completed this course the student will have acquired detailed knowledge about:

• The basic features of legal methods and method in international law and how to apply them to human rights problems
• The basic features of the methodological approaches in the humanities and the social sciences and how to apply them
• The basic issues and controversies surrounding scholarly theory and method in international law, the humanities and the social sciences

After having completed this course the student will have the skills to:

• Choose a research strategy that is relevant to and useful for investigating and understanding a human rights issue
• Carry out a legal analysis and/or analysing a human rights problem with the tools offered in the social sciences and the humanities
• Formulating a research question and structure a scholarly thesis accordingly

Having completed this course the student will have the general competence to:

• Participate in academic discussion of research designs
• Reflect on your own research and writing process
• Plan a large-scale project for successful completion
• Deal with data protection and management issues in a responsible manner

The course is reserved for students enrolled in the Master’s programme Theory and Practice of Human Rights.

When your admission is in order you must register for courses in StudentWeb.

Students are graded on the basis of a 10 days written home exam which consists of a master thesis research proposal, and anoral presentation of this proposal.

You submit your answer in the exam system Inspera. Read about how to submit your answer.

Maximum length for written home exam is 5000 words. Front page, contents page (optional) and bibliography are not included. If footnotes are used in the text (at the bottom of each page), they are included in the word limit.

Papers that exceed the word limit will not be accepted.

The written assignment account for 100 % of the total grade, the oral presentation is graded pass/fail. One total grade is given for the whole coursework.

In case of retake, a candidate must only retake the written assignment if the oral presentation has been successfully passed previously.

Please note that if a student wish to file an appeal, only the written assignment will undergo a regrading. You cannot submit an appeal about oral or practical examinations, since the performance is not documented for future purposes.

You must familiarize yourself with the rules that apply to exam support materials, and the use of sources and citations. If you violate these rules, you may be suspected of cheating or attempted cheating. You can read about what the university considers cheating, and the consequences of cheating here.

All available exam resources are allowed when answering this exam. Rules for source referencing are crucial for determining whether the use of resources is permitted.

Guidelines on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in exams:

1. The use of artificial intelligence as an aid when answering this exam must comply with UiO’s guidelines for using AI, and ethical issues related to AI use should be considered.
2. AI use must be explained and/or documented. The more AI is used in developing the text, the greater the expectations for documentation and reflection on that use. Text generated by AI tools is not considered an academic source.
3. Cheating: Use of AI can be considered cheating if, for example, you give a false impression of independence, omit sources, or cite fictitious sources.

Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. Read more about the grading system.

Marking criteria: This guide is used by examinersfor grading this course.