Literary Imaginations of the Law: Human Rights and Literature

Did you know that Robinson Crusoe was critical for the drafting of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights"? Or that autobiography has been a literary genre crucial for the articulation and propagation of both human and civil rights? Through a study of the relationship between human rights and literature, this course will explore forms of writing that enable the legal protocols, proceedings, and predicaments that make up human rights discourse. We will pair key human rights documents with literary and cinematic works that inspire and question the universal ideals of the law.