In this 10-week open online course, students learn how to be more effective human rights advocates by understanding systems change, solidarity, power, and a range of advocacy tools to disrupt unjust systems and build more equitable futures.
Whether you're a seasoned advocate or new to social justice work, this course will help you refine your skills and analysis.
Develop a political analysis around the root causes of structural discrimination
Build an understanding of your own social position and the dynamics of solidarity
Critically explore how systems change happens
Be able to distill social issues you care about into winnable campaigns and strategize about tactics to proceed
Learn about a range of advocacy tools that can be used at the local, state, national, and international levels
"The brilliance to step up to these challenges lies within us and our communities as collectives of strength and wisdom."
Pilot course underway
Enrollments will open again mid-2022
We are currently in the pilot phase of the course, and we will be opening the course for new enrollments in mid-2022. Subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to know when it opens.
What is the landscape of human rights advocacy today?
What is a political analysis?
How did we get here?
3
Week 2: Structural Discrimination
Materials to Review
Reflection
What is structural discrimination?
Example: TrackGBV
What is systems change?
4
Week 3: Positionality: Power, Privilege, and Solidarity
Materials to Review
Personal Reflection
How do we show up as human rights advocates knowing that systems of oppression play out through us?
Intersectionality and Interconnected Struggle
5
Week 4: Design Justice: Principles for Action
Materials to Review
Reflection
How do we do human rights advocacy?
Tool: Systems Mapping
Tool: Journey Mapping
Design Justice Principles in Action
Applying Knowledge
6
Week 5: How Change Happens: Interruption, Resistance, and Abolition
Materials to Review
Unpacking Your Project Example
Reflection Activity
How does change happen?
Movement Building Basics
Activity
Where Movements Diverge
7
Week 6: Tools for Making Change Part I: The Issue, Demand, and Power Analysis
Materials to Review
Power Analysis
Social Media Toolkit
Reflection
Advocacy Campaign Strategy
Issue Statements
Building a Base of Support
8
Week 7: Tools for Making Change Part II: Tactics
Materials to Review
Institutional Advocacy
Legal Advocacy
Protests, Demonstrations, and Direct Action
Artivism
9
Week 8: Tools for Making Change Part II: International Human Rights Mechanisms
Materials to Review
Reflection
Review Human Rights Treaties
International Human Rights Law
Using International Human Rights Law
10
Weeks 9 and 10: Catch Up & Digital Security
Reflection
Digital Security for Activists
Digital Security Tools Handout
Digital Security for Your Project
11
Week 11: The Future of Human Rights
Personal Reflection
Reflecting on the Future of Human Rights
Post-Course Survey
FAQ
How much does it cost?
This course is free for all students. We also welcome donations to help us ensure this course reaches as many interested students as possible.
What is the weekly workload?
The course involves about 2-3 hours of reading, watching, reflecting, project work, and forum discussion activities each week.
What does pilot course mean?
This is the first time we are running this course, so we have limited enrollments to the ICAAD network. We are looking for feedback on everyone's experiences in the course in order to refine it for our public launch mid-year.
Will there be opportunities to engage with other students?
There will be two live video calls where you can engage with other students through the course. There are also regular forum discussions where you can share and exchange knowledge with other students.
What background knowledge is necessary?
No background knowledge is necessary. We built the course to be widely accessible for high school students and up.
Human rights is a really broad category. What specific topic areas will we cover?
The course draws from a range of topic areas including racial justice, gender justice and anti-violence work, economic justice, climate justice, and indigenous rights among others.
Throughout the course, learners are invited to use course materials to reflect on the broad umbrella of human rights and explore the topic areas they are particularly passionate about.
How is this course funded?
The course has been built by ICAAD, an international human rights center. ICAAD is funded from a range of sources including individual donors and foundation/ government/ consulting grants. You can find more detail in the financial reports on our website.
For this course, we intend to build a self-sustaining course by using a suggested donation model. Those who are able to donate help sustain the course to keep it widely accessible around the world.