Course Information and Requirements

Background Information

Jindal Global University (JGU) is offering a three-week intensive residential course in co-operation with the Program on Human Rights in Development (PHRD) at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health on the theme of human rights and development. The aim of this course will be to introduce students from across JGU schools to competing notions of what constitutes ‘development’ and the relevance of human rights to the idea of development. Students will be exposed to a diversity of ideas from academic, public policy and legal spheres, with a view to helping them appreciate how complex the relationship of human rights to development can be. Students will be encouraged to think about how, in competing views of the world, human rights can be at once an indicator of development, while its protection is viewed sometimes, as a cost. Simultaneously, the readings during the period of the course will introduce students to different public policy methods and approaches, combining the use of economic analysis, doctrinal law and philosophical perspectives.

Course structure

The first week of the course will explore conceptual issues relating to the meaning of human rights and development in theory and practice. During the second week each session will explore a critical social and economic issues (including gender, education, health, food and nutrition, water, labor, housing, sanitation and solid waste, and disability) through the lens of development policies and human rights norm and processes. The third week will further delve into topics linked to international cooperation at the intersection of human rights and development (including the programmes of multilateral development agencies and non-state actors, the use of human rights indicators in development, the sustainable development goals, TNCs and other business entities, climate change, transfer of technology, the right to development, and international trade and investment).

The course will be taught through a mix of lectures by faculty members from Harvard University and other top institutions (including, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy). Throughout the course, afternoon and evening sessions will be designed as tutorials and discussion groups led by doctoral students and tutors in order to complete the last mile of learning on the subject matter.

Course materials

The reading assignments are available on the course website, under “Course Readings” for the edition of the course you are taking part in.

Course Requirements

Upon successful completion of the summer course, students shall be awarded a certificate and equivalent JGU additional credits (the number of credits students are eligible to avail may vary, depending on the student’s affiliation to a particular school within JGU and ranges from 2 to 4 JGU credits).

In order to avail the JGU credits, each student must ensure that they are present for all lectures and break-out sessions and activities without fail. Absence from classes and activities will severely jeopardize the possibility of credit adjustment.

Students shall on the whole be graded for attendance at lectures, class participation and successful submission of assignments. Therefore, students are expected to be familiar with the reading materials prior to the lecture and prepared to interact and answer any questions that may be raised.

In addition to participation, students are required to make a 15-minute presentation in the final week of the course. Once the presentation is over, there will be questions/answers/discussion and the student must be prepared to answer them. The topic may be selected from any of the issues/areas explored throughout the course. The student must narrow down their presentation topic in consultation with the JGU faculty coordinators and ensure the topic is relevant, original and introduces a new argument or perspective. Topics will be confirmed on a first come first serve basis and no two students shall be permitted to present on the same topic.

Students are further required to submit a 1500 word essay in the final week. Students must utilize study time and library resources wisely to ensure the paper is completed and ready for submission by the last day of the course (third Friday of the course). Papers must be entirely the product of the student’s labor and research and must not be plagiarized. Topics must be finalized in consultation with JGU faculty coordinators and must conform to the same criteria set out above for presentations.

Plagiarism in either assignment will entail an automatic disqualification. Grading of assignments will focus on originality of thought and depth of arguments advanced, research, citation and ability to articulate. The following details are important while preparing for assignments:

  1. Students must complete both essays and presentations.
  2. The same assignment/topic cannot be done by more than one student.
  3. Moreover, students are encouraged to be creative in their assignments. Originality and critical analysis are required in the assignments. Descriptive assignments are not welcome.
  4. Furthermore, please be structured, crisp and direct in your assignments. Please do not beat around the bush or make ambiguous statements/arguments.
  5. All limits with respect to length and time are compulsory with no exceptions.
  6. Improvement assignments are not allowed and no exceptions will be made.

Grading pattern will be the same as grading for internal JGU courses. Fulfillment of all the above-mentioned evaluation criteria in entirety is necessary in order to get the certificate and course credits.