About the PhD Course
This PhD course focused on selected human rights norms, procedures, and institutions, and tracks developments and trends, especially in the last two decades. With the political developments in several Western States and their pronounced negative rhetoric on certain human rights issues and confrontational approaches towards various human rights institutions, alongside the crackdown on human rights in various authoritarian States, it is important to analyse some of the underlying causes for this shift and what might be the overall short-term, mid-term and potential long-term effects on our societies.
Some of the selected topics in this course included international solidarity, climate change, indigenous peoples and green transition, gender, bioethics, socio-economic rights, local authorities, national human rights institutions, and human rights treaty bodies.
Participants
We had 18 participants attend our course. Of them 7 attended in person and 11 attended online. We had 10 course participants from our Norhed partner institutions in Mekelle University in Ethiopia and Makerere University in Uganda. Additionally, we welcomed 8 participants from institutions in: Indonesia, Italy, Switzerland, Irland, Romania, Belgium, Spain and Zimbabwe.
Feedback
Participants found the course highly relevant and practical, noting it clarified the international human rights framework and recent trends. Sessions on Indigenous Peoples, solidarity, NHRI, bioethics and the climate–human rights nexus were especially praised, as were the up-to-date literature and real-case examples. The diversity of participants and lecturers — both in-person and online — enriched discussions. Several respondents recommended expanding the course reach so more people can benefit.
One participant summed it up: “It helped me see the bigger picture—how international frameworks, conventions, and mechanisms guide and strengthen the work we do both in the field and in academia.”
Lecturers and organizers
These broad themes were covered in two and a half days through mainly in-person lectures and seminars, taught by renowned experts in the field. Faculty includes, Gentian Zyberi, Kirsten Roberts Lyer, Ludovic Hennebel, Matthew Saul, Maria Lundberg, Anne Hellum, Jakob Elster, Cecilia Bailliet, Christina Voigt.
The organization of the course was facilitated by Eivind Lohndal.