My Comparative Human Rights class ended today. This is, by a very large margin, my favorite course since I began law school. The reading was brutal – sometimes as much as 100 pages per night – but the classroom discussion made it all worthwhile, and I mean that seriously. We had a fairly small class size – about 25 people and it was a very diverse class, including people from all over the world and representing both conservative and liberal views. People engaged in this class – a real first in my law school experience. The professor (McCrudden) was wonderful. I thought he was funny, informed, interested and generous. He had a knack for posing just the right question at just the right time that engendered lively conversation and debate.
Ah the debate. So many things we discussed. And what a rich diversity of opinion that was presented; I was challenged nearly every day. What, exactly, are human rights? From whence do they emanate? What comprises the catalog of rights? Is there a hierarchy? If so, what is it? Who decides? Are there certain rights that are fundamental, -- so absolute and important that they cannot be abridged, even against a competing right (freedom from torture?)? In this course we covered Absolute Rights (Torture and Right to Life), Sexual Orientation (laws criminalizing behavior as well as same-sex marriage), Religion and the Public Sphere (what is religion and who decides), and Socio-Economic Rights (does right to life mean right to a life free from abject poverty and starvation?).
Now, I am faced with the fact that this course will be reduced to a grade. I really hate this. I know this sounds silly, but it feels to me like it demeans the class. I learned a LOT about comparative human rights in this class and about human rights in general. I learned a lot about various ways to consider what rights mean around the world and how they came to be. I don't want to be tested on this. I want to revel in the experience and continue to allow my mind to chew on the issues. I want to take this course again.