How My Coursework Has Impacted My Understanding of Human Rights
My understanding of human rights has deepened profoundly through my coursework in the MA in Human Rights and Social Justice program. Before entering the program, I primarily viewed human rights through a legal and institutional lens—as codified principles enforced by governments and international organizations. However, my studies have broadened this understanding to encompass interdisciplinary, experiential, and decolonial perspectives, emphasizing that human rights are lived, contested, and constantly evolving.
Moving Beyond Legal Definitions
In HRSJ 5010 – Foundations of Human Rights and Social Justice, I learned that human rights cannot be fully understood solely through international law or policy frameworks. Through readings such as Jack Donnelly’s Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice, I came to see rights as socially and politically constructed, shaped by historical power relations. This course emphasized that human rights must be grounded in context and lived experience, not merely abstract universalism.
This insight helped me question whose rights are prioritized, who defines justice, and how structural inequalities continue to shape access to those rights. For example, studying the evolution of human rights frameworks in postcolonial Africa reminded me of how global systems often overlook the historical injustices that still shape communities like those I grew up in, where violence and marginalization were rampant.
Integrating Indigenous Perspectives
My perspective expanded further in HRSJ 5020 – Indigenous Ways of Knowing: Resurgence of Land-Based Pedagogies and Practices. This course challenged me to understand human rights not only as entitlements but as relationships—to land, to community, and to the environment. The works of scholars like Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (2017) and Eve Tuck & K. Wayne Yang (2012) in “Decolonization is Not a Metaphor” emphasized that reconciliation without decolonization risks becoming an empty gesture.
Through this course, I learned that Indigenous approaches to justice emphasize responsibility, reciprocity, and collective well-being, rather than individual entitlement. This reshaped my understanding of human rights as interconnected rather than individualistic—an insight that now informs how I think about sustainable justice in both Indigenous and global contexts.
Connecting Theory to Practice
Courses such as HRSJ 5030 – Problem Solving in the Field and HRSJ 5260 – Moral Economies and Social Movement helped me apply theoretical knowledge to real-world situations. For instance, while studying grassroots social movements, I examined how economic inequality undermines human dignity and how communities mobilize to claim their rights outside formal institutions. In one class project, I proposed a community-based microfinance model for empowering marginalized women in Nigeria. This assignment allowed me to merge my 16 years of experience in banking with human rights principles of economic justice and empowerment. It reinforced that promoting human rights requires not just advocacy but also practical, context-sensitive solutions that address structural barriers to equality.
Cultivating a Decolonial and Critical Awareness
In HRSJ 5120 – Colonialism: Decolonization and Responsibility, readings like Glen Sean Coulthard’s (2014) Red Skin, White Masks were pivotal. Coulthard’s critique of the colonial politics of recognition revealed how state-led human rights frameworks can inadvertently reproduce systems of domination. This prompted me to think critically about how “rights” are framed, granted, or withheld. I came to understand that human rights advocacy must go beyond seeking recognition from power structures and instead challenge those very structures. This critical awareness aligns with my personal commitment to dismantling systemic inequalities and promoting self-determination for marginalized groups—whether Indigenous communities in Canada or underserved populations in Nigeria.
Toward a Relational and Transformative Understanding
Overall, my coursework has transformed my view of human rights from a static legal framework into a dynamic and relational practice rooted in ethics, culture, and lived experience. I now see human rights as inseparable from social justice, environmental sustainability, and community resilience.
This shift has also been personal. It has helped me connect my own experiences growing up in a marginalized environment to broader global struggles for equity and recognition. It has taught me that defending human rights requires listening, humility, and cross-cultural dialogue, as much as it requires theory or law. In short, my coursework has not only deepened my academic understanding but also reshaped my moral and practical orientation toward justice. It has equipped me to think critically, act compassionately, and engage meaningfully in the pursuit of human rights for all.
References
Coulthard, G. S. (2014). Red skin, white masks: Rejecting the colonial politics of recognition. University of Minnesota Press.
Donnelly, J. (2013). Universal human rights in theory and practice (3rd ed.). Cornell University Press.
Simpson, L. B. (2017). As we have always done: Indigenous freedom through radical resistance. University of Minnesota Press.
Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), 1–40.