The Honors Integrated Minor in Human Rights and Resources (HRR) is an interdisciplinary program focusing on how the unequal distribution of cultural and natural resources shapes human experience. The minor introduces students to the legal and philosophical basis for human rights as well as to paradigms that challenge and disrupt what has become our default moral language for thinking about human community.
Students enrolled in the minor will thus gain expertise in the traditional language of human rights, exploring the various legal, historical, and political dynamics that have inflected our claims for rights. Grounded in the observation that meaningful conversation about human rights cannot be had without concurrent conversations about ecology, coursework in the minor will also give students the opportunity to probe the potentials and limits of traditional approaches in addressing the intensifying environmental pressures of our twenty-first century present.
The intellectual spaces of the minor reflect the diversity of disciplines that engage with human rights, including medicine, the life sciences, law, cinema, religious studies, literature, and indigenous ways of knowing. Exploration of these fields inside and outside of the classroom will give students both theoretical backing and motivation for their own future engagements with their communities and the world at large.
The minor is open to students in any major and includes three distinct tracks: Utah, Mexico, and Peru.
The Utah version of the minor includes an intensive field experience during Fall Break 2023 to locations such as Bears Ears, the west side of Salt Lake City valley, and the Navajo Nation.
Both incoming and current Honors students can apply.
The Mexico and Peru tracks include 4 weeks of international coursework and language instruction in Oaxaca/Mexico City and Cusco/Lima during Summer 2024.
The minor is directed by Christopher Mead. Please feel free to email me if you have questions about the minor or application process.
Mexico
Who: 15 Honors students, open to all majors
What: Download curriculum overview
- 1 course Fall 2023: HONOR 2810 IT: Indigenous Ways of Knowing
- 1 course Spring 2024: HONOR 2285 Energy
- 3 courses Summer 2024 intensive: HONOR 3601 IT: Latin America + HONOR XXXX Spanish Language and Cultural Immersion + SPAN 2600: Spanish Conversation
- 1 course Fall 2024: HONOR 2211 Writing in Honors
- 1 elective (any semester)
Where: 4-week summer intensive Mexico City and Oaxaca.
Cost: $5,500 + $1000 estimated airfare, with need-based scholarships available
“The Integrated Minor in Human Rights and Resources helped me realize the interconnected relationships between our everyday habits and activities and the way they impact our society…I feel the experience was one of the most valuable experiences I’ve had on campus so far and I would certainly recommend it to everyone thinking about it… It builds a really quick sense of community on campus.”
– Gaby Karakcheyeva
Peru
Who: 15 Honors students, open to all majors
What: Download curriculum overview
- 1 course Fall 2023: HONOR 3601 IT: Latin America
- 1 course Spring 2024: HONOR 2285 Energy
- 3 courses Summer 2024 intensive: HONOR 2810 Intellectual Traditions: Peru + HONOR XXXX Spanish Language and Cultural Immersion + SPAN 2600: Spanish Conversation
- 1 course Fall 2024: HONOR 2211 Writing in Honors
- 1 elective (any semester)
Where: 4-week summer intensive in Peru
Cost: $6500 with need-based scholarships available
“The Integrated Minor in Human Rights and resources marked a change in the way I think through several different aspects of my life. As an engineer, I’ve been told before that this form of study doesn’t matter, but I couldn’t disagree more. The minor has allowed me to realize my part in the world and discover more of what matters the most to me. It’s helped open my perspective, form a historical and observant mindset, and realize the intricate balance that we all play between each other and our use of the environment.”
– Noah Garcia
Utah
Who: 20 Honors students, open to all majors
What: Download curriculum overview
- 2 courses Fall 2023: HONOR 2820 Place-based IT: Human rights and resources in Utah and the Intermountain West + HONOR 2285 Energy
- 2 courses Spring 2024: HONOR 2110 IT: Borders and Belonging + HONOR 2211 Writing in Honors
- 2 electives (any semester)
Where: Fall break intensive (Oct 8-15, 2023) in locations such as Bears Ears, the west side of Salt Lake City, and the Navajo Nation.
Cost: No costs in addition to typical semester tuition, fees, etc.
