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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, film studies, 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 Utah version of the minor includes an intensive field experience during Fall Break 2024 to locations such as Bears Ears, the west side of Salt Lake City valley, and the Navajo Nation.

Faculty Director: Dr. Chris Mead, Associate Professor, Honors College.

Administrative Support: Dominic Pecoraro, Associate Director of Special Programs, Honors College.

The minor is open to both incoming and current Honors students. See below for more information about each track, including a link to the application.

Questions? Email Chris Mead, Faculty Director and Honors Professor

Global: Mexico


The global track in Mexico includes a Spanish language component. The Mexico cohort is comprised of up to 15 Honors students from any major

Coursework Schedule:

  • Fall 2024: HONOR 3601 – Intellectual Traditions of Latin America (3 credits)
  • Spring 2025: HONOR 2285 – Energy and Society (3 credits)
  • Summer 2025: HONOR 2117 – Intellectual Traditions, Mexico-Focused (3 credits) + HONOR 2900 – Spanish Language and Cultural Immersion (2 credits) + SPAN 2600 – Spanish Conversation (1 credit)
  • +1 pre-approved minor elective – Human Rights & Resources-focused, completed in any semester prior to graduation (3 credits)
  • +1 pre-approved minor elective – Latin America or Spanish language and culture-focused, completed in any semester prior to graduation (3 credits)

Summer fieldwork: 4-week summer intensive in Oaxaca and Mexico City

Cost: ~$5500 (including tuition, fees, room/board, etc.) plus airfare (~$1000) for the summer intensive; scholarships are available.

Apply for 2024-25 cohort (applications open Jan. 17, 2023. Priority deadline is April 1. Rolling admissions thereafter until the cohort is filled).

Apply Now

“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

 

Local: Utah


The local track in Utah does not have a language immersion requirement. Over Fall Break, students travel throughout Utah, including to locations such as the Uinta Basin, Four Corners, Delta, and the Navaho Nation.

The local cohort is comprised of up to 20 Honors students from any major.

Coursework schedule:

  • Fall 2024: HONOR 2285 – Energy and Society (3 credits) + HONOR 2116 – Intellectual Traditions of Human Rights and Resources in Utah (3 credits)
  • Spring 2025: HONOR 2115: Borders and Belonging (3 credits) + HONOR 2211 – Writing in Honors (3 credits)
  • +2 pre-approved minor electives taken in any semester prior to graduation (6 credits)

Fieldwork: 6 days of intensive fieldwork during Fall Break 2024 in diverse locations around Utah.

Cost: No additional cost beyond regular class tuition, fees, etc.

Apply for 2024-25 cohort (applications open Jan. 17, 2024. Priority deadline is April 1. Rolling admissions thereafter untill the cohort is filled).

Apply Now

Students learning in the field in Utah