Religion and Human Rights

Paper Guidelines

For this assignment, students are asked to prepare a final paper using an interview as a primary source.

The paper should address the following prompt:

Using the articles of the UDHR as a guide for your understanding of human rights, formulate an argument around the role of religion in the push for greater human dignity using one of the case studies we have studied in class.

You may choose any of the case studies we have looked at:

The Holocaust, Native American genocide, the Civil Rights Movement, BLM, immigration, Islamophobia, LGBTQIA+ discrimination, etc.

Questions to guide your thinking:

Did religion impede the development of human rights in the chosen case study? Did it lead to greater understandings of human dignity? Did it do both depending on the perspective?

Papers should be:

• At least 5 pages (minimum)
• Include an argument, a brief review of scholarly arguments about your topic (what do scholars say about human rights and your topic?), and several subsections supporting your argument.
• Discuss how your conclusion challenges or expands on the current literature of your topic.
• Papers should be well organized and clearly written and free of grammatical errors
• Include a bibliography and footnotes with complete citations. Content should be analytical rather than descriptive.
• You are required to include a minimum of FOUR sources (not including the interview). This may include readings/materials we have covered in class.

Format and Submission

Papers must be typed and double-spaced in Microsoft Word. Use standard margins and size 12- point font Times New Roman. You may email copies of the final paper to me.

Due: Late papers will be penalized by a 5% deduction per day.
Save documents as: LastnameFirstInitialFinalPaper

Style and Mechanics

Proper spelling, punctuation, and grammatical correctness are expected and count towards your grade. You may use whatever citation style you are most comfortable with as long as it is consistent throughout your paper. Footnotes should not be double spaced.