his course approaches human rights issues from a multidisciplinary perspective and with a wide-angle lens that draws in all rights and all peoples. We view rights abuse as neither incomprehensible nor inevitable, but nevertheless pervasive in the twenty-first century. Nor is such abuse, with respect either to perpetrators or victims, confined to distant places and strange peoples. We will undertake here a fundamental re-examination of the basic terms and concepts, theories, controversies, and cleavages associated with human rights. We will also examine the effectiveness of our strategies, treaties, and institutions in assessing accountability, promoting reconciliation, and otherwise protecting the abused and endangered.