Our Human Rights Centre is one of the world’s oldest and most highly respected environments for the multi-disciplinary study of human rights. Studying human rights at Essex will enable you to become a member of one of the world’s largest, most culturally diverse, and professionally successful community of human rights students, practitioners and academics.
Our interdisciplinary course, MA Theory and Practice of Human Rights, examines the history, theoretical development, and implementation of human rights. Beyond the practical problems of human rights lie many unresolved theoretical and philosophical issues. These form the basis of this course, which provides you with a solid grounding in fundamental human rights matters within:

Law
Politics
Philosophy
Sociology

Studying this course will enable you to undertake practical or legal work for human rights organisations.
Our interdisciplinary Human Rights Centre is the UK’s leading centre for the study of the theory and practice of international human rights, and has a worldwide reputation for research, teaching and practice. In February 2010, we were awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize in recognition of our work in advancing human rights across the globe.
Your future
Graduates of the MA courses within our Human Rights Centre go on to a variety of careers in the governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental sectors, and undertake further research.
Recent graduates of our MA Theory and Practice of Human Rights have found employment as:

Director of investigations for Malawi Human Rights Commission
A human rights officer for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
An experimental learning director for CIEE
A web writer for the British Red Cross
Grants Manger for the American Councils for International Education
A project officer for Relief International
Women and housing rights programme officer for the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE)

Other graduates now work for the Council of Europe, the United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Save the Children, Shelter, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists.