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About the course
About the course
This in-person module offers an introduction to the international framework; laws, norms, institutions, that exist for the protection of human rights and refugees. It will encourage critical engagement with the major policy and academic debates in the field through practice-based analysis of these issues.
Through innovative practice-based approaches students will debate and analyse critical issues of human rights and forced migration including by running their own campaign on a related topic. Thus, although we will give due consideration to present ‘crises’, we will also attempt to understand them within their global contexts and to consider the political, social and legal dimensions of the response in contexts around the world, from multiple dimensions including gender and from marginalised groups.
The course has a strong practice element to it, drawing on UN and International Non-governmental organisation resources as well as on research embedded in local communities. Teaching methods are interactive and engaging, including classroom debates, stimulation exercises, and discussion groups. This module can be studied as credit-rated or non-credit-rated.
The credit-rated CPD module, equivalent to 30 postgraduate credits, requires learners to complete assessments that are practical and focused on strengthening employability skills such as writing policy briefs and evaluating human rights campaigns, conducted for the OHF. The credits can be counted towards the PG Cert/PG Dip/Masters in Global Development and Humanitarian Practice.
The non-credit-rated short course leads to a certificate of attendance.
Dates
Dates
Delivery dates: 27 January - 28 April 2026 (Tuesday). Please note there will be no session on Tuesday 17 March due to the Oxford Human Rights Festival
Sessions: 12 six-hour sessions once a week for 12 weeks (plus one week for assessment for credit-rated)
Course cost
Course cost
The credit-rated course costs £1,500*
The non-credit rated course costs £450*
Course content
Course content
Core content includes:
UN protection framework – is it working?
Challenges with enforcement
Political, civil rights
Social-economic, cultural rights – right to shelter
Rights of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers
Displacement, crisis and conflict: the causes of modern forced migration
The impact of displacement: the psychosocial needs of refugees
Durable solutions - integration, resettlement and voluntary repatriation
The role of UNHCR, and refugees as political and social actors
IDPs and climate change
Cross cutting themes include:
Gender rights and its applicability to refugees
Rights of minorities and other vulnerable groups including within refugee populations
Who is this module for?
Who is this module for?
This course is suitable for practitioners wishing to continue their professional development with:
An undergraduate degree in a related field or experience working within humanitarian, development or human rights fields.
Excellent English language skills.
Staff
Staff
Sessions will be led by Dr Zoe Jordan and Dr Farah Mihlar together with a range of specialist lecturers working in the sector.
Dr Zoe Jordan
Dr Zoe Jordan is a researcher at the Centre for Development and Emergency Practice (CENDEP). Her research interests are in forced migration and humanitarianism, with a focus on how displaced populations respond to and manage their displacement in protracted and urban contexts.
Dr Farah Mihlar
Dr Farah Mihlar leads on human rights at the Centre for Development and Emergency Practice (CENDEP). Her work on human rights intersects closely with conflict and identity and she specialises in the fields of minority rights and transitional justice. She is the co-coordinator of the MA Global Development and Humanitarian Practice (MA GDHP) and she currently holds a British Academy Knowledge Frontiers award for research on post-war justice for women in Lebanon and Sri Lanka.
Farah is an activist scholar who works with local communities towards rights and justice in conflict-affected countries, especially in her home country Sri Lanka. She is a passionate advocate for justice and has recently integrated decolonial methods and approaches into her teaching and research.
Contact us
Contact us
If you have any enquiries about the course, please email us at hst-cpdadmissions@brookes.ac.uk
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*Cancellation policy
*Cancellation policy
If you cancel on or before the application deadline, you will receive a 50% refund. Cancellations made after this date are not eligible for a refund.
If the course is cancelled by Oxford Brookes University, all registered participants will get a full refund.
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