THEO 325 Theological Foundations for Human Rights

This course surveys the development of human rights and explores the formative role of Christian theology for the modern conception of human rights.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Course Guide

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*The information contained in our Course Guides is provided as a sample. Specific course curriculum and requirements for each course are provided by individual instructors each semester. Students should not use Course Guides to find and complete assignments, class prerequisites, or order books.


Human rights are a near-universally accepted reality within modern socio-political life, and the modern concept of human rights is formed out of a Judeo-Christian ethic of universal benevolence. Recognizing the theological foundations of human rights is essential for those who desire to address the needs of others through humanitarian response.


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After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Throughout this course, the student will develop a large project that engages the most fundamental aspects of Christianity’s contribution to the development of human rights. This project will be broken into 8 separate submissions, and each submission will require the student to answer particular questions that relate to the reading and presentations from that week. For the first seven weeks, the student will submit one, 400-600 word assignment each week engaging specific questions related to the textbook readings. (CLO: A, B, C, D)

This cumulative project will combine all seven of the project pieces that the student has developed throughout the course with an introduction and conclusion for the project. A key aspect of this project will be incorporating the instructor’s feedback. The required word count for this submission is 3800-4500 words. (CLO: A, B, C, D) 

Each module: week, except the last, contains a quiz based on the content from that module’s reading. Each quiz contains 10 multiple-choice or true/false questions. There is no limit to how many times the student can take a quiz. The course also contains a cumulative quiz that will cover all of the reading material assigned in previous modules: weeks. The student can reference his/her textbooks and notes during this cumulative quiz, but cannot take this quiz more than once. (CLO: A, B, C, D)


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