News & Views
Volume 2, No. 1

Columbia University
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

MA Focus: Human Rights
By Emily Polk

Unless you have a bit of time, don't get Professor Joseph Chuman talking about the death penalty. In his "Intro to Human Rights" class, a requisite for all Human Rights MA students, this passionate teacher doesn't hold back his personal opinions. "Anyone can feel what they want, but I won't hide my feelings about this," says Chuman to his class. "I've been an abolitionist since I was twelve. The death penalty doesn't decrease crime; it doesn't create a more civil society. You can't have a civil society that has the death penalty."

The history of the death penalty is just one of the many topics covered during the semester. Chuman fills his classes with guest speakers, including international lawyers, psychologists who work with survivors of torture, former United Nations peacekeepers, and experts and activists in refugee law, gender issues and the history of human rights.

"I believe what we are doing here with this program is harnessing the idealism of our students," Chuman says. "It's still there. I was part of the antiwar movement in the 1960s and I'm fairly convinced that activism has moved away from barricades activism to a commitment to fighting the struggles within legal frameworks as exemplified by the commitment to NGOs [nongovernmental organizations], especially in the field of human rights."

In addition to teaching the core course for the Human Rights Studies MA and an elective "Contemporary Problems in Religion and Human Rights," Professor Chuman is a leader of the Ethical and Culture Society in Bergen County, New Jersey. For the past 30 years he has worked on a number of human rights issues that include creating dialogue groups between Palestinians and Israelis, working to improve ethnic and race relations in his community, and separation of church and state issues.

Chuman also founded and directed the first chapter of Amnesty International in Teaneck, New Jersey, working with this group for 11 years beginning in the mid-1970s. "It was the great drama [of the time] that caused me to believe in human rights," Chuman says. "All six of us in a basement in Teaneck, New Jersey trying to free prisoners held in dungeons around the world. And it worked! We actually received a letter from a woman held in jail under Pinochet's government, whom we were able to help free. Believe me, when you have an experience like that it causes you to believe in this great human rights project."

Most recently Chuman has worked on building a coalition of civic and religious groups to create a sanctuary for detainees seeking asylum in the United States as an alternative to detention centers.

One of the strengths of Columbia's Human Right Studies MA program is its interdisciplinarity. Students are required to take Chuman's course, "Introduction to Human Rights Studies," an International Law course, and a course on international organizations. They then must pick a concentration--such as women and rights, economics and development, health, international conflict management, religion, or communication. "Students are invited to follow their own dreams, their own intellectual trajectory. To have a program where you can stitch together your own interests at a gold mine like Columbia is incredible." Indeed, Human Rights MA students typically enroll in a variety of courses across Columbia's many graduate schools and programs. But "the real strength of the program," Chuman notes, is its blending of theory and practice; the program builds an "interface [between] academic research and theoretical exposition on the one hand and activism on the other. Because of that merger, it attracts a remarkable group of students." Students enter the program from a variety of backgrounds, and they leave ready to work on both domestic and international human rights issues. "A lot of students come to the school as practitioners who want to strengthen their academics," says Chuman. "But all are developing careers for action" in a growing field.

"Students might want to work for Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First," says Chuman. "Others use the program as a jumpstart for law school, some go to work for NGOs like the Open Society Institute, and others want to work outside of the US." Recent graduates of the program have begun careers protecting civil liberties preserving public health, and researching human rights issues. Some now teach, and some serve as human rights consultants for corporations.

Aparna Kumar is a second year student who now serves as the human rights program assistant. She eventually plans to bring her human rights training to medical school. "After finishing my MA, I hope to carry out field work relating to health and human rights/peace education in India," says Kumar. "Also, I hope to use my international experience and human rights background to engage in international medical work, such as Doctors without Borders, with the ultimate goal of engaging physicians in the U.S. to contribute to the public health crisis not only abroad but also in underserved communities in the U.S."

Since the program is still young, there is still room for improvement. Professor Chuman is working with others on some additions.

"I'd like to see a course added on professional skills and advocacy," he says. "With such a high percentage of students going on to work in the international community, they need to have a more hands-on education on how to do human rights within the context of NGO work."

Of all the work Chuman has done over the years, he is perhaps most proud of the family he has created. He is the very busy father of six children and seven grandchildren all of whom live within an hour of him and visit often.

"They are my best human rights project yet," he says, laughing. "Protecting my own human rights when I am around them!"