About the Program	Faculty	Apply Online	Courses	Students	Admission Requirements

The MA program in Democracy and Human Rights at Birzeit University was established in 2000 as an interdisciplinary program combining Philosophy, Political Science, Law, Education, Sociology, and other disciplines. Activities of this program include training and teaching. The program have, other than the general requirements (successful completion of 36 credit hours), two requirements dealing with information technology and foreign language. The purpose of this is to enable students to work in a global atmosphere allowing for international networking, so as not to limit students to the Palestinian context alone. The courses that the students will study are designed in a flexible manner, allowing for emphasis on education of democracy and human rights, human rights advocacy, or on democratization and civil society. The MA Program in Democracy and Human Rights is the first program of its kind in Palestine and the Arab region as well. Similar programs do exist in Europe and the United States. However, such programs are too costly for most Palestinian students and their focus is often too narrow for local needs. The Birzeit program is designed with Palestinian and Arab needs in mind, and it will be accessible to a larger number at a far lower cost. In addition, and perhaps for a majority of students, it will also be more practicable, since they will be able to study on a part-time basis without having to leave their work. Thus for many, the program will have the nature of an in-service training course.

Purpose and Aims:
The program seeks to fill a clear gap in essential training needed for education in democracy and human rights. Since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in particular, various types of seminars, workshops, and short-term courses have been held on a continuing basis by NGOs, institutions and organizations of various types, targeting varied groups including schoolteachers. The experience of such institutions, however, has shown that there are very few among those involved in training and education that have the necessary background to be effective, in particular for the purpose of developing curricula.
The need for the program becomes even more pressing in view of the fact that the Ministry of Higher Education plans to introduce these subjects for first and second year students at Palestinian Universities as a general requirement for graduation. It is anticipated that there will be a shortage of trained faculty members in those two areas, and the usual minimal requirement for teaching at university level is the MA degree. It is also expected that many schoolteachers will need formal certification in democracy and human rights when the Ministry of Education introduces civics as part of the curriculum. Beyond this, it is also expected that individuals working in education, human rights organizations, and members of the general public will benefit from this program.

Specific objectives are:
• To enable students to work in a global atmosphere allowing for international networking, so as not to limit students to the Palestinian context
• To provide solid grounding for workers in the fields of advocacy for democracy and human rights
• To synchronize with real needs of the local society, by being responsive to the needs of civil society organizations
• To qualify graduates to work in the fields of human rights advocacy in NGOs and elsewhere
• To enable those who advocate democratization to perform on a more substantial level, taking their advocacy beyond elections, freedom of expression, and the like towards issues of citizenship, participation, social and economic justice, and involvement in decision making on the national and local level