This course will pursue an interdisciplinary, critical approach to the concept and politics of universal human rights and the critical debates that have emerged in response to egregious violations of human rights in the 20th century. We will interrogate the possibilities and limitations of human rights discourse and praxis as well as the politics involved in who defines and determines the universality of rights. Relying on cultural studies and feminist theory, the course will focus on key examples of historic traumas and human rights violations to contextualize our theoretical discussions. We begin by examining the evolution of human rights as a discourse and practice, and we will use a critical lens to interrogate the roles the state and civil society play in the violation and/or upholding of the human rights of citizens. We will study the imperialist aspect of the enforcement of human rights and the ways human rights discourse can serve to reproduce moral and power hierarchies between the Global North (the U.S., European nations) and the Global South (Latin America, Africa, etc.). We will also study various models of justice and repair in various cultural productions, and we will also explore the transitional justice models that have emerged in different historic-social and geopolitical contexts. We conclude the class by examining the possible futures of human rights and the key role survivors of human rights violations and memory projects play in shaping those futures.