Ray of light

I chose the option that focuses on "Concepts and Institutions" of human rights over the commerce one, which ended up being more about handling trade disputes between private parties rather than about trade policy.

The downside of the concepts/institutions class is it is extremely academic--not a real surprise in a master's program. I'm better at dealing with history and real-life examples of rights issues than spending hours reading about: What is a human right? How has the definition changed over time? The difference between absolute universalism and empirical relativism approaches; the six critiques of human rights concepts; divine law vs. natural law; etc, etc.

Just when I think I've gotten in over my head and just gone down the wrong path, I take a class that really got my juices flowing. The teacher (a Canadian of Egyptian extraction) was excellent--passionate and very good at taking all this theory and applying it to the world we live in. He began the class with quotes from a spat between Bishop Tutu and ex-PM Tony Blair. Each represented a polar opposite view of human rights.

And one out of maybe 20-some readings so far was absolutley spot on with my interests--how business/trade influences human rights. All it takes is one teacher and/or reading to set you on the path toward the work you were meant to do. My trick is to be patient with all the angels-on-top-of-a-pin stuff.
10/8