The course was arranged by the NordForsk-financed Nordic Network in Human Rights Research, where methodological challenges is the main research topic. Partner members NCHR and the European University Institute - EUI - were instrumental in the planning and realisation of the course, which took place on the beautiful EUI campus in the hillsides surrounding Florence in Northern Italy.
One week course - three year project
-The one week course was part of an ongoing three year project, focussing on various methodological challenges, says Professor Bård A. Andreassen, scientific head of the network. Andreassen points out that human rights research, as a highly multidisciplinary field, has been accused of methodological sloppiness. Moreover, Andreassen states, people have even claimed that since human rights are seen as morally good, everything we do in support of human rights must also be good.
Necessary and useful
Consequentially, Human Rights Research tends to be considered as less than an academic discipline in its own right, and more as a field where different disciplines employ their own methods of analysis and evaluation, Andreassen continues. He considers the course a successful venue where different methods and approaches were employed.
And in addition to the scholarly activities the participating researchers and lectureres found time to sucessful networking, celebrating the beauty of the Tuscan countryside in June.