Humanitarian Activism and Civil Society

When global crises strike, humanitarian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) spring into action, offering emergency medical services, basic necessities, expertise, and innovation to affected communities around the world. COVID-19 has brought unprecedented challenges—and unprecedented opportunities—to humanitarian endeavors. This course provides a comprehensive view of humanitarian organizations and activism from a sociological perspective. We examine the origins of organized humanitarian activism and the dilemmas and challenges that NGOs face. We investigate the consequences, justifications, and limitations of humanitarian work. COVID-19 is a central case study for us and we also look at case studies from the Kosovo war, the Nigerian civil war, and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Students are assigned specific regions to research and create visual representations of the conditions and humanitarian activities in their assigned region. The course features guest speakers from major aid agencies and policy organizations.