In what ways are human rights and empire entangled? What rights discourses developed in the colonies and territories across the global South and how did they shape the imperial subject? How did human rights in turn take shape at the end of empire and within the postcolonial world? This course uses a thematic approach to explore the connections between human rights and empire in the modern era, beginning with the New Imperialism of the nineteenth century to the present day. Emphasizing Asia and Africa, topics include theories and genealogies of human rights, personhood and sovereignty, individual-state relations, revolution and mass social movements, humanitarian intervention, anticolonial nationalism, and international law.