Master in Governance and Human Rights (MA)

The Master's programme in Governance and Human Rights at Leuphana University Lüneburg connects theoretical frameworks in law and political science with hands-on project work. Across 14 modules, students analyse legal and political theories of governance alongside international and regional human rights regimes, and explore how these areas intersect. Project-based learning is central to the programme's design. Students design, plan, and carry out their own project addressing a real governance or human rights challenge, and organise a conference together with their cohort at the end of their studies. The programme runs over 4 semesters and starts in the winter semester. Delivery is primarily distance learning and online, with two classroom sessions of one week each held in Lüneburg, one in the first and one in the third semester. The 10 subject-specific modules cover areas including human rights reporting and monitoring, business and human rights, corporate and organisational governance, governance in the digital age, and social change through campaigning. Three complementary modules address scientific work, communication, and societal responsibility. Students complete the programme with a Master's thesis. The programme is recommended as an official human rights training programme by the Human Rights Education Network of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. It is offered at Leuphana University Lüneburg in Lüneburg, Germany.