Course Syllabus

Draft Syllabus - Updated 10-01-2025

Course Preview

Course goals:

This course surveys the nature, types and extent of human trafficking, modern-day slavery and other forms of servitude. Two dimensions of these topics are explored: the socio-economic, political and legal contexts that account for them; and the ethical, ideological and philosophical debates they raise in attempts to deal with them. The goals of the course are:

  • To explore a major social & ethical problem of our times
  • To see it as a basic human rights issue
  • To examine its intimate links to globalization and modern economic life
  • To understand America’s and the advanced world’s involvement with it
  • To examine what governments, NGOs, INGOs & businesses are doing about it
  • To recognize your own involvement & what you can do about it

Course format:

There are two lectures and one section per week.

Assignments and grading:

There will be different kinds of assignments in the course, and each one is aimed at giving you feedback on your progress as you move toward your final research paper:

Précis Reflections: These weekly reflections are a chance to tie the readings and lecture for a given week to a question (see the Study Guidelines in the week-by-week list of readings below). Précis reflections should be no more than 1 page (approximately 300 words), and it is up to you which question and which readings to focus on for each reflection. Your reflections should be posted on the course website each week by 9 a.m. on Wednesday. The précis will be read by your TF but not graded. 

Précis Portfolios: At two points in the term (before Spring Break, and again before you submit the proposal for your research paper) you will submit your précis reflections along with a cover letter, in which you (in light of your précis reflections) will consider the themes, questions, and sources that you might want to pursue in greater depth as your capstone research project. 

Mid-term and Final Exam: The proctored exams in our course are meant to ensure that you are learning the basic facts, concepts, and terminology you will need to carry out your own research project and engage meaningfully with the research projects of your peers. 

Research Project: This capstone assignment will allow you to build on the questions and themes you have found the most compelling throughout the term. Your project will include a proposal as well as an 8-10 page paper, which will be due near the end of the reading period.

Here is how the assignments will be sequenced and how each one will be weighted: 

Section Attendance & Timely Submission of Précis Reflections ………………..….10%

Précis Portfolio #1 (Due Mon. March 9th) ……….………....10%

Mid-term Exam (Friday, March 13th) ………………………20%

Précis Portfolio #2 (Due Wed. April 22nd) ………………….10%

Research Project: 

     Proposal (Due Fri. April 24th) ……………………….………10%

     Essay  (Due Mon. May 4th)  ……… ……………………...… 20%

 Final Exam:   (Mon. May11th) …………………..…..………20%

Sample reading list:

The reading list can be found in the draft syllabus.

Syllabus:

This is a draft of the Spring 2026 course syllabus. There may be minor changes before the course begins in the spring.

AI Policy:

We expect that all work students submit for this course will be their own. However, this course allows students to explore the use of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) tools such as ChatGPT for overviews, descriptive facts, or other information that could be accessed by an ordinary web search. Students may NOT use GAI tools to produce text or writing that a student submits as their own analysis. Additionally, it is each student’s responsibility to assess the validity and applicability of any GAI output; you bear the final responsibility for the information you submit. Moreover, you must CITE the use of any GAI tools you use. Violations of this policy will be considered academic misconduct. We draw your attention to the fact that different classes at Harvard could implement different AI policies, and it is the student’s responsibility to conform to expectations for each course. GAI tools should absolutely not be used during exams

Course policies:

Here are the Course Policies. They are also listed in the syllabus.