The Italian academic world has shown a growing focus on research and training in human rights. The theme is now present in teaching in many disciplines and in the curricula of numerous undergraduate and postgraduate courses, as well as in research programmes spanning different subject areas. The following pages provide a map of university research institutions and centres dealing specifically with human rights issues, as well as courses, bachelor’s and master’s degrees, masters' and doctoral courses, activated in 2024 or banned within that year, dealing with the subject. In particular, courses and structures that contain the expression «human rights» or other equivalent expressions (human rights, human rights, fundamental rights) in their formal name have been identified. The mapping thus obtained documents, in a sufficiently reliable way, the degree of diffusion and penetration of the subject of human rights, in its many dimensions, in the academic environment.

Teachings 

In 2024, 233 human rights courses are being offered at 51 universities. About 50% of these courses are taught in political and social science degree programmes (118 courses), while just under 40% refer to the area of legal sciences (83 courses); 9 courses belong to the area of historical, philosophical, pedagogical and psychological sciences, 2 to the area of humanities and social sciences, 2 to the area of language studies, 1 to the area of communication sciences, 1 to the area of economics and statistics.

As in the previous two years, in 2024 the University with the highest number of courses in human rights is Padua (21 courses), followed by the Universities of Turin (18), Milan (15), Roma Tre (13) and Bologna (9). Of the 233 courses, 76 are in English: 11 at the University of Padova, 8 at the University of Milan, 8 at the University of Turin, 6 at the University of Trento, 5 at the University of Bologna, 4 at the universities of Florence, Rome - La Sapienza and Roma Tre, 3 at the universities of Catania and Macerata, 2 at the universities of Palermo, Milan - Bicocca, Milan - Bocconi, Modena and Reggio Emilia, LUISS, Siena and Parma, and 1 at each of the following universities: Bari, Ferrara, Genoa, Link Campus University, Perugia, Salento. 

Networks of academic institutions dealing with human rights and peace issues include: internationally, the Global Campus of Human Rights  (more than one hundred partner universities, of which 84 full members, 3 are Italian: Padova, Venezia-Ca' Foscari, Bologna), the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI, 80 member institutions, 3 Italians); and at national level, the Italian Network of UNESCO Chairs (with chairs established at 43 universities), and the Network of Universities for Peace (RUNIPACE, 71 participating universities).