Humanization, Everyday-Life Integration, and Pragmatic Pedagogy: Human Rights Education in Chinese Higher Education

Abstract Human rights education (HRE) in Chinese higher education has undergone profound structural, epistemic, and pedagogical evolution over the past two decades. Taking the Institute of Human Rights at a premier Chinese university specializing in human rights research and education as a comprehensive longitudinal case study, this paper investigates the emergence of a triadic pedagogical model anchored in humanization, everyday-life integration, and pragmatic methodology. Moving beyond conventional, doctrinal legal formalisms, contemporary Chinese HRE systematically connects international human rights norms with local socioeconomic developments, administrative litigation mechanisms, and community-level public interest advocacy. This transformation is empirically demonstrated through twenty years of institutional archives and the continuous annual operation of the Human Rights Law Summer Elective Course series running continuously from its inception through 2026. Situating this case within the global policy frameworks of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, the UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training (Resolution 66/137), and contemporary higher education governance scholarship, this study explores how experiential legal clinics, simulated moot courts, and digital curricular infrastructures cultivate civic awareness and professional competence. The findings provide critical insights for international comparative education, illustrating how developing and emerging economies can localize universal human rights values without sacrificing cultural resonance or institutional sustainability.