Course Title: Global Governance and International Law

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Global Governance and International Law

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
SOCU1036	City Campus	Undergraduate	365H Global, Urban and Social Studies	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2006, Sem 1 2007, Sem 2 2008, Sem 1 2009, Sem 1 2010, Sem 1 2011, Sem 1 2012, Sem 2 2013, Sem 2 2014, Sem 2 2015, Sem 2 2016, Sem 2 2017, Sem 2 2018, Sem 2 2019, Sem 2 2020, Sem 2 2021, Sem 2 2022, Sem 2 2023
SOCU1036	City Campus	Undergraduate	365H Global, Urban and Social Studies	Face-to-Face or Internet	Sem 2 2006, Sem 1 2008, Sem 2 2009
SOCU1036	City Campus	Undergraduate	365H Global, Urban and Social Studies	Internet	Sem 2 2007, Sem 2 2010, Sem 2 2011, Sem 2 2012

Course Coordinator: Assoc Prof. Julian Lee

Course Coordinator Phone: +(61 3) 9925 3440

Course Coordinator Email: julian.lee@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: Building 37. Floor 5,. Room 16

Course Coordinator Availability: By appointment

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

Required Prior Study  

You should have satisfactorily completed the prerequisite courses SOCU1011 Global Processes & SOCU2112 Global Political Economy before you commence this course. 

Alternatively, you may be able to demonstrate the required skills and knowledge before you start this course.  

Contact your course coordinator if you think you may be eligible for recognition of prior learning.   

 

Course Description

Global Governance and International Law is designed to help you integrate your knowledge of globalisation and use that knowledge to analyse and plan for global governance and law across political, military, economic, technological, social and cultural domains. This course will enhance your appreciation of globalisation both in theory and in practice and equip you with the language and skills to analyse identify, define and articulate good governance principles in international professional work contexts. 

You will learn to think systematically about global governance processes and to evaluate the governance capacities of intergovernmental and international nongovernmental organisations. You will also explore new sources of global legal and political authority. You will develop your critical thinking skills in this course to the point where you are able to debate contemporary global governance issues, including international legal issues, at a high level of theoretical abstraction but at the same time explain these issues in a language accessible to a lay audience. 

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

Program Learning Outcomes 

In this course you will develop the following program learning outcomes:

• Apply a body of theoretical and practical knowledge of international relations, global cultures, language and economic issues to your professional practice or further study.
• Critically analyse, synthesise and reflect on knowledge about a rapidly changing world derived from multiple sources, perspectives and values systems.
• Apply logical, critical and creative thinking to effectively solve a range of problems associated with policies and programs in international and cross-cultural settings, and assess economic, cultural, social, environmental and political opportunities and risks.
• Work professionally and effectively with others in diverse cultural, linguistic and organisational contexts, and to adapt practices and knowledge to local circumstances.
• Assist in the identification of needs, the design, planning, resourcing and implementation of research and development projects in international and cross-cultural settings.
• Reflect on the experience of personal and professional practice in international and cross- cultural settings and to act in professionalised settings responsibly, ethically and with integrity.
• Apply concepts and techniques of security analysis and strategic thinking to contemporary global security challenges 

 

Course Learning Outcomes 

Upon successful completion of the course you will be able to: 

1. identify and assess global risks, especially as they impinge upon local contexts
2. analyse the relative management, coordination and control capacities of states and international intergovernmental organisations 
3. describe key international, inter-governmental and voluntary organisations and those relevant to your area of professional specialisation 
4. obtain and analyse relevant and up-to-date information on key international organisations and key international agreements 
5. review different value approaches in national legal systems and their impact upon international law and international relations 
6. access and apply national or sector regulations to a particular professional area 
7. think conceptually about risk issues within the frameworks of realist/structuralist and socio-cultural risk discourse

Overview of Learning Activities

A range of learning experiences are planned for this course including lectures, guest seminars, group problem solving exercises and group debates. A structured tutorial program is provided to give you the opportunity to explore risk issues in greater depth through active participation in small discussion groups. Active and constructive participation in group discussions is expected in addition to weekly reading and careful planning of assessment tasks. 
 

Overview of Learning Resources

RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through our online systems. You will have access to extensive course materials via Canvas, including internet links and access to RMIT Library resources. 

There are services available to support your learning through the University Library. The Library provides guides on academic referencing and subject specialist help as well as a range of study support services. For further information, please visit the Library page on the RMIT University website and the myRMIT student portal. 

Overview of Assessment

You will be assessed on how well you meet the course’s learning outcomes and on your development against the program learning outcomes. Assessment tasks may require you to develop your own governance frameworks, codes of practice, compliance measures and to draft UN resolutions and treaties. 

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task 1 – Review article (25%) CLO1, CLO2, CLO3, CLO5   Assessment Task 2 – Presentation (25%) CLO1, CLO2, CLO3, CLO4, CLO5, CLO6   Assessment Task 3 – Professional Communication paper (50%) CLO1, CLO2, CLO3, CLO4, CLO7

Feedback will be given on all assessment tasks. 

If you have a long term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program manager or Equitable Learning Services if you would like to find out more.  

Your course assessment conforms to RMIT assessment principles, regulations, policies, procedures and instructions