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LouvainX: Louv5x International Law

Syllabus

Learning outcomes

Welcome to International Law! This course will help you to better understand the world in which we live. You will learn how international law is made, applied and enforced, and about its basic rules.

The course intends to convey the basic concepts, structures and rules that make international law a specific legal order.  The course does not pretend to be exhaustive as it cannot give account of all issues and cases.

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Explain how and by whom international law is made, by whom it must be respected and how it is applied.
  • Discuss what happens when binding rules are breached and how it is possible to seek justice in this world.

Prerequisites

This is an advanced master level course. No prior knowledge of international law is required. However, students should be familiar with the requirements of graduate-level courses and should preferably have already followed some law courses in order to be familiar with legal concepts and legal language.

Workload

Students are expected to spend roughly five to seven hours a week watching the videos, reading the materials, responding to the problems and exercises and participating actively in the forums. This is an estimation based on 10 weeks of learning effort. As mentioned above, for those with little familiarity with legal concepts and language, additional time commitment may be required.

Grading and Certificate

This course includes both participants who are only auditing the course (AUDIT track) and participants who will request a Certificate (Certified track). If you wish to have your course work validated for the International Law MicroMasters, you must upgrade to a Verified Certificate on 3 August, 2020 at the latest.

If you need a Verified Certificate but cannot afford the full price, please note that edX may be able to provide financial assistance under certain conditions. If you are eligible for financial assistance, the fee for the verified certificate will be discounted by 90%. For more on financial assistance, please consult this FAQ.

Grading:

For those of you wishing to complete the certificate, you will be evaluated based on:

  • 'Weekly Exam': each week closes with a Weekly Exam (called WE in the Progress Tab), to the exception of Week 1. Each section has the same weight in the final evaluation. The results obtained on the six questionnaires in total shall account for 30% of the final grade.
  • 'Final Exam': the final exam is worth 70% of your final grade. Please see the details in the page Assessment & Grading. The Final Exam essays for the Verified Certificate are due for 17 August, 2020 at the latest.

You pass the course when you have a final grade of 60%.

Be careful: multiple choice questionnaires of the weekly exams are limited in time. You have a set amount of time to complete each MCQ. If you go over the time limit you can no longer submit answers to questions. You won’t receive points for unsubmitted questions. The timed exams cannot be done using the edX app.

UNIVERSITY POLICIES: Plagiarism is strictly prohibited by the University of Louvain. In case of plagiarism, students will receive '0' to the assignment. All writings you turn in must be your own.

Course Schedule and deadlines

This course is proposed on a self-paced mode. That means that you can progress at your own pace throughout the modules to learn. When you reach the passing threshold (60% of the final grade), you've passed the course.

However, some deadlines are needed in order to offer you a comfortable learning experience:

  • 3 August 2020 : ultimate deadline to opt for a Verified certificate (optional).
  • 17 August 17 2020 at 23:30 (UTC): ultimate deadline to submit your essay (if you're enrolled in the Verified track). That will leave time for the course team to grade your essay.
  • 31 August 2020 at 23:30 (UTC): ultimate deadline to Weekly exams - end of course.

There will be no extension or grace period. After that date, the course will be archived. 

Be careful: All times in this course are given in Coordinated Universal Time  (UTC). You will need to convert this into your time zone.               

To go further

There are many excellent textbooks on International Law and this MOOC does not pretend to replace a good read. You are therefore warmly encouraged to deepen your knowledge and understanding of international law by resorting to an accessible textbook on the subject. However, you do not need to purchase any book for the purpose of taking this MOOC. The only readings you will need to do are those to be found on the course pages. 

Among many others, here are two suggested textbooks if you want to go further:

Furthermore, we invite you to have a look at the UN Audivisual Library. This is a unique virtual resource that contains a permanent collection of lectures of on almost every subject of international law given by leading international law scholars and practitioners.