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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 esimation 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 Verified Certificate (VC track). If you wish to have your course work validated for the International Law MicroMasters, you must upgrade to a Verified Certificate BEFORE taking the Final Exam, and on December 1st 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:

  • 'Participation Assessment': you will be graded on the basis of your participation throughout the course (called PA in the Progress Tab), as measured by the problems you've completed and the discussions you've contributed to (short quizzes or checkboxes) for 5% of the final grade.
  • '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, which is 7% of the final grade. The results obtained on the seven questionnaires in total shall account for 49% of the final grade.
  • 'Final Exam': the final exam is worth 46% of your final grade. Learners who want to achieve the Verified Certificate have a different final exam than Audit learners - see details in the page Assessment & Grading. Please upgrade to a Verified Certificate BEFORE taking the Final Exam, if you want to get a Verified Certificate for this course. The Final Exam for the Verified Certificate is due for  December 18.

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

Be careful: multiple choice questionnaires of the weekly exams and of the final exam 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.

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:

  • December 1st: ultimate deadline to opt for a Verified certificate (optional).
  • December 18 at 23:30 (UTC): ultimate deadline to submit your essay (if you're enrolled in the Verified track). That will leaves time for the course team to grade your essay.
  • December 22 at 23:30 (UTC): ultimate deadline to Weekly exams and Final 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.