International Organisations Course Descriptor

Course Overview

Conflict and dislocation, social protest, and poverty borne out of a series of profound economic and political blunders, raise questions about the ability of international organizations (IOs) to mitigate national and regional crises. Against this backdrop, the course questions the global order as it is. As such, students will acquire intimate knowledge of the working modes of key IOs and compare and contrast the solutions they apply to regional and international problems. Students will also develop an active understanding of history, institutional design, and policymaking, and apply this understanding to the analyses of global governance and international organisations.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, discussion boards) to orientate and engage students in their studies.

The scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course are:

Lectures and seminars

40 scheduled hours – typically including induction, consolidation or revision, and assessment activity hours.

• Version 1:all sessions in the same sized group

OR

• Version 2: most of the sessions in larger groups; some of the sessions in smaller groups

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups. 

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study.

Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150 hours

Assessment

Both formative and summative assessments are used as part of this course, with purely formative opportunities typically embedded within interactive teaching sessions, office hours, and/or the VLE.

Summative Assessments

Further information about the assessments can be found in the Course Syllabus.

Feedback

Students will receive formative and summative feedback in a variety of ways, written (e.g. marked up on assignments, through email or the VLE) or oral (e.g. as part of interactive teaching sessions or in office hours).

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is for a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Armstrong, D., Lloyd, L. and Redmond, J. (2004), International Organisation in World Politics, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Barnett, M. and Finnemore, M. (2004), Rules for the World: International Organizations in Global Politics, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
• Bhagwati, J.N. (ed.) (1977), The New International Economic Order: The North-South Debate,Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Reynalda, B (2009), Routledge History of International Organizations: From 1815 to the Present Day, London & New York: Routledge.

Indicative Topics

Note: Comprehensive and current topics for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative topics provided below are used as a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Power distribution in the global order
• Theories of global governance
• Main IOs/IIs: UN, NATO, global financial institutions