Method of Instruction
The Short Course programme includes seminars, lectures, group work and presentations. The seminars and lectures are given by research staff of the Human Rights Law Centre, of the Faculty of the School of Law, University of Nottingham and by visiting speakers.
The programme is taught in English: participants are required to demonstrate an overall score of 6.5 in a British Council English Language Test or a TOEFL score of 100 or otherwise demonstrate sufficient English language skills.
Study techniques
The Short Course begins with a series of seminars on study techniques, including using the internet and online databases for human rights research. A tour of the world-class Hallward Library will take place, ensuring that participants are familiar with the library resources and its catalogue system.
Reading materials will be distributed to Short Course students in advance of each seminar, and should be read before the session. The amount of time this will take will depend of the students familiarity with the topics and reading in English, but will normally be approximately two hours.
Each student will be assigned a personal tutor in the first week of the programme, who will discuss the interests and goals of the student for the Short Course programme, directing them to relevant sources, and practices. Meetings will take place on a regular basis throughout the programme.
Seminars
Short Course seminars provide an intimate environment for Short Course students; sessions are fully participatory, involving discussion, case studies and presentation. In LLM seminars, students will have the opportunity to discuss human rights issues with LLM students from many countries worldwide.
Lectures
Students will audit four modules on the LLM programme, where they will join seminars with the LLM students. Lectures provide a detailed insight into each of the module topics, and benefit from the experiences of the postgraduate student community, alongside the expertise of the Lecturer/Professor.
Visits
Visits to the courts help students to engage with practitioners in their work setting, witness a hearing in the Magistrtes Court, meet magistrates and clerks to the court. A visit to the University of Cambridge is also organised to attend one of the Friday lectures at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law.
Presentations
Students will also be invited to make presentations of their human rights work and interests, following a seminar that introduces presentation techniques.
Supervised research
Students can choose to complete a three-month supervised research project, following discussions with their personal tutor. International students who are interested in doing this, should indicate so in their application.