On Friday, 30 January 2015, the University of Padua launches its first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on the European platform iversity.org. The MOOC on ‘Human Rights: Global & Local protection’ has been prepared, in a joint venture, by the Padua University’s Human Rights Centre and Multimedial and E-Learning Centre (CMela).
The MOOC on ‘Human Rights: Global & Local protection’, entirely taught in English, provides students with critical knowledge concerning the norms, institutions and procedures tasked to promote and protect human rights. Students will acquire the knowledge needed to actively join the global debate on fundamental rights and to avail themselves of the existing legal and institutional tools set up for their implementation. The MOOC introduces to the human rights legal framework in a multi-disciplinary and multi-level perspective, helping students to approach real-life scenarios with competence and cultural and ethical awareness.
The completion of the MOOC takes around 9 weeks. Students are expected to complete the Course in mid-April 2015. The workload is approximately 4 hours per week for watching video lectures, taking quizzes, completing homework and reading the material provided. Admission is free of charge.
The Course Instructor is Paolo De Stefani, professor of International protection of human rights at the University of Padua, assisted by Andrea Cofelice, Pietro de Perini, Federica Napolitano and Claudia Pividori.
The MOOC is mainly addressed to people from all over the world who have a background in political science, international relations and/or international law. The course, however, includes a general introductory chapter explaining the main issues, concepts and scenarios at stake. For this reason the MOOC is also open to people actively engaged on the ground that do not have a specific academic or educational background.
The MOOC is structured into 9 chapters. Within each chapter, the Course offers tailored case-studies, interviews with field experts, officers and academics.
Chapter 1 - The basics
Chapter 2 - The UN and human rights
Chapter 3 - The UN human rights machinery.
Chapter 4 - The European system for the promotion and protection of human rights
Chapter 5 - Regional systems for the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa, Asia and the Americas
Chapter 6 - Human rights in conflict and post-conflict contexts
Chapter 7 - Human rights promotion and protection at the National and sub-national level
Chapter 8 - The driving forces of human rights promotion: the role of civil society
Chapter 9 - Conclusions: perspectives on global human rights
To know more about the MOOC ‘Human Rights: Global & Local protection’ as well as to enrol in the Course, please follow the direct link in the ‘resources’ box below.
To stay updated, the University of Padua offers also a Facebook page and a Twitter account.
A MOOC is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. Such open courses enable students from all over the world to take courses from professors all over the world. Conversely open courses enable professors to extend their reach by teaching tens of thousands of students worldwide. Access to education can both vastly improve people’s lives and bring about real change to communities as a whole.