Method
The Short Course programme includes seminars, lectures, group work and presentations. The seminars and lectures will be given by research staff of the Human Rights Law Centre, 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 600 or otherwise demonstrate sufficient English language skills.
Personal Tutor
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.
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 participants familiarity with the topics and reading in English, but should be approximately two hours.
Seminars
Short Course seminars provide an intimate environment for Short Course students; sessions are fully participatory, involving discussion, case studies and presentation. In LL.M seminars, students will have the opportunity to discuss human rights issues with LL.M students from many countries worldwide.
Lectures
Students will take four modules on the LL.M programme, where they will join lectures with the LL.M 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.
Presentations
Students will also be invited to make presentations of their human rights work and interests, following a seminar that introduces presentation techniques.
Internships
Students on the six-month programme who opt for an internship will liaise with the personal tutor to identify their interests, following which HRLC will arrange a placement.
Visits
Visits to institutions and two NGOs help students to engage with practitioners, in their work setting, experiencing the realities of prison life and management, witnessing a criminal hearing in the Criminal Court, meeting magistrates, police, prosecutors and NGOs.
Supervised Research
Students on the six-month programme who opt to stay in Nottingham can choose to complete a three-month supervised research project, following discussions with their personal tutor.