Module 30-WS-WSL World Society and Law

Non-official translation of the module descriptions. Only the German version is legally binding.

Students who wish to concentrate on legal, political science and sociological issues have the opportunity to specialise in two thematic areas in the compulsory elective module "World Society and Law": Common goods and human rights. In both areas, students deepen their skills in developing appropriate and research-relevant questions and research designs that tie in with the current news in terms of content, theory and methodology in the disciplines involved. They acquire the ability to identify and classify relevant material and learn in particular to understand, interpret and analyse international treaties, documents of international organisations and other primary sources. Students will be able to critically reflect on their topics, research interests and methodological approaches and present their findings appropriately in oral and written form in terms of content, language and form.

The module allows students to focus on global common goods (environment, climate, water, etc.) and human rights. The courses convey concepts of common goods and their constitution as global common good interests as well as the resulting collective and individual responsibilities. A second focus is on the development of the idea of human rights, their codification, their differentiation and their implementation in the international community (states and other actors involved). The topics are analysed from a political science, sociological, Law or combined approaches.
The overview course provides in-depth knowledge of the wider context of global common goods and human rights. Relevant recent developments and research work will be discussed.
The research seminar focusses on concrete examples. Practising the handling of legal texts, documents of international organisations and other primary sources as well as the critical analysis of texts and topics form the main focus of the seminar work.
The "Research Discourse" event is offered as a colloquium in which external consultants provide insights into their current research work through academic presentations. Regular and active attendance at the colloquium broadens students' view of different research approaches and practices. By participating in the discussion, participants reflect on current research concepts and learn the rules and standards of academic communication.

Students can make suggestions for the topic and task of the seminar paper, which is issued by the supervising teaching staff. The development of a relevant question and the selection of a suitable material basis as well as an adequate methodology by the students are part of the examination. Students are advised by the teaching staff on the development of a term paper concept.

—

—