United Nations University will organize the sixth regular session of its six-week UNU International Courses (UNU-IC) at UNU Centre in Tokyo, Japan, from 16 May through 24 June 2005. The UNU-IC programme is designed for postgraduate students and young professionals (with a college or university degree) in various occupations in Japan and abroad who wish to pursue careers in international fields in public-service or private organizations, including the United Nations, multinational corporations and non-governmental organizations as well as national foreign service organizations. The courses are designed to provide analyses of global issues from both theoretical and empirical perspectives.

The UNU International Courses are taught in a cooperative fashion by a team of scholars and practitioners comprising both in-house and outside experts. One of the unique features of the UNU-IC is that many of the practitioners come from United Nations organizations. Another important characteristic is the direct access to teaching faculty and the support provided to course participants by the UNU in-house academic staff who serve as academic counselors. The UNU-IC also draw on the research projects undertaken at the UNU Centre in Tokyo and at various UNU Research and Training Centres and Programmes (RTC/Ps) located around the world. The courses, though advanced in nature, are open to graduate students and professionals in various occupations who are not necessarily specialists in the field.

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The four courses to be offered in May and June 2005 are:

1. Armed Conflict and Peacekeeping;

2. Environment and Sustainable Development;
3. Human Rights: Concepts and Issues; and
4. International Cooperation and Development.
   

There will be eighteen 90 minute sessions per course - i.e., three sessions per week over the six week course period. The courses will involve considerable reading and study, but will be scheduled to allow students to have sufficient preparatory and review time for each session.

The expected learning outcomes for UNU-IC participants include:

• Deep, sophisticated understanding of the subject at a high level
• Sharpened analytical and problem-solving skills
• Intellectual interaction with a wide cross-section of lecturers and fellow participants from around the world from diverse academic and professional backgrounds
• Social interaction with fellow participants from diverse cultural backgrounds

The learning environment and facilities prepared for the UNU-IC include:

• Complementary theoretical and practical perspectives, from academic experts and practitioners, respectively
• Guest lectures by leading specialists and practitioners in Japan and overseas, including those in the UN system
• Access to the library and other resources of the UNU
• Close contact with UNU in-house specialists in small-group settings
• Opportunity to sample life in one of the world's great metropolises

The UNU-IC will be administered and coordinated by UNU Centre. Each of the courses will be handled by a responsible UNU academic officer (or a team of UNU academic officers), who also will teach at least part of the course. In principle, each course will be taught by a combination of the academic staff of UNU Centre and the RTC/Ps, adjunct professors and other scholars involved in related UNU research projects, and representatives of various UN agencies and other internationally oriented organizations, as well as prominent professors from universities in different parts of the world and professional experts in relevant fields.

The tuition fee per course is Japanese yen 100,000 - about US$900 at the current UN exchange rate - or Japanese yen 150,000 (about US$1,350) for two courses. Those participants from developing countries* who take two courses and who can demonstrate a need for financial assistance are invited to apply for a limited number of UNU fellowships. (Those who wish to apply for a UNU fellowship should complete the UNU Fellowship Application form, which is available here or as a hard copy upon request.)

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The UNU has located a low-cost hotel facility in Tokyo to accommodate course participants from outside Tokyo and Japan.

Participants who successfully complete at least one course will receive a UNU Certificate of Completion at the UNU-IC closing ceremony. Requirements include written assignments and regular class attendance as well as active participation in class discussions.

Application 

Applicants for the UNU-IC should submit their application dossier - consisting of (i) a completed application form with photo and signature; (ii) an original copy of transcript of academic records at the college or university level; (iii) TOEFL scores (minimum: paper-based 550/computer-based 213) or equivalent proof of English-language proficiency for non native speakers; (iv) three confidential letters of reference on official letterheads; and (v) a UNU Fellowship Application for those who are applying for a UNU fellowship (see "Tuition and Fellowships") - by 15 January 2005. Applicants may apply to take one or two courses at a time, and can reapply in subsequent years to take additional courses.

If you wish to apply for the courses, please visit our website at http://www.unu.edu/ic/ for a copy of the brochure and UNU-IC application form. If you have further questions, please contact:

Ms. Wilma James, Training Assistant, UNU-IC Secretariat, United Nations University Centre
53-70 Jingumae 5-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8925, Japan
Tel: +81-3-3499-2811; Fax: +81-3-3499-2828; E-mail: james@hq.unu.edu

The deadline for applications is 15 January 2005.

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The UNU International Courses Committee will review applications primarily based on the following criteria:

• Relevance and level of the applicant's educational and professional background;
• Linkage of the chosen courses with the applicant's future career plans;
• Demonstrated interest of the candidate in issues of global concern;
• Analytical capacity;
• Academic and professional performance; and
• English language skills.

UNU is committed to achieve geographical and gender balance and genuine diversity in all its research and teaching activities.

ARMED CONFLICT: PREVENTION, MANAGEMENT, AND RESOLUTION

This course will explore the causes, nature and impact of violent conflict, focusing principally on "civil war." The course will review and analyse the evolving responses of international actors to the challenges of violent conflict, focusing upon conflict prevention, conflict resolution and peace building. The course will also consider what reforms might be envisioned in the international peace and security architecture in order to enable it to better cope with contemporary challenges.

• Overview of Social, Political and Economic Conflict
• Sources and Causes of Conflict
• Theories of Intra- and Inter-state Conflict
• Changing Patterns of Conflict and the "New Wars" Thesis
• Conflict Types and Actors

• Early Warning Analysis
• Identification and Assessment of Preventive Measures
• Mainstreaming of Conflict Prevention
• From Concept to Policy: Toward Applied Conflict Prevention

• Facilitation, Mediation, Negotiation, Arbitration
• From Settlement to Resolution
• Actors, Timing, Targets, Setting, Resources

• Evolution of Peacekeeping
• Successes and Failures
• Humanitarian Intervention
• Peace Enforcement
• Selective Involvement?
• Regional Alternatives to UN Peacekeeping?
• Training for Peacekeeping

• Political, Economic, Social and Security Challenges
• Democratization and Peace Building
• Reconciliation and "Transitional Justice"
• Justice versus Pragmatism
• Internal versus External Assistance: Sustainability of Peace Building
• UN Protectorates: UNMIK and UNTAET

• Coping with Complex Realities
• Terrorism
• The Brahimi Report on Reforming UN Peace Operations
• The Gap Between Mandates, Resources and Political Will

The course will be taught by the staff of the UNU Peace and Governance Programme and selected guest lecturers.

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT - SCIENCE AND POLICY

The course aims to provide a scientific understanding of the issues underlying global environmental changes as well as the politics and policy of regional and global environmental issues. The course will be equally divided between coverage on the scientific background and on social and policy issues and their relation to scientific issues. This will be achieved through discussions of approaches and tools such as major environmental treaties, their scientific background, and implementation frameworks, followed by "inter-linkages" among implementation policies.

Week One- Introduction

• Environmental Change - Scientific Background
• Global Environment Policy Frameworks

Week Two - Climate Change: The Science and Policy

• Assessing the Real State of the World with Scientific Objectivity (Topics include evolution of the atmosphere, the carbon cycle and greenhouse gases, global climate and climate change, the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable energy, fossil fuels and renewable energy
• " Framework Convention on Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol

Week Three - Managing Hazardous Chemicals and Wastes for the Protection of Human Health and the Environment

• Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs): Their Sources and Identification, and POPs Content in Waste
• Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of POPs
• The Basel and Stockholm Conventions: Implementation of ESM, Legislation, and Regulations

Week Four - Biological Diversity: A Component as Well as a Result of Global Environmental Change

• Changes to Land use/Land Cover and Climate and Its Relation to Loss of Bio-diversity
• Ecosystem Assessment

Week Five - Water Environment

• Impacts of Climate Change on Water Environment
• Managing Water Resources in a Changing Environment

• Inter-linkages among Major MEAs: The Rio+ Conventions
• Global, Regional and National Issues

Lecturers

The course will be taught by the staff of the UNU Environment and Sustainable Development Programme and external experts from the field of environmental research and studies.

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HUMAN RIGHTS: CONCEPTS AND ISSUES

The concept of human rights has been essential to the development of democratic systems and international institutions. It has also been, and continues to be, at the centre of much heated debate concerning its scope, its validity in different cultural contexts, or the legitimacy of its application to justify infringements on nation-states' sovereignty. The course is intended to provide participants with the knowledge and awareness to address human rights issues from historical, comparative and global perspectives in order to develop feasible solutions to current problems. The course will start with a thorough overview of the philosophical and legal basis of the concept of human rights, its historical development and its political implications, with strong emphasis on the different perceptions and definitions of human rights in different national, historical and cultural contexts. Based on this theoretical foundation, the course will review and evaluate the legal basis and political functions of human rights organizations. The general knowledge thus gained will be applied and expanded by an analysis of past and current human rights practices, instruments and institutions, with a focus on the central areas of human rights: human rights and development, minority and indigenous peoples rights, and transitional justice and human rights. The course will close with an analysis of the political and pedagogical aspects of human rights education.

Week One - Human Rights: Concepts and Norms

• Notions and concepts of human rights
• Human rights in historical and cultural contexts

• Historical development of international human rights instruments and organizations
• Institutional mechanisms within the UN system and evaluation of their effectiveness
• Roles of Governments, Non-Governmental Organizations and Experts

• Linking Development and Human Rights: Conceptual Issues
• Rights-based Approaches to Development

• Norms, Institutions and Practices Concerning the Rights of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples
• Current Issues and Case Studies

• Crimes Against Humanity, Collective and Individual Responsibility, and Justice
• National Persecutions, Truth Commissions, International Criminal Tribunals and the International Criminal Court
• Case Studies

• Pedagogical Approaches to Human Rights Education
• Political Issues in Human Rights Education
• Actors

• The course will be taught by in-house and external academics specializing in human rights issues as well as officials from human rights-related organizations.

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INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

The course looks particularly at the cross-cutting issue of globalization and the challenge of development strategy in an era of interdependence. It highlights the roles of different actors and the principles of best practice in international cooperation. It also gives substantial attention to political issues, questions of gender, culture and the social dimension of development and to alternative approaches to development thinking, and will emphasize the analysis of actual case studies. The course also considers the challenges facing the key actors in the development assistance network, including the role of the United Nations and Bretton Woods Institutions and Japan's own development cooperation agencies.

Week One - Development Theory, History and Policy

• Welcome, Introduction and Overview
• Overview of Thought and Practice in Development
• The Evolution of International Cooperation for Development

• Governance, Democratization and Politics of Development Assistance
• Urbanization, Education, Health and Hunger: Challenges for the 21st Century
• The MDG's Approach: Extent and Limit

• Gender, Culture and Development
• HIV/AIDS and their Impact on Development
• Case Study

• Analyzing the Project Cycle
• Case Studies/Nexus Humanitarian Assistance and Development
• Why and How do Projects go Wrong?

• Trade and Development
• Developing Countries and the World Trade System
• Aid and International Cooperation

• The Issues of Culture and Religion in Development
• Eco-social Visions of Alternative Development
• Culture and Social Movements
• Wrap-up Session

• This course will be taught by the United Nations University staff and selected guest lecturers from academic organizations around the world, as well as officials from international organizations and Japan's development cooperation agencies.