USW offers ‘world-first’ online course

A new online course on international studies and sustainable development, has been designed by the University of South Wales

The Introduction to Global Governance iTunes U course, designed by the University of South Wales (USW), has been developed to give a taster of the topic, and is the only one of its kind in the world.

The course is one of more than 400 items on the USW iTunes U portal, which includes educational content, information about the university, life as a student, and examples of work from USW’s students.

More than two million items across more than 40 sections have been downloaded from the USW site in the past five years.

“This course, the first on iTunes U produced by the university, looks at global approaches to major international issues such as human rights and international law, security and conflict, trade and diplomacy,” said Dr Bela Arora, a senior lecturer in Global Governance at USW and political commentator with more than 15 years’ experience in the sector.

“It is underpinned by the principles of the United Nations Global Compact, which USW has just become the first Welsh university to sign up to. One of the distinctive features of this course is that people learn both from widely published academics and from professionals who have worked at the highest levels in their fields.  

“These include former foreign secretary Jack Straw discussing Iran’s world standing, one of our visiting professors, Peter Hain, focusing on the terror threat from Islamic State, food security in the UK, and human rights. The subject is particularly relevant at the moment, as the international community struggles to deal with the effects of the Syrian refugee crisis, the rise of ISIL, and what these will mean in the long term.”

To find out more about the course, visit https://itunes.apple.com/us/course/introduction-to-global-governance/id1037366693