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Unit of study_
LAWS6119: The State and Global Governance
2025 unit information
How will Donald Trump's presidency affect international law and international relations How do non-state actors like Islamic State challenge the existing international order How do we respond to international health emergencies, such as the outbreaks of the Zika and Ebola viruses These questions all raise issues of global governance, that is, how international affairs are governed on a global scale. They also raise questions about the roles and capacities of individual states within the global order. This unit explores how current systems of global governance operate, the place of states within those systems, and the significance of law to those systems. In doing so, the unit introduces students to a range of historical and contemporary approaches to understanding the role of law in international affairs, and gives students an opportunity to consider these in relation to current events of global import. The sorts of questions with which the unit is concerned may include the following: Are systems of global governance lawful Are they democratic What is the role of violence in the contemporary global order How does/should international law seek to address pressing transnational issues, such as poverty, environmental degradation, global health threats and human rights abuses. Further information about this unit is available in the Sydney Law School timetable https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-lecture-timetable, unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units and academic staff profile https://www.sydney.edu.au/law/about/our-people/academic-staff.html
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Sydney Law School
| Study level | Postgraduate |
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| Academic unit | Law |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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None |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. explore the governance of international affairs and critically analyse the importance of international law in global governance.
- LO2. critically evaluate the roles and capabilities of states within the context of global governance.
- LO3. analyse assigned texts, including their concerns, arguments, and theoretical strategies, and identify and describe to an advanced level their interconnections.
- LO4. critique assigned texts and present precise evaluations and commentary in written form.
- LO5. construct advanced legal arguments based on primary and secondary sources and communicate them effectively in oral and written form.
- LO6. independently apply relevant legal research methodologies to investigate and present findings from a significance question in global governance theory.
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
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Intensive November 2025
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Block mode | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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There are no availabilities for previous years.
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
