International studies goes online

The University of Queensland is taking its award-winning international studies program to the world thanks to a new e-learning course.

Conceptions of World Politics is taught by Professor Roland Bleiker from the School of Political Science and International Studies (POLSIS), and is the first of three new courses offered as part of the Universitas 21 Global Issues Program.

Participating students include those from UQ and other institutions such as Lund University in Sweden and the University of British Columbia.

Audiovisual recordings of the lectures are available online and weekly tutorials have been replaced with blogs, discussion boards, wikis and other online teaching tools.

Dr Emma Hutchison, who co-ordinates the school’s e-learning activities, said students had so far taken to the course in an overwhelmingly positive way.

“The format suits me perfectly because I'm working full-time this year as a Judge’s Associate, so the flexibility is great,” final year Arts/Law student Jennifer Samiec said.

Fellow student Mitchell Welch said the ability to download lectures to his phone and other mobile devices gave him flexibility not possible with a regular class.

In second semester, POLSIS will offer two more online courses as part of the U21 Global Issues Program: Human Rights and International Politics and International Peacekeeping and Human Rights.

The program is open to all students to take as a concurrent diploma alongside their degree programs.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Deborah Terry said the program gave students a wonderful opportunity to enrich their degrees and ensure that they are well prepared to work in a global context.

Media: Naomi Smith at POLSIS (07 3365 1524, naomi.smith@uq.edu.au)