The Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum, the platform within the Grotius Centre at Leiden University for the research, teaching and dissemination of international humanitarian law (IHL), is proud to present its first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). The online course, “International Humanitarian law in Theory and Practice”, is now open for pre-enrollment in Coursera at https://www.coursera.org/learn/international-humanitarian-law, and will start on 12 November 2018.

This course features lectures by Prof. Dr. Robert Heinsch, and Assistant Professors Dr. Giulia Pinzauti and Dr. Emma Irving. Together, they will give interested students and practitioners from the field a deep insight into the law of armed conflict. Throughout the five weeks of the course, participants will become familiar with (1) the basic concepts and history of IHL; (2) conflict classification; the (3) conduct of hostiles; the (4) protection of protected persons; and (5) the implementation and enforcement of IHL. The course offers students a mix between theory and practice. Students can for instance participate in an ongoing case study and engage in discussions with distinguished speakers from the field. A recurring theme encompasses these discussions: What are the biggest challenges in modern IHL? And, what are the success stories of IHL? At the end of the course, students are invited to critically analyse whether IHL works actually in practice.

Are you already excited to participate in the course, or do you want to know more about the IHL MOOC? Go to the Coursera page https://www.coursera.org/learn/international-humanitarian-law to pre-enroll or have a look at the official course description. The Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum is looking forward to engage with you in “International Humanitarian law in Theory and Practice”!