Semester	Fall Semester, 2025
Department	Sophomore Class of BA in Global Governance Junior Class of BA in Global Governance Senior Class of BA in Global Governance
Course Name	International Organisations
Instructor	KEVIN CHIA-KANG CHANG
Credit	3.0
Course Type	Elective
Prerequisite

Course Objective

Course Description

Course Schedule

Week	Topic	Content and Reading Assignment	Teaching Activities and Homework
1	Introduction to International Organisations	Course introduction	In-person
2	Key Characteristics of IOs I	IO types, roles, functions	In-person
3	Key Characteristics of IOs II	Power and legitimacy of IOs	In-person
4	IOs & International Law	IOs' roles in creation, development, implementation of IL; Statehood	Online
5	The United Nations: Overview	Overview of the UN Charter and major organs	Online
6	(No class – public holiday)
7	The United Nations: Peace and Security I	The Security Council, dispute settlement, use of force, sanctions	Online
8	(No class – public holiday)
9	The United Nations: Peace and Security II	Conflict prevention, peacebuilding and peacekeeping	Online
10	Regional IGOs Student Presentations I	Regional IOs, including supranational IOs such as the EU	Online
11	Development & Humanitarian Assistance Student Presentations II	Role of IOs in development and humanitarian assistance, SDGs	Online
12	Human rights	Promotion of human rights, rule of law, transitional justice, HRC	In-person
13	International justice UN Reform 2025	International courts and tribunals Latest UN reform proposals	In-person
14	Taiwan & IOs Trade and Commerce	Taiwan’s challenges and opportunities in IO participation The World Trade Organisation	In-person
15	Responsibility of IOs How IOs die Exam revision	The legal and ethical responsibilities of IOs What kills IOs?	In-person/online TBC
16	Final examination		In-person

Teaching Methods

Teaching Assistant

Cheng Yu-Chen (Dino) 鄭宇辰

Requirement/Grading

1. Class participation 10%

2. Reflection notes 10%

3. In-class presentation 20%

4. Final examination 60%

Textbook & Reference

A full reading list will be provided in early September. The course will use a combination of textbooks and journal articles. The main reference textbooks are listed below. Excerpts from these texts will be provided, thus it is not necessary for students to purchase these books.

The United Nations and Changing World Politics

Thomas G. Weiss, David P. Forsythe, Roger A. Coate, Kelly-Kate Pease

8th Edition, 2017, Routledge

The Oxford Handbook of International Organizations

Edited by Jacob Katz Cogan, Ian Hurd, and Ian Johnstone

2016, Oxford University Press

An Introduction to International Organizations Law

Jan Klabbers

4th edition, 2022, Cambridge University Press

Urls about Course

Charter of the United Nations: https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/full-text

Attachment