About the Doha EU Courses
Following the signing of a cooperation agreement between Qatar and the European External Action Service in 2018, the Centre for Law and Development and the College of Law decided to establish a Jean Monnet Module aiming to promote European legal studies in the State of Qatar and in the region. The Module will provide prospective students not only with knowledge but also with practical skills. The Module components focus on two topics: a) introduction to European Union’s legal history and institutions, and b) legal areas where the European Union plays a leading role. Taking into account QNV2030 and the research roadmap of the Centre, the College of Law and Qatar University, the second component of the Module (specialised course) will focus on European environmental law and the protection of human rights. In the past years, Qatar has been very active in these areas and we strongly believe that students (and professionals) can not only greatly benefit from the European Union’s achievements in these fields, but also – and most importantly – share their knowledge with Qatari institutions.
Details of the JM grant objectives
The objectives of the Module can be summarised as follows:
1. Promoting modern teaching modules that are offered by leading European universities with a view to improving the educational outcomes in Qatar. Qatar University as a national university with the largest share of students is the best place to apply and disseminate this state-of-the-art knowledge.
2. Promoting knowledge in the field of international organisations and integration using the European Union as a model, environmental protection and human rights, which are key pillars of QNV2030. The focus on the protection of the environment and human rights represents an important contribution towards promoting environmental and human rights issues in the Qatari society. Increasing education quality on the above issues will have important spill-overs on Qatari education and society.
3. Realisation of the vision of a strong knowledge-based society with capable and competitive workforce. It will improve the specificity and job-market relevance of education and, will inject relevant tools and emerging issues into current curricula. Therefore, education outcomes of students and capacities of educators on European Union issues and curricula design will be enhanced.
4. Experience from this Module will be up-scaled into other programmes within Qatar University and beyond.
About the Jean Monnet Module Grant
The proposed Jean Monnet Module, entitled “Doha Courses on European Union Law”, is intended to be offered in Spring 2021 and will run for three years (36 months). The Module will consist of the following courses:
A. The European Union: Legal History and Institutions: The course will take place from January to March every year and will run for 7 weeks. The first three weeks (9 hours) will focus on the legal history of the European Union, while the next three weeks (9 hours) will explore the most important European institutions. The course will be complemented by a seminar on how to prepare policy briefs on European Union law issues (4 hours), thus helping participants develop critical thinking and acquire practical skills. Total: 22 hours.
B. The Evolution of the European Union Law in the Field of Environmental Protection and Human Rights: The course will take place in September and October every year and will run for 7 weeks. The first three weeks (9 hours) will focus European environmental law, while the next three weeks (9 hours) will explore the contribution of the European Union in the field of human rights. The course will be complemented by a seminar on how to prepare policy briefs on European Union law issues (4 hours), thus helping participants develop critical thinking and acquire practical skills. Total: 22 hours.
The sequence of the courses serves a purpose. The first course will equip students with knowledge on European Union law fundamentals. Those wishing to widen their knowledge, will have the opportunity to attend the specialised course in the Fall semester. In addition, the proposed course division will give busy professionals the opportunity to attend only the specialised course as it will provide them with knowledge they will use in their respective fields.
C. Research Seminar: Conducting Research on European Union Law: The proposed research seminar will be the third course-component of the Module. Currently our master and PhD students are not familiar with conducting research on European Union law. This seminar will equip them with the necessary skills and encourage them to conduct comparative research and consider aspects of European Union law in the preparation of their master dissertation and PhD thesis. Total: 4 hours
Upon successful completion of each course of the proposed Module, participants will receive a certificate of attendance certified by the Centre for Law and Development of the College of Law, Qatar University.