Introduction to the course

World War 1 changed the world’s approach to wars, but it also led to a new approach to ending wars. In this video, Christian visits the Memorial Chapel of the University of Glasgow and introduces the themes of the course.

Below is some information on the team of educators and mentors on this course. You can use the links to access their profiles, and follow them to see their comments.

We have also added below a list of optional additional readings for Week 1, should you wish to read further on this subject.

Christian Tams (educator):

Christian is professor of international law at the University of Glasgow. Before coming to Scotland, he worked and studied in Germany, France and England. At Glasgow, Christian directs the Law School’s masters programme in international law. He is interested in questions of international law, especially relating to the United Nations and international courts. He has advised States in international litigation, eg before the International Court of Justice, and is a member of the German Court of Arbitration for Sports. He likes good books, in particular naval fiction, and supports a once-mighty football club, the Hamburger Sport-Verein. He was recently the lead educator in another FutureLearn course, Right vs Might in International Relations.

University of Glasgow Profile

Athene Richford (Mentor):

Athene did her LLM in international law in 2011-12 and is currently a postgraduate research student and part time research assistant in the law school at the University of Glasgow. She is just about to start her PhD, which explores how international trade and labour matters interact within their respective international institutions. Whilst her particular area of interest is, broadly, international trade law she is a keen theorist and takes a generalist approach when it comes to international law with a soft spot for international legal regimes of all kinds.

Athene is excited to be working on this project and looking forward to what she thinks will be very interesting discussions generated by the thought provoking and informative subject matter. She is particularly keen to hear from you all and looks forward to the diversity of educational and professional backgrounds that we have taking this online course.

James Devaney (Mentor):

James is a former University of Glasgow student now doing a PhD at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. His research is on international courts and tribunals but he is interested in all areas of international law. Having worked on a number of other projects at Glasgow as a research assistant in the past, James is really looking forward to taking part in the course as he thinks it’s a really exciting idea. He will be trying to help you with any questions you have throughout the next three weeks.

Alessandra Asteriti (Mentor):

Dr. Alessandra Asteriti is a post-doctoral research associate in international law at the University of Glasgow School of Law. She has an MA (summa cum laude) in Ancient History from the University of Rome, an MA in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights from the University of Essex and a Ph.D. in International Law from the University of Glasgow. She has worked as an archaeologist in Syria (Tell Mozan) and in Rome (Temple of the Magna Mater). After completing her law studies, she has taught at the University of Strathclyde, the Lucerne Academy for Human Rights Implementation at the University of Lucerne and Leuphana University in Lüneburg.

Ricardo Lira (Mentor):

After doing a BA in International Relations at ITESM (Monterrey, Mexico), and a MA in International Affairs at the Australian National University, Ricardo joined the Department of Politics at the University of Glasgow as a PhD student in 2011. His broad research interest is on international issues. His thesis is a revisionist history of the origins of International Relations (IR) as a specialised discipline. Ricardo joins other critical historians of the subject who argue that the early stage of the field (i.e. the interwar years) is oversimplified if described merely as idealist. As a result, the Paris Peace Conference (1919) and the experiment of the League of Nations are of paramount importance to him. Ricardo is very much looking forward to working with the course team on what promises to be a fascinating course.