Humanity Courses and International Relations

Few courses that I took during undergraduate for the elementary and optional unit in my certificate perhaps would be useful and related to International Relations. I would have to check my notes and reconstruct them before I could talk* like an 'expert consultant' on political matters since they tend to drain everyone out. The subjects were:

• Malaysia Studies
• Ethnic relations and Anthropology
• Islamic and Asian Civilisations  (this was also taught in History course to losers like us at the Malaysian Higher School Certificate level)
• Major Themes in Selected World Religion
• History of the Modern Europe 1789-1945

There were few in-depth studies that I have conducted on my own such as on Indian religions, philosophies, customs and Muslim thoughts from the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia. They are actually my personal project for humanity. I could not lump them together as not to create confusion.

* I had suffered continuous post-traumatic experiences and almost lost my ability to speak in the public. I am trying very hard to overcome this issue. I am not a natural introvert by personality but a forced-introvert. People are not the same so never lump them as an oversimplification of things (care to read this nice little site, click here).

EU Studies Programme

I found this brochure from Leiden University site about the European Union studies programme. On this programme, the student will be led by academic staff internationally renowned in their fields. Many of whom can draw upon their practical experience in politics, government, advisory bodies and think tanks. They are therefore fully equipped to give the student an insider's viewpoint on the machinations of the EU's governing bodies and day-to-day operations.

Since the original six signatories of the Treaty of Paris - one of which was the Netherlands - set the European Union in motion, one of the main challenges has been to understand and satisfactorily address the core concerns of the EU. Today with 27 member states and more set to join, these concerns are as pertinent as ever. The EU is an increasingly complex and fascinating political and socio-economic landscape.

The programme's aim is to analyse and explore these issues by looking at internal and external developments of post-war Europe and examine the current state of affairs within the EU. The student will do this from a number of standpoints, which will include:

1. Examining post-war Western Europe in its own institutional setting
2. Looking at Western Europe's relationship with the rest of the world
3. Taking part in research seminars and guest lecturers, led by leading national and international experts and academics in the field
4. Addressing unique clusters of questions using concepts, theories, methodologies and models from economics, history, law and political science. 

I studied the European Union (EU) under postgraduate certification in the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) from July 2010 to September 2013. Kindly click on the course outline here to see my review and what I had been studying during the period. The course of International Relations and Diplomatic Studies available with two majors namely the European Union and ASEAN were unfortunately scrapped in 2013 just after we graduated as the second batch.

To access information about the School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), please click here.

To access information about programmes at Postgraduate Studies Institute in the USM, please click on the Institute of Postgraduate Studies (IPS).

For human rights in European Union, please refer here.