Introduction This guide is designed to help university instructors to integrate one or more units on statelessness into an existing course curriculum or to develop a comprehensive course on statelessness. The individual units and full course are of interest to students following public international law, human rights (including minority rights, children’s rights or women’s rights) and refugee law. The material is suitable for both advanced undergraduate and graduate students. The topic may also be of interest to students of political science, international relations, gender studies, history, conflict studies, anthropology or related degree programmes. However, please note that the units provided here assume some prior knowledge of international law and a basic introduction may therefore be required for some students who are entirely unfamiliar with the international legal system1. Why teach about statelessness Statelessness is a global issue affecting several million people worldwide, yet it is a subject that has long been neglected within university curricula. This is regrettable because teaching about statelessness: • Equips students with an insight into a substantial and pressing international concern, which is gaining prominence on the agenda of States, international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) • Provides opportunities for students to reflect on the effectiveness of the human rights system, in particular by exploring the friction between the obligations and the challenges of protecting the rights of non-nationals • Allows students to appreciate the contemporary meaning of nationality, the mechanisms of acquisition and loss of nationality and the measures that are needed to ensure the prevention and reduction of statelessness as well as the protection of stateless persons • Offers students a new perspective on specific issues, for example in the context of courses on forced displacement or refugee law, minority rights, children’s rights or women’s rights. 1. UNHCR has published a self-study module on human rights which can provide such an overview: UNHCR, Self-Study Module 5: Human Rights and Refugee Protection (Vol. I and II), 15 December 2006, Vol. I, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/466942032.html Vol. II, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4669434c2.html. A Guide to Teaching on Statelessness 1