Illicit Trade
A practical view into the dark side of globalization
Money laundering. Terrorist finance. Drug trafficking. Arms smuggling. Illicit trafficking of wildlife, human body parts, and ancient historical artifacts. Tax havens. Proliferation of WMDs. Oil bunkering. Human smuggling and the modern day slave trade. Conflict minerals and blood diamonds. These are not just abstract terms, but billion dollar globalized industries that are part of the world’s globally interconnected economy and which overlap with and exacerbate terrorism, war and conflict, corruption, authoritarianism, and other contemporary security threats.
This unique summer school course pierces the vale of secrecy around these issues and teaches students about illicit financing and trading; not only through theory and book study, but by learning the actual practices and techniques criminals, terrorists, and dictators use to obscure their profits and evade accountability for their actions, and the corresponding techniques to counter them.
Now in its third year, this exciting course is the first of its kind in teaching illicit trade in a holistic and practically useful way. Students will learn how to set up offshore companies and bank accounts, obscure the beneficial ownership of assets, exploit the loop-holes of dual-use goods legal systems, and identify vulnerabilities in particular institutions, countries, and jurisdictions. The summer school includes academic and practical learning about illicit finance, trafficking, and trade, field visits to practitioners involved in countering these threats, and expert examination into strategies and practices about how to combat illicit trade.
Lecturers
Last summer lecturers included senior experts and officials from the following institutions:
- Interpol
- NATO
- Investigative NGOs
- Financial Institutions
- US Drug Enforcement Ageny
- Risk Analysis Consultancies
- National Defence University
Course information
Target group
This summer school is intended for Masters, PhD, third year BA students and above, and practitioners. The participants need to have an interest and/or experience in understanding and combatting illicit trade, trafficking, finance, and related issues. It is expected that the participants have a sufficient command of the English language to actively participate in the discussions and to present their own work in English .
Programme
We will welcome you on Sunday 7 July at 3PM with a city tour and welcoming drinks. The summer school programme will start on the moning of Monday 7 July and end on Friday 12 July.
Course schedule
Day 1: Overview
Day 2: Trade and Trafficking
Day 3: Money and Money Trafficking
Day 4: Practical Field Trip
Day 5: Exam + Responses
Learning outcomes:
After this course you will be able to:
- Display knowledge about Illicit Trade. (E1, E4, E5)
- Produce a practical assignment on Illicit Trade with a clearly formulated problem definition, using one or more theories, methods, or techniques suitable for the field concerned. (E6a, E6b, E7, E8, E9)
- Evaluate research in a critical and substantiated manner, as well as in a way that respects scientific, social and ethical responsibilities. (E10)
- The ability to deliver a research presentation and express himself/herself in a clear and coherent manner, both in oral and in written/typed form, using understandable and correct English. (E12, E13)
- Become self-reliant and reliable in the execution of the tasks belonging to this course unit. (E14)
Workload
Upon successful completion of the programme, the Summer School on Illicit Trade offers a Certificate of Attendance that mentions the workload of 140 hours (28 hours corresponds to 1 ECTS). Students can apply for recognition of these credits to the relevant authorities in their home institutions, therefore the final decision on awarding credits is at the discretion of their home institutions. We will be happy to provide any necessary information that might be requested in addition to the certificate of attendance.
Fees
The fee (€505) include daily lunches and coffee (Monday to Friday), and one full-day excursion.
Housing info
Housing (7 nights, from Saturday 6 July to Saturday 13 July 2019), in Frascati international student house is available upon request for €245.
Application procedure
- CV (max 2 pages)
- Motivation letter (max 1 page)
Registration will close once we have reached our maximum number of qualified applicants. Final application date: 1 April 2019.
For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
https://www.rug.nl/education/summer-winter-schools/summer_schools_2019/illicit-trade/