Catalogue

Open Access International Human Rights Law provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the principles, institutions and substantive protections that underpin international human rights law. The first part traces the historical development and sources of human rights law, examines foundational principles such as dignity, equality, universality and proportionality, and explains the nature and scope of states’ legal obligations. It also explores the United Nations framework and the European, Inter-American and African regional systems of human rights protection.

The second part considers the interpretation and application of specific rights and areas of protection, including the right to life, environmental and climate justice, refugee law, socio-economic rights, the prohibitions of torture and slavery, freedom of religion or belief, children’s rights, disability rights, racial justice, gender and LGBTQI+ rights, and human rights within the criminal justice system. Drawing on international treaties, case law and contemporary developments, the book considers both the achievements and limitations of existing human rights systems.

Written collaboratively by specialists in the field and peer reviewed, this open textbook is an essential open educational resource for international human rights law modules. It is designed for students, educators, practitioners and anyone seeking to understand and apply international human rights law. Its open approach supports the wider availability, teaching and continued development of knowledge in this important field.

Modern societies face a shared set of challenges. Economic growth has lifted living standards, yet inequality has widened. Innovation has accelerated, yet trust in institutions has weakened. Global markets have expanded, yet environmental damage and political fragmentation threaten long-term stability. Better Together asks a simple but urgent question: how can economic, political, and environmental sustainability be built in ways that allow societies to thrive together, rather than pull apart?

This book explores the idea that progress is never the result of isolated individuals or markets acting alone. It emerges when people, institutions, and systems are designed to support cooperation, fairness, and shared responsibility. Drawing on history, economics, and real-world experience, Better Together shows how freedom, innovation, and prosperity have evolved alongside democratic institutions, the rule of law, and social trust.

The book begins by tracing the foundations of human development, highlighting how open societies, secure rights, and inclusive institutions create the conditions for long-term progress. It then turns to national economies and labour markets, examining how the quality of work, access to opportunity, and high-value production shape everyday well-being. Rather than treating employment as a technical outcome, the book places dignity, security, and participation at the centre of economic life.

Better Together also unpacks the often-hidden role of money and finance. It explains how monetary systems, central banking, inflation, and exchange rates affect stability, inequality, and trust, and why democratic accountability and institutional independence matter for economic resilience. The discussion then widens to global trade and investment, showing how economic interdependence creates both opportunities and tensions, and why cooperation across borders is essential in an interconnected world.

The final part of the book focuses on sustainability. It demonstrates why markets alone cannot protect the environment or social cohesion, and why long-term prosperity depends on institutions that align economic incentives with planetary limits and social fairness. Drawing on behavioural economics, institutional design, and active citizenship, the book shows how better choices, at both individual and collective levels, can support meaningful change.

Blending historical insight, economic reasoning, and accessible examples, Better Together offers a clear and engaging guide to understanding how economies really work, and how they can work better. Written for students, policymakers, and curious citizens alike, the book invites readers to rethink economic decisions not as isolated acts, but as part of a shared project to build resilient, fair, and sustainable societies.

The Academic Language of Mathematics is an openly licensed, web‑based textbook designed to bridge the gap between mathematical content knowledge and the academic English needed to study and communicate mathematics effectively in higher education. Aimed at any student encountering mathematics as part of their degree, it is especially relevant for STEM learners working in English‑medium instruction (EMI) contexts and for students with English as an additional language.

The book consists of eight chapters which systematically guide students through the lexical, structural and textual features of mathematical academic language, drawing on fundamental topics that all STEM students meet in their first years (such as differentiation, integration, sequences and series, vectors, matrices and mathematical writing). Each chapter is organised into seven sections that move from working with key terms in isolation to using them in sentences, paragraphs and longer texts, and then analysing how mathematical ideas are presented and argued for in different genres.

Pedagogically, the book is grounded in content‑based instruction and the lexical approach, prioritising lexis and phraseology over decontextualised grammar drills, while still making relevant structures explicit. It treats “mathematical vocabulary” broadly, including technical terms (for example, calculate the differential) and more general academic phraseology (for example, conceptualised as, rooted in), and presents these within collocations, near synonyms and word families to build deep, transferable knowledge. Later sections draw on genre theory to help students analyse and produce texts such as explanations, application paragraphs and reflective commentary, with attention to information structure (given/new), linking devices, and the rhetorical functions of common patterns in mathematical discourse.

The textbook offers interactive exercises, dialogues, matching tasks, grammar‑aware analysis tables and guided activities that explicitly connect mathematical concepts with the language used to talk and write about them. Materials are multi‑modal: students engage with written texts, audio‑visual resources and dialogue scripts that model realistic peer and lecturer interaction around mathematical topics. An English–Chinese glossary,  supports bilingual and transnational cohorts such as those in the SWJTU–Leeds Joint School, and the resource is designed to be dynamic, adaptable and extendable by other teachers and institutions.

Funded by the Libraries Open Textbook Project at the University of Leeds, the book is published on the Pressbooks platform as an open textbook, benefiting from library support on accessibility, copyright, and open licensing, and from open peer review of both content and learning design. By combining specialist expertise in mathematics and English for Academic Purposes, and by involving students in the development process, The Academic Language of Mathematics offers a unique, practical resource for helping diverse learners gain confidence with both mathematical ideas and the language they need to communicate them.