EURASIA Project is part of Erasmus+ - Key Action 2 - Capacity building in the field of higher education
Capacity-building projects in the field of higher education support the modernisation, accessibility and internationalisation of higher education in Partner Countries. These projects build on the success of the Alfa, Edu-link and Tempus programmes.
The projects aim to encourage cooperation between the EU and Partner Countries and support eligible Partner Countries in addressing challenges in the management and governance of their higher education institutions. This includes improving the quality of higher education, developing new and innovative education programmes, modernising higher education systems through reform policies as well as fostering cooperation across different regions of the world through joint initiatives.
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EURASIA: European Studies Revitalized Across Asian Universities
EURASIA project aims to introduce high quality EU studies programs in IN and CH universities and to enhance visibility of EU-related topics in the partner countries through the creation of networks in the field. The concrete aims and objectives of the project are defined in close reference to the overall aims of KA2 in bringing positive and long term effects on the participating organisations by effective and focusee capacity building in the area of EU related subjects in a context of desirable iternational cooperation and dialogue between the countries and the HE institutions. EURASIA will:
- contribute to capacity building in HEI in the two partner countries in the area of European studies that can effective enhance EU-India and EU-China cooperation and dialogue as designed in strategic EU documents
- enhance knowledge in the area of EU global strategic objectives as articulated in the 2016 EU Global Strategy in a globalising world
- responding to the established needs, interests and opportunities for offering modules in EU studies to non-EU related subjects and reinforcing already established BA and MA programmes in EU and EU related subjects
- Strengthen internationalization through establishing new networks of researchers and teachers in the field of EU studies.
- Encourage intercultural communication between countries and regions on the basis of shared project knowledge
- Improve the level of competences and skills in partner HE institutions to deliver training in the area of EU studies
- Support capacity building of teaching staff and young researchers by providing opportunity for training, mobility and sharing best practices in teaching and training.
Furthering the state-of-the-art on EU Studies in Chinese and Indian HEI in partnership with HEI from Bulgaria, Poland, France and Italy
The objectives of the WP are focused at accomplishing the necessary groundwork for evaluating in a comparative perspective the state-of-the-art of EU studies both at program and partner countries HEIs. By combining the academic expertise (both in their research and teaching aspects) of HEIs in BG, PL, FR and IT with the existing interests and demands for capacity building in the field in HEI in IN and CH the project teams aims at achieving a synergy between existing knowledge and innovative approaches in teaching the field to non-EU countries’ HEI.
The WP1 activities will be based on the existing needs’ assessments available from past academic cooperation among the partners. They will include specific measures such as reviewing existing needs’ analyses of the state-of-the-art in the participating countries, studying and benchmarking the existing curricula, teaching modules and courses on EU topics, identifying potential students to be trained in the field, complying bibliographical data on EU studies and teachings in IN and CH, evaluating the effectiveness of past and current EU academic collaboration projects in the partner countries, engaging interested stakeholders beyond academia in IN and CH (such as business circles, local and central authorities, NGOs, media, etc.), summing up of the overall preparation and development of the project working program and forming the different project teams.
Thus a collaborative format should evolve at the end of the WP activities that will allow an increased capacity on EU studies in Asian HEI through enhanced teaching competence and methods and by discussing the desirable changes in their curricula in order to offer a relevant and multifaceted perspective on the EU, its institutions, history and values.
Curriculum development and implementation
Adopting the methodology of collaborative module development and implementation, adaptable teaching resources for use in the full range of European Studies provision will be produces. The modules will cover three main themes:
1) EU Law and Legal Practice: Economic, Political and Social Implications;
2) Cultural diplomacy and Soft Power: Diversity, Identities and Intercultural Communication in the Political Environment of the 21st century;
3) The EU-Asia Dialogue: Geopolitical Alliances and Intercultural, Economic and Political Liaisons.
Each of the 3 modules will include 4 or 5 courses (2-3 courses for BA and 1-2 courses for Master’s students, with at least 20 h of lecturing and 40 h other activities targeted at receiving at the end the equivelent of 3-5 ECTS) In view of the multidisciplinary character of the field of ES, the course development will rely on a mix of pedagogical approaches and the use of innovative tools in order to address the specific academic needs of the students in IN and CH. Teams including faculty from SU, Jagiellonian University and Catania will be set up to design and develop the modules, elaborate the thematic scope of each module, define the content of the individual courses, develop the teaching methodologies, and sample the syllabi. Curricula and course materials will be peer-reviewed by each consortium member, to ensure quality and consistence of the proposed teaching content and teaching methods, as well as the compatibility with existing courses.
In addition, the consortium will develop and implement an inter-university course on “The Economic and Political Dialogue between Europe and Asia: the Perspectives of Diplomacy and Academic and Cultural Ties”, involving faculty and selected MA/PhD students from the member HEIs in CH and IN. The course will serve as a platform for elaborating teaching and research materials, ideas for classroom discussions and extra-curriculum activities that will be a product of the EURASIA team and will benefit HEI in both program and partner countries. The course will be offered online and will be finalized with a 5 day summer school for doctoral students and young faculty in the 3rd project year in FR allowing a face-to-face interaction among consortium academics and the participants as one of the end activities of the projects.
The selected faculty from CH and IN will travel to BG, IT and PL universities for a 2-week intensive program, enabling them to experience first-hand teaching and learning of EU studies. The faculty training will be followed by online group collaboration throughout the project duration for further support and sharing. Based on the results of the trainings and feedback from the visits to the partner countries, the module content will be revised and edited so to meet the actual needs of the HEIs in the partner countries.
This will be followed by three parallel training visits to programme countries universities designed for updating of existing courses relying on previous expertise and academic interests of teaching staff.
Teaching program /Piloting and teachnig/
In WP3, piloting and the supervision of the introduction of the courses from the three modules created within the curriculum development WP2 will be provided.
On the basis of focus groups and preliminary work with students from the CH and IN HEIs the students will be informed about the courses offered and the way these courses integrate with their own curricula. In close cooperation with the administration of the CH and IN HEIs a schedule of the courses will be prepared well in advance to facilitate students’ involvement.
In the second year, pilot courses from the three modules - 1) EU Law and Legal Practice: Economic, Political and Social Implications; 2) Cultural diplomacy and Soft Power: Diversity, Identities and Intercultural Communication in the Political Environment of the 21st century; 3) The EU-Asia Dialogue: Geopolitical Alliances and Intercultural, Economic and Political Liaisons) will be introduced in the CH and IN HEI. They will be carried out in accordance to the regulations and the timetables of the respective universities and in respect to the academic ethics. The students who enrol will have access to the on-line platform and will become part of the wider network for enhancing the understanding of the nature, the structure and the grounding ideas of the European Union and its relations with Asia in China and India as well as of introducing European Union Studies in CH and IN HEIs.
In the third year the partner CH and ID HEI will introduce the designed modules in their curricula as part of already accredited study programs and should consists of at least 9 courses each ensuring the in-depth understanding of the European Union nature, structure, and the relations of the EU with Asia. The number of students enrolled in these courses should be between 850 and 1500.
On-line Training Courses
Tools for distant learning will be created and exploited in order to bring innovative teaching methodology, capable to compensate for regional distance and offering uniform educational medium across institutions with various academic traditions. They include: adapting and uploading of teaching material to the system, recording and publishing multimedia lectures, collecting and sharing bibliographies and resources, preparation of tests, discussion boards and video-conference events.
The on-line training system will be built upon online distance teaching platform. The platform will give access to electronic learning resources in the form of text and/or video and will offer functionalities for submitting course assignments and collaboration on learning tasks for participants.