In summer 2017, two international summer universities were organised under the CEEPUS programme, in Budapest and in Pécs. Networks involved in the CEEPUS programme are eligible to organise courses. Most of the guest students and teachers come from Central Europe and the West Balkans to join their Hungarian peers at the summer university.
Romance Languages and Cultures
//Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest
At the summer university organised by the Institute of Romance studies, the participants discussed and studied the Central European presence and cultural mediating and identity-generating role of Romance languages and cultures. Course organiser Dr. Anikó Ádám, Head of Institute and Department, Associate Professor with habilitation, told us about the experiences.
„Starting from the basic syllabus of our CEEPUS network, having operated for five years now, the summer university this year focused on the reception and translation of Romance cultures and the adaptation of relevant sources in literature, linguistics, education and film arts.
The teachers gave longer lectures, whereas the students held presentations on their research findings, dissertation or thesis subject matters in Italian, French and Spanish. The participants learnt about the reception of literary works written in Romance languages, genres, linguistic research methods as well as educational methods.
Besides the lectures, seminars and presentations, various leisure programmes, film projections, a boat trip, Hungarian folk music and dance, museum visits, sightseeing and a 'lángos' lunch ensured a real cultural experience.
The network has successfully operated for years, so it was the third time such summer university had been organised. The first one was organised by the University of Ljubljana, the second by the University of Graz, and the third one by the Institute of Romance Studies of Comenius University.
The participants came from the network partnership. It was important for us that the students of the network should know each other, especially because of the promotion of the network within the given partner university.
Besides the obvious professional benefits (experience exchange among teachers, organisation experiences, developing students' foreign language and presenting skills), we found that students also benefited from human relationships, establishing potentially long-term relationships.”
CEEPUS network: CIII-HU-0809-04-1617 FISH (French, Italian, SpanisH) – Romance Languages and Cultures
Summer university title: Strategies of Communication and Culture Transfer in Central Europe
Austria, Croatia, Poland, Slovenia and Hungary
Debate Academy on Being a 21st Century Student
//University of Pécs
The Department of Political Science and International Studies at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Pécs has organised its summer course called ‘Debate Academy’ for many times now. The focus of this year’s programme was on the internationalisation currently taking place in higher education institutions, as well as the analysis of the global processes, national governmental policies and local institutional practices which surround it. The partners of the university’s CEEPUS network could also join the summer university. Course organisers Dr. Andrea Schmidt, Senior Lecturer and Dr. István Tarrósy, Associate Professor, told us about the outcomes.
“It’s a unique programme in Hungary, and a summer university which has most likely become well-known in the region. It’s a debate training that targets current social issues in the form of professional presentations, small group work and training sessions based on the methodology of British parliamentary debates. The summer university is closed by a debate tournament; the finals were held in the Chamber of the Regional Court.
Students found learning about debate culture, its techniques and tricks very interesting.
We consider this year’s topic very important because university students are directly affected by the diverse process of internationalisation, whether it’s six months of mobility, student life within the university, the development of student services or the (inter)cultural changes in the university’s home town.
Focusing on the macro region of their own university, the students – mostly engaged in social science programmes, including programmes in political science, sociology and psychology – improved debating skills which are (also) important for political science and enhanced their assertiveness through the methodology of British parliamentary debates.
We have organised a summer university with the involvement of our CEEPUS network for the second time; before that, we experimented for three years. Whereas last year we received students from relatively few countries within the network, this year their number has doubled. Due to the opportunities allowed by the special course, our network can provide students a programme which goes beyond the constraints of the conventional forms of education and whose popularity increases year by year. We believe that we can further promote our summer university, as well as our BA and MA courses, among our students.
We plan to organise the summer university next year again, with similar conditions and methodology."
CEEPUS network: CIII-PL-0815-04-1617 Europe in the Visegrad perspective
Summer university title: University Education and Student Life in the 21st Century
The Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Hungary, and outside the CEEPUS network China, France, Germany and Chile.
Utolsó módosítás: 2019.06.19.
