A Successful Interuniversity Exchange Between Timișoara and Turin
At the end of November 2024, the Center for Romance Studies of Timișoara (CSRT), affiliated with the West University of Timișoara (UOT), organized, through its literary circle La Pléiade, an interuniversity exchange activity in partnership with the University of Turin (UniTo), Department of Humanities. Financé par le Ministère roumain de l’Éducation dans le cadre du programme FSS International Student – Next Step in Education, ce projet poursuivait deux principaux objectifs : d’une part, renforcer la collaboration éducative et scientifique entre les deux universités par l’échange de méthodes pédagogiques innovantes dans l’enseignement supérieur ; d’autre part, promouvoir l’internationalisation des activités impliquant des étudiants de licence, de master et de doctorat. Le groupe d’étudiants de l’UOT, coordonné par les professeurs Ramona Malita et Claudiu Gherasim, a participé à une série d’activités enrichissantes organisées par leurs collègues italiens, les professeurs Paola Cifarelli et Monica Pavesio, à Turin. Une semaine riche en activités La semaine du 18 au 23 novembre 2024 s’est révélée particulièrement fructueuse, avec : La rencontre doctorale a confirmé le solide partenariat avec l’École doctorale de Turin dans le domaine des sciences humaines. Une thèse sur la littérature française contemporaine (doctorant : Claudiu Gherasim) est actuellement co-dirigée par Ramona Malita et Paola Cifarelli, avec le soutien de Monica Pavesio. Un accueil chaleureux et des perspectives prometteuses L’équipe de Timișoara a été chaleureusement accueillie par les professeurs Marcella Costa et Alessandro Mengozzi, directeurs des départements des langues modernes et des sciences humaines à l’UniTo, respectivement. Tous deux ont exprimé leur appréciation pour cette initiative et leur espoir de voir des projets similaires prospérer à l’avenir. Ils ont souligné comment de tels échanges renforcent la visibilité internationale des deux universités et du consortium universitaire européen UNITA auquel elles appartiennent. Cet échange constitue un exemple réussi de coopération interuniversitaire, démontrant comment l’éducation et la recherche peuvent prospérer grâce à des collaborations internationales innovantes.
Community of practice for European universities alliances and beyond
In a significant step towards realising the full transformational potential of the European Universities initiative, the FOREU4ALL community of practice has officially started its operations. The community will bring together all 64 European Universities alliances and other higher education stakeholders like student organisations and university associations. A platform for peer learning and dissemination FOREU4ALL is a community of practice that connects European universities and the wider higher education sector, fostering closer cooperation. Its two main objectives are: Concrete steps towards a more collaborative future To achieve its objectives, FOREU4ALL will Visit the Linkedin of the FOREU4ALL project: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foreu4all/
From East to West, the RandoPat series of BIPs travels across UNITA
The series of Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs) ‘RandoPats/HeriTrails’ (‘Randonnées du Patrimoine / Heritage Trails’) was brilliantly launched in Romania two years ago by ‘Mushrooms, herbs and raw food : practices and beliefs’, UVT, 7-11 November 2022.This was followed, in summer 2023, by an equally successful second edition in France: ‘Sur les Chemins de Roland’, UPPA, 12-16 June 2023. In November 2024, we reached Portugal: Randopat-Heritrail 3: ‘Cultural Heritage Food & Craft in Serra da Estrela : mushrooms, cheese and wool ’, UBI 11-16 November 2024. The planning of RandoPat-Heritrail 3 began, indeed, two years ago, by discussions had during the RandoPat organized by our UVT colleagues. We thought we could develop some of the themes, in particular the use of mushrooms in local cultures, this time moving to another UNITA territory, i.e. Serra da Estrela. Our UBI and IPG colleagues then thought to consider also other traditional local resources, namely cheese and wool, in particular from the perspective of their valorisation in cultural tourism. The programme conceived by our UBI host, Cristina Estevao, with the invaluable help of our IPG colleague Rui Cerveira, was a very rich one, allying high quality lectures by academics, specialists and cultural tourism professionals, to hands-on workshops and fieldwork, in the true spirit of the RandoPat series, whereby the idea is to learn by walking and interacting together in local landscapes. In RandoPat-HeriTrail 3 we also repeated, mutatis mutandis, a successful feature of the ‘Sur les Chemins de Roland’. In fact, to this epic adventure took part not only literature and history students, but also a group of nine photography students from the Art & Design Department of the Universitatea de Vest din Timişoara, who reacted to the texts on which we worked together, by taking photographs, throughout the week, then used to create a video exhibition inaugurated at the Médiathèque André-Labarrère on the final day. In RandoPat-HeriTrail 3, we made room again for an important visual and photographic component, having with us throughout the whole week Luis Vaz, UBI Researcher and Freelance Photographer, who visually documented the autumn school by photos and videos. His final, edited video, recapitulating the week, gives a perfect gist of the whole experience. I thus invite you to first watch Luis’s video. Then, the following photos with captions will help you decipher at least some of the intriguing images about which you may ask yourself some questions! Luis Vaz’s video on Randopat-Heritrail 3: ‘Cultural Heritage Food & Craft in Serra da Estrela : mushrooms, cheese and wool ’, UBI 11-16 November 2024: DAY 1 [Cf. images of people hammering (mycelium) in a trunk and preparing a compost with mycelium, which they then took away to grow mushrooms once back home] DAY 2 DAY 3 Visit and workshop at the Wool Museum. DAY 4 DAY 5 DAY 6 Miscaros Festival at Alcaide In conclusion, RandoPat-HeriTrail 3 proved to be an extremely enriching experience, allowing participants to get in touch with local realities and to reflect on them using the conceptual tools provided by a tremendous array of specialists. The interaction with local communities can be continued online via the following padlet, to which everybody is encouraged to contribute: Cultural Heritage Villages And, if you want to be kept informed on forthcoming RandoPats, you are most welcome to join the Randopat WhatsApp Group Text and some photos by: Giovanna Hendel Cultural Heritage Hub Coordinator Video and some photos by: Luis Vaz UBI Researcher & Freelance Photographer