Newsletter No. 2 / 2017

 

The ECOLAS Newsletter is published on an occasional basis to highlight important activities within the Liberal Arts and Sciences in Europe.

 

BLASTER Erasmus+ Reaches Successful Completion

The two-year Erasmus + Strategic Partnership grant, BLASTER (Best Liberal Arts and Sciences Teaching Expanded and Reinforced) has produced a series of important and useful tools for practitioners of the Liberal Arts and Sciences throughout the European Union.  A collaborative effort among strategic partners including University College Roosevelt, University of Warwick, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Leiden University College The Hague, Vytautus Magnus University and University of Warwick worked for two years has spent the past two years working in the areas of teacher training and development, undergraduate research and quality standards in the liberal arts and sciences.  Read more …

 

Hans Adriaansens Presents Bold Vision for Liberal Arts and Sciences

Dr. Hans Adriaansens, Dean Emeritus of University College Roosevelt and recognized as the “father” of undergraduate  liberal arts and sciences education in the Netherlands, delivered the keynote address at the recent conference, “Moving Liberal Arts and Sciences Forward: The BLASTER Erasmus+ project and its Outcomes”, held on October 24, 2017 at Leiden University College, The Hague.  After reviewing the progress of liberal arts and sciences undergraduate education in Europe over the past twenty-five years, Adriaansens offered a bold framework for securing its future addressing students, faculty and policy-makers at the final activity of the BLASTER Erasmus+ project.  Read more …

 

Kidd Travel Fellowships Announced

The latest recipients of the Julie Johnson Kidd Travel Fellowships offered by ECOLAS have been announced.  This year’s competition aimed to follow up on the efforts of the BLASTER Erasmus+ projects just completed and asked applicants for proposals within three areas of concentration:  Teacher Training and Development, Undergraduate Research and, Quality Standards in the liberal arts and sciences.  For the list of the ten recipients who will each receive 1500 euros in support of their work read more . . .

 

 

SHORT TAKES

Short Takes report on news around the ECOLAS network.  If you would like to submit an announcement or brief notice, contact us at cierny@ecolas.eu

 

King’s College Experts discuss Brexit After One Year

Academics from across King’s College (London) met recently to discuss a variety of issues raised by Brexit on the one year anniversary of the controversial referendum.  For a video presentation of that conversation see https://spotlight.kcl.ac.uk/2017/06/02/brexit-one-year/

 

Michael Ignatieff at Leiden University College

Former leader of the Canadian opposition, world-renowned scholar and current President of Central European University (in Budapest) Prof. dr. Michael Ignatieff visited LUC The Hague on Thursday, November 25th. A lively Question and Answer session with students and staff covered a range of topics from the struggle for academic freedom in Hungary to questions on the relationship between a possible convergence between economic globalization and the globalization of human values. Read more…

 

University College Freiburg Holds Conference on Self-Consciousness

A workshop titled “Self-Consciousness- Philosophy Meets Empirical Science” was held recently at University College Freiburg.  The workshop aimed to explore a series of questions and answers related to self-consciousness from the point of view of contemporary neuroscience and psychology compared to a philosophical perspective.

 

UCR hosts seminar on human rights and cultural diversity

University College Roosevelt recently hosted an international seminar on the question of the contribution of cultural diversity to understandings of human rights.  Topics included a variety of case study examples ranging from customary woman-to-woman marriages, the place of children in Kenya’s customary courts, the rights of nature, the influence of colonialism on human rights for minorities and race and human rights education in Curacao. Read more…