Liberal Education Student Conference revived after five years

After 5 years, the Liberal Education Student Conference (LESC) was revived. LESC allows students form Liberal Arts and Sciences programs all across Europe to come together and explore how their education enables them to understand the world around them. These conferences give students the opportunity to share their educational experiences and reflect on the value of the LAS model, making them realize how there are part of a pan European movement.

This tradition started in 2016 at Leuphana University Lüneburg in Germany. It has been supported by ECOLAS by various means ever since. The following years have seen it take place at liberal arts institutions in Freiburg, Utrecht, Berlin and the year 2020 was planned for Vilnius. The Covid pandemic has interrupted this tradition. Still, ECOLAS continued supporting various online community and networking student activities that have resulted in the LESC eventually returning to Freiburg in May 2024. 

Its theme was “Liberal what? – Liberal Education: Rethink and Reconnect”. Its aim remained to offer an opportunity for students to rethink and reconnect in the evolving landscape of Liberal Arts and Sciences, both locally and globally. LESC sought to re-establish and promote connections between Liberal Education programs, exchange views, and discuss the future of Liberal Education. The event attracted ca. 80 students, coming from educational institutions in 11 European countries. 

Students posed questions on education, liberal arts and sciences, its purpose, means and advancements, but also topics such as educational colonialism or the role of AI in future society. The organisers said: „At the LESC 2024, we discussed these and more challenging questions. Coming from different LAS programs across Europe, we shared our differing views from the unique circumstances of each LAS program. In doing so, we each learned how to approach our challenges and created vital connections between different LAS programs.“ More information can be found on the LESC 2024 website.

By the end of LESC, it was agreed that the next edition will be organised at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland in the Spring of 2025. However, active student participants met again online as early as in September and discussed possibilities for future networking and cooperation in the meantime. 

One of the points that needs to be highlighted is a student Symposium organised annually at the Liberal Arts/Global Governance programme at University of Rome Tor Vergata. This is becoming ever more international and we’d like to bring it to your attention, it is going to take place on 23 April 2025. Organisers of both student events are in touch and wish to coordinate their efforts.