Summer School
Cultural Landscapes: Negotiating Cultural Encounters with the English-Speaking World
Erasmus IP Summer School (ERA-IPR-08/12)
Swansea (Wales), 29 July–9 August 2013
Introduction
Cultural landscapes: Negotiating cultural encounters with the English-speaking world Erasmus Intensive Programme takes a close and critical look at the cultural differences and barriers encountered in interaction with English-speaking countries and the specificities of English-mediated intercultural communication. Cultural, i.e. socially constructed concepts are analysed not only as they relate to the pervasive British and American cultures, but also locally (e.g. Scotland, Wales, Ireland) and internationally (World Englishes, English as a lingua franca).
The project is targeted at undergraduate (and in exceptional cases graduate) students of English (also cultural studies, international relations, European studies, communication studies and related fields) whose studies and future careers include intercultural mediation with the English-speaking world. For a period of two weeks, the participants have the possibility of taking part in a number of intensive lectures, seminars, workshops and out-of-classroom activities exploring theoretical as well as practical dimensions of cultural awareness and intercultural dialogue both historically and in the context of the modern world. Before, during and after the IP, ICT-based activities are used. A special website is dedicated to the project and its results.
In short, this summer school is aimed at students who are interested in learning more about the cultural aspects of the English-speaking world and intercultural communication, going beyond what is typically included in their studies.
Programme
The programme comprises 6–8 hours of academic courses per day (attendance is obligatory), with additional activities such as talks on Wales and visits to local sites as well as national theme-nights. The schedule is available here. In some slots all students take the same course and in others they have a choice between two courses. Course descriptions are available here. There is no fee for the summer school.
Travel and accommodation
Thanks to the funding by the European Commission, travel expenses will be reimbursed (up to a reasonable limit) and all students will be provided with free accommodation. We are also hoping to be able to provide some British-style meals.
Students will all be housed together in a centrally located student residence close to where the courses will be held, in shared flats of five single ensuite rooms. All rooms have free wifi and there is a kitchen with basic cooking equipment provided.
Applications
There are 27 places available, with national quotas. To be eligible to apply, you must be officially enrolled as a student at one of the partner institutions at the time of the summer school, i.e. August 2013. To apply, please fill out the application form and send it to the co-ordinator at your university by 10 March 2013:
University of Duisburg-Essen – Kathrin Luckmann de Lopez (kathrin.luckmann@uni-due.de)
University of Limerick – Weronika Gasior (weronika.gasior@ul.ie)
University of Lisbon – Lili Cavalheiro (lilicavalheiro@campus.ul.pt)
University of Ljubljana – Monika Kavalir (monika.kavalir@ff.uni-lj.si)
University of Osijek – Jasna Poljak Rehlicki (poljak.jasna@gmail.com)
Venue and weekend activities
We are heading to a fascinating place and optional Friday afternoon and Saturday trips are planned to take in the highlights of South Wales. Otherwise, students will be free to explore Swansea or any other part of Wales.
Scroll down to find out more about the first edition of the summer school, held in Glasgow between 6 and 17 August 2012, and what our participants had to say about it.
Summer School 2012
Glasgow, 6-17 August 2012
Participant feedback
“We have learned a lot about other cultures, which made us more open to them, intercultural communication and understanding. When it comes to academic outcomes, it will be very helpful for us to have learned many new concepts about culture, pragmatics, language and different perceptions of the world. I also got some great ideas for my thesis.” (Eva, Croatia)
“In the IP I specialized in various fields which are not offered at my home university. I gained intercultural social competences and have achieved an insight into European academic work.” (Tim, Germany)
“I am now aware of several aspects of all the countries involved that I would not have learned otherwise, and all the classes gave me a new perspective of the current European reality. I also feel that my English has improved.” (Diogo, Portugal)
“Taking part in the IP gave me the opportunity to see the perspective of other cultures on the topic of cultural differences. I learned a lot about how even everyday situations and encounters differ in other cultures. I think that participation in the IP will help me in my further studies and life in general because I now feel more confident interacting with other cultures.” (Nina, Slovenia)
“First of all, I improved my English skills, which will be quite helpful in the future. I also improved my linguistic skills, which was something I was expecting since I want to work as a researcher in that field in the future. I learnt a lot about other European cultures, which was a great and unique experience (probably difficult to happen in Portugal). I improved my group work skills, too.” (Ana Sofia, Portugal)
“I have learned a lot about other countries and cultures, gained knowledge of different topics, such as pragmatics, immigration, politeness etc. I have also learned more about the English language itself and as a future teacher of English I will greatly benefit from the summer school.” (Nina, Croatia)
“I got the chance to participate in (international) discussions, which is very rarely a part of my studies at my university. The broad variety of the class topics made me think about the many differences between nations and I learned to discuss about them in more than just a lay way. The discussions were at a good intellectual level and very lively, the activities were very educational and made the seemingly awfully full daily schedule exciting and something to look forward to each morning. I wish it would last longer than just two weeks or to have the opportunity to take part in a similar course again. This IP was more than I could wish it to be.” (Ajda, Slovenia)
Programme
The programme comprised 6–8 hours of academic courses per day, with additional activities such as talks on Scotland and visits to local sites as well as national theme-nights. The schedule is available here and course descriptions here. There was no fee for the summer school.
Travel and accommodation
Thanks to the funding by the European Commission, travel expenses were refunded in full (up to a reasonable limit) and all students were provided with free accommodation. We were also able to provide breakfast and British-style lunch.
