Campus Europae Newsletter, July 2007
Table of contents
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Bravery as a prerequisite for an academic career – an experts account in the form of an interview with Prof. Anatoli Mikhailov
- Fast Facts
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New Rector to take office in the
Humanities Subject Committee to commence with exchange of students in the field of Tourism
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Engineering Subject Committee to exchange 20 students in 2007
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Student Council and European Parliament to engage on joint discussion on student mobility
Bravery as a prerequisite for an academic career – an experts account in the form of an interview with Prof. Anatoli Mikhailov
Prof. Dr. Anatoli Mikhailov is an outstanding scholar with a longstanding reputation in the field of Philosophy, in which he is a specialist in phenomenology, hermeneutics and Martins Heidegger's work. He has taken up membership in numerous academies and integrates the Editorial Board of several scientific magazines. The acknowledgement of his scientific merit reached a zenith in 2003 when he was awarded the French Palmes Academiques and in 2004 the German Goethe Medal. However it is for his unyielding commitment to an autonomous and ideologically unbiased Higher Education in Belarus that he is best known for.
Prof. Mikhailov founded and has been the Rector of the European Humanities University ever since 1992. Having steered the University throughout the dramatic period of its reestablishment in Lithuania, Prof. Mikhailov, along with the entire academic community of the EHU, is an inspiring example of resolve and perseverance in the face of repression, a situation that is inconceivable for almost all European professors, staff members and students.
At a time when Government controlled media in Belarus are actively campaigning against the EHU we took the opportunity of meeting Prof. Mikhailov for a short interview where he puts the past, present and future of the EHU in perspective and accounts on the political situation in Belarus and its impact on the educational community.
Campus Europae: What happened to the EHU since 2004, when its activity was suspended by the Belarusian government?
Anatoli Mikhailov: Since autumn 2004, the University has been functioning as a virtual network university, headquartered as Public Institution “E.H.U. International” in Vilnius. In the fall of 2005, EHU began the implementation of face-to-face BA and MA programs in Vilnius, Lithuania. The beginning of European Humanities University activities in Lithuania in October 2005 was the result of broad international support to the exiled university on the part of international organizations, government bodies and academic institutions in the USA and EU. On February 22 the Lithuanian Prime Minister signed a decision by the government to approve the registration of EHU as the 22nd university in Lithuania. The decision states that EHU will educate Belarusian students until there is a possibility for the university to return to Belarus. In 2006 EHU conducted its second admission of students to degree programs.
How many students does the EHU have now? How the Belarusian schoolleavers hear from the EHU?
Currently, EHU face-to-face BA programs total 319 students (165 in their first year and 154 in the second), MA programs total 171 MA students (106 in the first year and 65 in the second). The total number of students enrolled in EHU DL programs in this semester reached 890. Among these people, 160 are enrolled into EHU BA programs. The total number of EHU students is 1,380, and 650 of them are studying toward degrees. The Belarusian school leavers learn about the EHU programs via the university's website, publications in the independent media and the university's promo materials. The main means of disseminating information about EHU is by word of mouth, which has proven to be one of the most effective ways of reaching our target audiences.
What are the mid-term perspectives of the EHU?
In its new capacity of an officially registered Lithuanian university, EHU has operated for only a little over a year. So far, the university has been struggling through a very difficult phase of its reestablisment as a university in exile in a totally new academic, legal, social, cultural and political environment. This process has been facilitated by the Lithuanian government and American and European governmental and private donors. As a mid-term perspective, EHU strives to become a regional centre of higher education in both face-to-face and distance learning programs in humanities and social sciences. EHU will pursue its policy of providing shelter to Belarusian students and teachers, victims of academic repressions in their home country. However, it should be noted that EHU has never been a commercial project and today is still in a vulnerable position, and would need support for 4 or 5 more years before it becomes more self-sustainable.
Could you please give us a short survey about the situation in higher education in Belarus?
Prior to the 2001 presidential elections, the higher education system in Belarus was not a government priority. Universities were able to institute prerequisites and modify curricula in an effort to “internationalise.” However, the Belarusian government made its first steps toward limiting university autonomy already in 1994, and by the year 2000 most state-owned and private universities maintained control of only minor financial issues. EHU was the only exception in this situation as the EHU support from the Orthodox Church and international donors balanced the pressure placed on the institution by the Ministry of Education. In the late 1990’s, EHU began actively integrating the institution’s academic system with the European model. By 2001, EHU developed an approach toward internationalising higher education in Belarus that included new educational standards that allowed for a more liberal academic system and inclusion of EHU in the Bologna process. EHU also conducted a series of workshops and conferences for the administrators of Belarusian universities to prepare them for the implementation of the Bologna model in higher education in Belarus. In addition, EHU worked on the internationalisation of doctoral and postdoctoral education in an effort to neutralize its extreme conservatism and ideological indoctrination in the country.
After the 2001 presidential elections, the Belarusian government recognised a growing opposition to the Lukashenko regime among university students. The authorities radically changed their higher education policy in order to control what was being taught in university classrooms as well as behaviour exhibited by students and instructors. As a result, the Belarusian higher education system was no longer influenced by Western approaches. Instead, the Soviet model was imposed upon university administrators. Government authorities refused to join the Bologna Declaration, and president Lukashenko vetoed a draft law on higher education that contained weak provisions on academic autonomy and freedom.
President Lukashenko unleashed a series of reprisals on universities he viewed as opposing the government’s mandate. He established control in state-owned universities by appointing loyal rectors and administrators. This system met with strong resistance on the part of EHU faculty and students as well as from the larger international academic community and EHU managed to preserve control of its own administration. As a result, the Belarusian academic community saw that organised resistance to Lukashenko’s repressive policy toward students and academia in general was possible.
European Humanities University website (link)
Fast Facts
Greifswald University celebrated its Campus Europae Day
The University of Greifswald celebrated its Campus Europae Day on the 23rd and 24th of June. Under the stewardship of Stefan Plasa, the Campus Europae Coordinator at Greifswald, a succession of events took place during the day, notably concerts by the University of Greifswald Big Band, a jazz band composed of Aveiro students and a piano concert from an exchange student from Novi Sad.
New Rector to take office in the University of Latvia
Prof. Mārcis Auziņš was overwhelming voted as the next Rector of the University of Latvia by the University Senate and also won the unanimous support of the 75 members of the Student Council.
Prof. Mārcis Auziņš was the Senate Chairman and the Dean of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics and will take over the mandate from Prof. Ivars Lacis. Prof. Ivars Lacis was Rector of the University of Latvia from 2000 on and one of most prominent supporters of Campus Europae, both as an influential member on its General Assembly and at the European University Foundation – Campus Europae Administrative Board.
Humanities Subject Committee to commence with exchange of students in the field of Tourism
Humanities and Social Sciences Subject Committee convened on the 1st and 2nd of June at the University of Lodz, Poland. With a great pleasure it was announced that the Committee is enlarged with representatives from new partner universities in the CE-network: Joensuu and Ankara.
The participants reported the current situation with the CE exchange and discussed the activities regarding student mobility predicted for the academic year 2007/2008. The Chair of the Committee, Prof. Gillian Moreira, presented the work that had been done on the compatibility matrices and emphasized the sort of information which still needed to be provided in order to guarantee their accuracy and completeness. Decisions regarding future directions were taken.
To the existing five study areas (Political Science, Sociology, History, Philosophy and Languages) another was added: Tourism. This is a very promising field and gives a lot of hopes, especially that some compatibility already exists.
The University of Greifswald will be the next host for the Subject Committee meeting in November 2007
Engineering Subject Committee to exchange 20 students in 2007
The last meeting of the Engineering Subject Committee was held in Lodz on June 18th 2007. Representatives of four universities participated in the meeting. The main agenda items were finalization of the programme in academic year 2006/07 and preparations for the next academic year. According to the reports from each of the universities there would be about twenty CE movers next year. Furthermore, there was a small discussion about grading systems in different countries and ways of solving this problem. The next meeting is due to take place in Alcala in October.
Student Council and European Parliament to engage on joint discussion on student mobility
The Campus Europae Student Council convened in Greifswald on the 22nd of June 2007. Besides approving a new internal regulation and doing the customary stocktaking as far as the welcoming procedures to the 2007/2008 CE Movers are concerned the Council worked very intensively on a Conference that will be jointly organized with the European Parliament. The Conference will take place in Brussels in the autumm of 2007 and more details are to be circulated in the next newsletter.
Due to unforeseen technical issues the newsletter is being circulated without the photographs of Rectors Mikhailov and Westermann. However the version available online is dully complete, and for consulting it please visit this link.
The next Campus Europae newsletter is due for the 1st of October. To unsubscribe please visit this link.