In an increasingly interconnected and globalized world, understanding the ways in which cultures interact, influence and transform one another is crucial for fostering sustainable and inclusive societies. By examining the processes of travel, translation, and migration, students will gain insights into the challenges and opportunities presented by cultural encounters and exchanges.
This BIP course will delve into various aspects of cultural connectivity, drawing from fields such as travel studies, translation studies, cultural transfer studies, and migration studies.
The course is open to postgraduate, master and PhD students of various disciplines (especially humanities and social sciences) and aims at providing students a framework for analyzing the complexities of cultural interactions and their implications for sustainable development.
See the video from the 2024 edition of this course. This course was recognized at the 2024 ENLIGHT Teaching & Learning awards to the best educational projects of the alliance.
About the course
Content
Key topics covered in the course include impacts and power dynamics involved in encounters between cultures, the potential of travel for fostering intercultural understanding and sustainable development, the role of language in cultural transfer, the challenges and opportunities of (both interlingual and intercultural) translation, the impact of translation and cultural transfer on social change, the cultural dynamics resulting from migration (cultural adaptation, hybridity, identity formation).
Throughout the course, students will engage in critical discussions, case studies, and collaborative projects to deepen their understanding of the complex relationships between travel, translation, migration and sustainable development. During the on-site week, students will apply the acquired knowledge through a challenge-based learning process focusing on cultural transfers linked to SDG achievements. The challenges will be linked to the research interests of the participants and will be formulated in collaboration with external socio-cultural agents.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the analytical tools and frameworks necessary to navigate cultural connectivity in an increasingly diverse and interconnected world. After completing the course, students should be able to:
- Understand the roles of culture, language, power, and communication on the development of personal, social and cultural identities.
- Demonstrate critical engagement with theories and research relating to connecting cultures, especially concepts of cultural contact through travel, translation and migration.
- Identify/recognize challenges relating to cultural transfers which arise from intercultural interactions.
- Work collaboratively in intercultural teams.
- Address translation studies, migration studies, travel studies and cultural transfer studies from the perspective of sustainability.
- Apply their knowledge of cultural transfer to promote transfers with a positive impact on SDGs.
Programme
Online sessions (provisional programme, subject to change):
There will be online sessions during March - April 2025 (Fridays 7/03, 14/03, 21/03, 4/03 and 11/04 from 10am to 1pm).
- Introductory session: students and lecturers present their research interests; students also reflect on what they expect from the course; introduction to the format and content of the course. Informal meeting to get to know each other.
- Theoretical framework on forms of travel writing, ecoliterature and the role of the author as cultural transmitter in creating awareness about climate change (University of Groningen)
- Seminar on translation as interlingual, intercultural and intersemiotic transfer, related to the diversity of national and cultural image-building in travel writing (University of Tartu)
- Migrants, refugees and minorities as agents of cultural transfer: ethical dilemmas and alternative narratives (University of the Basque Country)
- Sites of Encounter/Sites of Translation. Intercultural communication and the landscape (University of Galway)
On-site week:
The on-site week will take place in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Campus of Alava at the University of the Basque Country) from 12 to 19 May 2025. Students will put into practice what they learnt during the lectures. Divided into multidisciplinary, multicultural and multilingual groups, students will be involved in a Challenge Based Learning process, in collaboration with external socio-cultural agents. The challenges will be linked to the research interests of the participants. During the same week, a two-day research workshop will be organized simultaneously in collaboration with various experts belonging to different research groups and projects, both from the ENLIGHT network and from outside of it, to share knowledge and to discuss with the BIP course participants the projects they are working on.
Assessment
Assessments will take place in both formative and summative forms, during the online course activities and during the on-site week. Students are required to participate actively in different activities and to submit deliverables (reports, presentations, ...). To receive a final grade for the course, students need to actively participate in all lectures and workshops and successfully complete compulsory activities.
Lecturers
- Luc Van Doorslaer (University of Tartu)
- Sirje Kupp-Sazonov (University of Tartu)
- Anne O'Connor (University of Galway)
- Andrea Ciribuco (University of Galway)
- Raluca Tanasescu (University of Galway)
- Jeanette den Toonder (University of Groningen)
- Frederik Verbeke (University of the Basque Country)
Course dates
On-site period: 12 - 19 May 2025 in Vitoria-Gasteiz,
Online period: Fridays 7/03, 14/03, 21/03, 4/03 and 11/04 from 10am to 1pm.
Please note that the application deadline mentioned below can be different in your home institution.
How to apply?
Entry requirements: Master or PhD students
Students interested in the course need to apply via their home university. Applications are only possible if the course can fit in their curriculum to ensure academic recognition of the credits obtained.
The home university will select the permitted number of students, inform the students as soon as possible, and then send these names to the host institution. Unsuccessful students will be placed on a waiting list and may get a place, if other universities do not use all their allocated places.
Please select your home university below and contact your ENLIGHT coordinator for further information on the application process or consult the linked information.
- University of the Basque Country:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - University of Bern: Application instructions for students at the University of Bern
- University of Bordeaux:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Comenius University Bratislava:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - University of Galway:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Ghent University: Information about BIP's
- University of Göttingen:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - University of Groningen:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Tartu University: Application instructions for students at the University of Tartu
- Uppsala University: Application instructions for students at Uppsala University