Kursthemen

  • About the Course (General Information)

    • Öffnet: Donnerstag, 16. Oktober 2025, 00:00
      Fällig: Freitag, 13. März 2026, 23:59

      EC2U online compulsory courses are assessed mainly by submitting a final essay online. You can hand in the final paper of Discourses in Europe here.

      An essay is a scientific text that addresses a research problem through theory and analysis. It should draw on research literature and scientific articles. Writing the essay allows students to engage with a research problem of interest, which has been identified during the classes, and might possibly aid to explore with regard to the broader research dissertation by the end of the two-year course .  The essay should be 3500-4000 words in length (approximately 10 pages), including references and the bibliography.

      Please make sure to contact the respective lecturer beforehand, for supervision.

      For further guidelines and an EC2U essay template in annex, go to the activity instructions . Submit your essay via Glocal Campus in .doc format, before the deadline (January 15, 2025).

      Name the file as follows: EC2U_FirstName_LastName_CourseName_Date.


    • Öffnet: Donnerstag, 16. Oktober 2025, 00:00
      Fällig: Freitag, 13. März 2026, 23:59

      EC2U online compulsory courses are assessed mainly by submitting a final essay online. You can hand in the final paper of Discourses in Europe here.

      An essay is a scientific text that addresses a research problem through theory and analysis. It should draw on research literature and scientific articles. Writing the essay allows students to engage with a research problem of interest, which has been identified during the classes, and might possibly aid to explore with regard to the broader research dissertation by the end of the two-year course .  The essay should be 3500-4000 words in length (approximately 10 pages), including references and the bibliography.

      Please make sure to contact the respective lecturer beforehand, for supervision.

      For further guidelines and an EC2U essay template in annex, go to the activity instructions . Submit your essay via Glocal Campus in .doc format, before the deadline (January 15, 2025).

      Name the file as follows: EC2U_FirstName_LastName_CourseName_Date.


  • Session 1 (Monday, 16.09.2024): Introduction to the master + Discourses on nations - national stereotypes across centuries (I)(Raúl Sánchez Prieto, Salamanca)

    Abstract: In this first session the Master and this course will be presented. The students will also have the opportunity to present themselves.

    Video link: https://usal-es.zoom.us/my/raulsanchezprieto

    Material: 

    https://view.genial.ly/632d263f1180f70011ecda7a

  • Session 2 (Thursday, 19.09.2024): "Discourses on nations - national stereotypes across centuries (II)" (Raúl Sánchez Prieto, Salamanca)

  • Session 3 (Monday, 23.09.2024): "Empirical research methods in the study of foreign cultures (Juan Luis Cabanillas, Salamanca)


  • Session 4 (Thursday, 26.09.2024): "Discourses on nations - national stereotypes across centuries (III)" (Raúl Sánchez Prieto, Salamanca)

  • Session 5 (Monday, 30.09.2024): "Political Narratives: which Europe and when? (I)"(Ilaria Poggiolini, Pavia)

  • Session 6 (Thursday, 03.10.2024): "Political Narratives: which Europe and when? (II)"(Ilaria Poggiolini, Pavia)

  • Session 7 (Monday, 07.10.2024): "Political Narratives: which Europe and when? (III)" (Ilaria Poggionlini, Pavia)

  • Session 8 (Thursday, 10.10.2024): "Political Narratives: which Europe and when? (IV)" (Ilaria Poggiolini, Pavia)

    These lectures will present the chosen interpretative framework and discuss 4 cases of political narratives covering the entire post-WWII period. Arguments in favor of ‘more’ or ‘less’ Europe will be contextualized, and the political message sent by narratives of political leaders unpacked, focusing on their content and format reflecting national and international historical factors.

    1)      Content rather than wording: political narratives of contemporary Europe

    2)  Europe as a Common Home or a Divisive Continent?     

    3)      Macron’s ‘refunding Europe’: the Sorbonne speech (26 Sept 2017) and its projection on European further education seven years later

    4) The Narrative of Germany Re-united


  • Session 9 (Monday,14.10.2024): "Sustainability in language teaching (I)"(Minna Maijala, Turku)

    Join Zoom Meeting


    Abstract

    Sustainability in language teaching

    Sustainability has become a topical issue in many disciplines and increasingly also concerns language education and research. In the lecture (part I), we reflect on the definition of sustainable development and the role of sustainability in other subjects and in language teaching. Then, we discuss how language teachers and language textbooks can foster education of sustainable development. In the second lecture (part II), we discuss and develop language learning activities that promote ethical conduct, sustainable development and language equality in language lessons.

    References

    Maijala, M., Heikkola, L. M., Kuusalu, S.-R., Laine, P., Mutta, M., & Mäntylä, K. (2023).
    Pre-service language teachers’ perceptions of sustainability and its implementation in language teaching. Language Teaching Research, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688231170682 (open access)

    Activity before the next lecture (Deadline 16th of October)

    Sustainability Snapshots: Capturing sustainability on Campus

    Before we meet in my lecture, I have an engaging task for you all. It’s called 'Sustainability Snapshots', and it’s a simple way for us to explore how sustainable development is happening on our campuses. As you move around the university, I’d like you to take a photo of something that demonstrates sustainability in action. It could be anything from eco-friendly infrastructure, to green spaces, or even a project linked to social sustainability like inclusion or equality, or something related to your studies or campus life.

    Once you’ve taken your photo, I’ll ask you to write a short description explaining how it relates to sustainability and why it’s important. Please upload you photo on the Flinga wall by the 16th of October: https://edu.flinga.fi/s/EEGZBJU

    I’m very excited to see your perspectives on how sustainability touches different aspects of the university life!

    Nice to see you all again on Thursday, 17th October!

    Minna



  • Session 10 (Thursday, 17.10.2024): "Sustainability in language teaching (II)" (Minna Maijala, Turku)

    Join Zoom Meeting


    Abstract

    • Sustainability has become a topical issue in many disciplines and increasingly also concerns language education and research. In the second lecture (part II), we discuss and develop language learning activities that promote ethical conduct, sustainable development and language equality in language lessons.


    References

    • Maijala, M., Heikkola, L. M., Kuusalu, S.-R., Laine, P., Mutta, M., & Mäntylä, K. (2023). Pre-service language teachers’ perceptions of sustainability and its implementation in language teaching. Language Teaching Research0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688231170682

  • Session 11 (Monday, 21.10.2024): "Michel Foucault: Archaeology, genealogy and ethics. What use in 2024?" (Christophe Leblay, Turku)

    Join Zoom Meeting
    https://utu.zoom.us/j/69735628528

    Abstract

    • The idea of this course is to introduce three concepts of Michel Foucault (1926-1984) and to see how they are still relevant today. After looking at all of his work (books, speeches and lectures), we will see how the concepts of archaeology, genealogy and ethics can still serve as epistemological tools for those interested in language.

    References

    • Foucault, M.1966, Les mots et les choses, Paris: Gallimard. Translated as The Order of Things, Alan Sheridan (trans.), London: Routledge, 1970.
    • Foucault, M.1969, L’archéologie du savoir, Paris: Gallimard. Translated as The Archaeology of Knowledge, Allan Sheridan (trans.), New York: Harper and Row, 1972.
    • Foucault, M. Dits et écrits vol I–IV, 1980–1988, Paris: Gallimard, 1994, édités par D. Defert & F. Ewald.
      • These include virtually all Foucault’s previously published shorter writings and interviews. Some of the more important items are translated in Essential Works of Foucault, 1954–1984, 3 volumes, edited by Paul Rabinow, New York: The New Press, 1997–1999.
    • Foucault, M. Cours au Collège de France, 1970–1984, François Ewald and Alessandro Fontana (eds), Paris: Gallimard, 1997–2015. Translated as Lectures at the Collège de France, Arnold Davidson (ed.), Graham Burchell (trans.), 2003.

    For the next session, please prepare a slide (e.g. on PowerPoint) to present what you have already studied (a specific corpus as part of research carried out during your studies) or what you would like to study. You will have 2-3 minutes. Thank you!

  • Session 12 (Thursday, 24.10.2024): "Towards a contemporary practice of archiving" (Christophe Leblay, Turku)

    Join Zoom Meeting
    https://utu.zoom.us/j/61764762252

    Abstract

    • In this second part, we will be focusing on the relationship between the concepts of archaeology and archive, both of which are etymologically linked. This will be followed by a collaborative exercise that will enable students to explore the theoretical and practical aspects of the notion of archive in the contemporary digital world.

    References

    • Clement, T., Hagenmaier, W., & Knies, J. L. 2013. Toward a notion of the archive of the future: Impressions of practice by librarians, archivists, and digital humanities scholars. Library Quarterly, 83(2), 112-130. https://doi.org/10.1086/669550
    • Derrida, J., & Prenowitz, E. 1995. Archive Fever: A Freudian Impression. Diacritics, 25(2), 9–63. https://doi.org/10.2307/465144
    • Foucault, M. 1969, L’archéologie du savoir, Paris: Gallimard. Translated as The Archaeology of Knowledge, Allan Sheridan (trans.), New York: Harper and Row, 1972.
    • Stanton, J., Palmer, C., Blake, C. & Allard, S. 2012. Interdisciplinary Data Science Education. In Xiao and McEven, Special Issues in Data Management ACS Symposium Series, American Chemical Society, Washington DC. https://DOI: 10.1021/bk-2012-1110.ch006


  • Session 13 (Monday, 28.10.2024): "Introduction to the Language contact (I)" (Freiderikos Valetopoulos, Poitiers)

  • Session 14 (Thursday, 31.10.2024): "Introduction to the language contact (II)" (Freiderikos Valetopoulos, Poitiers)

  • Session 15 (Monday, 04.11.2024): "The Balkan Sprachbund: A ‘prototypical’ case of language Contact (I)"(Freiderikos Valetopoulos, Poitiers)

  • Session 17 (Monday, 11.11.2024): "Language, migration and citizenship (I): a critical discursive and sociolinguistic approach" (Clara Keating, Coimbra)

    • Professor Clara Keating is inviting you to a Zoom meeting

      https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/98346439945?pwd=UinzfRI9GSEuxPk98FXlpVfjrdAhG0.1
      ID: 983 4643 9945
      Senha: 924564

    • Our module aims at exploring the various dimensions of language involved in the experiences of citizenship,, especially from the perspective of migration and the lived experience of migrants across the world. We will draw from an understanding of 'citizenship' as it has been inspird by Isin (2008) and expanded in studies of language and society by Milani (2015). Instead of starting from a perspective which is mostly produced out of the dominant institutions,, we will engage on the exercise of understanding what 'citizenship' means from the perspective of those that find themselves 'on the move'. This entails moving across many dimensions of social life - first, the institutional  dimension (status), second, the lived experience of relocation and reterritorialization as being experienced by people on the move, with very situated cultural, personal, linguistic and embodied dispositions resulting from previous socialization (habitus); c) the dimension of agency and creativity, as people and institutions find creative ways of overpassing  tensions, obstacles and constraints, eventually subverting the dominant order of things. 

      We will then explore the angle of "language" that mediates these three kinds of citizenship experience. To do this we draw on a discursive understanding of "language" and "languages" as modes of talking/writing, thinking and being which are situated in radically local practices. 

    • Öffnet: Sonntag, 4. Januar 2026, 00:00
      Fällig: Sonntag, 11. Januar 2026, 00:00

      Our first practical activity requires that you bring along  for our first meeting your passport or the meaningful officlal document that regulates your identity in Europe. Your passport will mediate your introduction to the new teacher and will be used, not only as a tool to facilitate communication, but also to share in the group your lived experience of being a citizen in Europe or elsewhere. 

      1. Take a photograph of your document, as well as the contexts in which you use it in a more frequent way. 

      2. Describe what steps you had to take to obtain the document ;

      3. tell the group how or whether your document made a significant difference in your daily life

      4.Identify, in your document, those inscriptions (stamps, etc.)  that mark a significant movement in your life trajectory (if any). Write a short narrative about it. 

      5. In what ways do you think this relates to issues of citizenship?

      Please upload your file by no later than November 15. This is not a required activity for final grading


    • Professor Clara Keating is inviting you to a Zoom meeting

      https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/98346439945?pwd=UinzfRI9GSEuxPk98FXlpVfjrdAhG0.1
      ID: 983 4643 9945
      Senha: 924564

    • Our module aims at exploring the various dimensions of language involved in the experiences of citizenship,, especially from the perspective of migration and the lived experience of migrants across the world. We will draw from an understanding of 'citizenship' as it has been inspird by Isin (2008) and expanded in studies of language and society by Milani (2015). Instead of starting from a perspective which is mostly produced out of the dominant institutions,, we will engage on the exercise of understanding what 'citizenship' means from the perspective of those that find themselves 'on the move'. This entails moving across many dimensions of social life - first, the institutional  dimension (status), second, the lived experience of relocation and reterritorialization as being experienced by people on the move, with very situated cultural, personal, linguistic and embodied dispositions resulting from previous socialization (habitus); c) the dimension of agency and creativity, as people and institutions find creative ways of overpassing  tensions, obstacles and constraints, eventually subverting the dominant order of things. 

      We will then explore the angle of "language" that mediates these three kinds of citizenship experience. To do this we draw on a discursive understanding of "language" and "languages" as modes of talking/writing, thinking and being which are situated in radically local practices. 

    • Öffnet: Sonntag, 4. Januar 2026, 00:00
      Fällig: Sonntag, 11. Januar 2026, 00:00

      Our first practical activity requires that you bring along  for our first meeting your passport or the meaningful officlal document that regulates your identity in Europe. Your passport will mediate your introduction to the new teacher and will be used, not only as a tool to facilitate communication, but also to share in the group your lived experience of being a citizen in Europe or elsewhere. 

      1. Take a photograph of your document, as well as the contexts in which you use it in a more frequent way. 

      2. Describe what steps you had to take to obtain the document ;

      3. tell the group how or whether your document made a significant difference in your daily life

      4.Identify, in your document, those inscriptions (stamps, etc.)  that mark a significant movement in your life trajectory (if any). Write a short narrative about it. 

      5. In what ways do you think this relates to issues of citizenship?

      Please upload your file by no later than November 15. This is not a required activity for final grading


  • Session 18 (Thursday, 14.11.2024): "Language, migration and citizenship (II): Studying language policies – the case of global Portuguese across Europe" (Clara Keating, Coimbra)

  • Session 19 (Monday, 18.11.2024): "Language, migration and citizenship (III): How institutional texts represent speakers and language(s) in citizenship-related documents (Clara Keating, Coimbra)

    We will continue to explore how language mediates dynamics of citizenship as status. In our module, we need to distinguish two ways in which we look at language:

    1. one, how language (i.e., texts and discourses) seem to represent certain realities which are related to issues of citizenship (we focus on the products of language, e.g., texts)
    2. two, how people and other actors use language to negotiate and act upon the process of  becoming or achieving the status of citizenship (we focus on the processes of using language) .
    In this third session, we will focus on how texts contribute to represent, refer and construct certain social realities about citizenship. We will do so by engaging in an analysis of texts and explore how they evoke and/or narrate some social realities  (e.g ways of representing speakers of certain languages, ways of representing certain kinds of languages, ways of representing some language requirements with the purpose of accessing citizenship status, by governments, institutions, the media or other public/private institutions). We will use some tools from Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2003) to engage in this practical exercise. 
     








  • Session 20 (Thursday, 21.11.2024) Language, migration and citizenship (IV): on the linguistic and semiotic negotiations of becoming a citizen

    • In the fourth session, we will move away from an analysis of texts and representations to follow how people and other actors use language to negotiate and act upon the process of  becoming or achieving the status of citizenship.  By drawing on the example set by the authors of this article, we will focus on the processes of observing, living, experiencing and engaging by one particular individual, W, as he participated in the bureaucratic process of applying for British citizenship. 

      By reading closely this article, we will discuss and explore how this is a distinct way of understanding how the dynamics of language and other semiotic means contribute to the process of citizenship.  We will end this session by further exploring how understanding dynamics of citizenship beyond a static understanding of status, and rather as lived dynamics, where habitus and agency play an important role in the process. 

    • In the fourth session, we will move away from an analysis of texts and representations to follow how people and other actors use language to negotiate and act upon the process of  becoming or achieving the status of citizenship.  By drawing on the example set by the authors of this article, we will focus on the processes of observing, living, experiencing and engaging by one particular individual, W, as he participated in the bureaucratic process of applying for British citizenship. 

      By reading closely this article, we will discuss and explore how this is a distinct way of understanding how the dynamics of language and other semiotic means contribute to the process of citizenship.  We will end this session by further exploring how understanding dynamics of citizenship beyond a static understanding of status, and rather as lived dynamics, where habitus and agency play an important role in the process. 

  • Session 21 (Monday, 25.11.2024): "Swabians in Berlin: (Ethnic) Stereotyping in Present and History - Cultural Anthropological Reflections” " (Eva Schmucker-Drabe, Jena)


    Follow this link to our online session: https://uni-jena-de.zoom-x.de/j/66350456744 Passcode: 229132

    For manual access via www.zoom.us enter Meeting-ID 66350456744 (Passcode 229132)


  • Session 22 (Thursday, 28.11.2024): "Collective Memory and Cultural Identities in Europe. Intercultural Perspectives" (Christoph Vatter, Jena)

    Zoom-Link

    https://uni-jena-de.zoom-x.de/j/61995391511

     Meeting-ID: 619 9539 1511

    Kenncode: EC2U

    Abstract
    The ways in which societies use history and memory to construct cultural identities is a central research field in cultural studies that has been widely explored in recent years, particularly in the European context. In this session we will familiarise ourselves with central approaches to cultural memory studies and discuss concepts such as 'collective memory', 'history', 'sites of memory' and 'identity' in their interrelationships. Starting from national forms of remembrance and the associated tendencies towards essentialisation or forms of propagandistic appropriation, we will look at transnational and intercultural forms of remembrance in the second part of the session. This is also linked to questions of cultural contact, cultural transfer and cultural hybridity, e.g. in postcolonial contexts.

  • Session 23 (Monday, 02.12.2024): "Intercultural competence: resources and development in the European context" (Nicoleta Popa, Iaşi)

    Rescheduled January 7 2025, 15-17 CET

    Link: https://uaic.webex.com/uaic/j.php?MTID=mf14ed0c0c9ad9b1888b8b83b8c63b23d 

    Meeting number:
    2795 282 0809
    Password:
    TtPCTYvJ557

    The first part of the lecture focuses on intercultural competence: concept, alternative definitions, similar constructs/terms, training, determinants etc. Understood as a set of personal resources or as a developmental adjustment to multicultural settings, intercultural competence is critical for dealing with the diversity of todays world.

    In the second part of the lecture, we will discuss intercultural education or the inclusion of diversity in educational systems, and strategies and tools for implementation.

    References

    Arasaratnam, L.  (2016). Intercultural Competence. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. Available online: https://oxfordre.com/communication/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-68.

    Coulby, D. (2006) Intercultural education: theory and practice. Intercultural Education, 17(3), 245-257, DOI: 10.1080/14675980600840274.

    Croucher, S. M., Sommier, M., & Rahmani, D. (2015). Intercultural communication: Where we’ve been, where we’re going, issues we face. Communication Research and Practice, 1(1), 71-87, DOI: 10.1080/22041451.2015.1042422.

    Guillén-Yparrea, N., & Ramírez-Montoya, M. S. (2023). Intercultural Competencies in Higher Education: a systematic review from 2016 to 2021. Cogent Education, 10(1), DOI: 10.1080/2331186X.2023.2167360.

    Luo, J., Chan,&  C. K., Y. (2022). Qualitative methods to assess intercultural competence in higher education research: A systematic review with practical implications. Educational Research Review, 37, 100476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2022.100476.

    Mikander, P., Zilliacus, H., & Holm, G. (2018). Intercultural education in transition: Nordic perspectives. Education Inquiry, 9(1), 40-56, DOI:10.1080/20004508.2018.1433432.

    Palaiologou, N., & Gorski, P. C. (2017). The evolution of intercultural and multicultural education: scholarship and practice for new sociopolitical and economic realities. Intercultural Education, 28(4), 353-355, DOI: 10.1080/14675986.2017.1334367.

    Portera, A. (2008). Intercultural education in Europe: epistemological and semantic aspects. Intercultural Education, 19(6), 481-491, DOI: 10.1080/14675980802568277.

    Tarchi, C., & Surian, A. (2022). Promoting intercultural competence in study abroad students. European Journal of Psychology of Education Educ, 37, 123-140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-021-00554-0.


  • Session 24 (Thursday, 05.12.2024): "Migration and inclusion: challenges and educational responses in Europe" (Nicoleta Popa, Iaşi)

    Rescheduled January 7 2025, 11-13 CET

    Link: https://uaic.webex.com/uaic/j.php?MTID=m795a4781f8bba97b9822f74f0d71119c

    Meeting number: 2783 440 5517

    Password: e2zNjZ9mMp2


  • Session 26 (Thursday, 12.12.2024) Final session: Debate with students regarding assessment and final essay (Clara Keating, coord., & lecturers)

    The first part of the final session of this seminar will be devoted to taking stock of the content covered and the activities developed as part of the course. Students will have to identify one positive aspect, one negative aspect and one topic that you would have liked to have seen covered in the seminar.  

    A second moment follows , in which each student will share the topic that they are willing to address in their final essay.  Please come prepared to a) present in five minutes your topic of work, the methodologies used, possible results and b) identify any aspects in which you may need support. 

    Zoom link

     https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/92540738235?pwd=LvkZwtlrIpVbGsKtkWfb20FIlg0HO9.1 

     ID da reunião: 925 4073 8235 Senha: 203128