ZAK at European Partnership for an Innovative Campus Unifying Regions (EPICUR)

EPICUR (European Partnership for an Innovative Campus Unifying Regions) is an alliance of eight European universities from Amsterdam (NL), Freiburg (DE), Mulhouse-Colmar (FR), Poznań (PL), Strasbourg (FR), Thessaloniki (GR), Vienna (AT) and Karlsruhe (DE), with the vision of creating a new European university through different interdisciplinary approaches such as multilingualism, strengthening of the region through cross-border internships.

EPICUR's goal is to create a space in which all students, doctoral candidates, and university staff can move freely and without boundaries to acquire a broad and interdisciplinary academic perspective. To fulfil this vision, the EPICUR partner universities receive a total of five million euros in funding from the European Commission until and including 2022.

Within EPICUR, ZAK as the central scientific institution at KIT is involved in two work packages:

  • ZAK develops English-language and interdisciplinary courses offered within the framework of the EPICUR Liberal Arts & Sciences programme (LAS), in cooperation with its partner the University of Freiburg (Work package leader Innovative learning & teaching formats for European Citizens of the future).

  • For the EPICUR Internship Exchange Programme, ZAK designed a new intercultural service-learning format that was offered exclusively online in the summer semester of 2021 and as a combination of online-based learning and teaching elements and social engagement at one of the EPICUR sites in the winter semester of 2021/22.

EPICUR Liberal Arts and Sciences at ZAK

The EPICUR Liberal Arts and Sciences program (LAS) aims to develop innovative and collaborative teaching-learning formats. The program consists of three so-called study tracks that focus on current global challenges:

  1. Track Core
  2. Natural and Societal Sustainability
  3. European Identities

Since winter semester 2020/21, ZAK contributes to the EPICUR Liberal Arts and Sciences programme with various interdisciplinary English-language offerings. In winter semester 2022/23, the following seminars are also open to students of all EPICUR partner universities:

  • Intercultural Competence for Global Citizens, Kerstin Kilanowski

  • Urban transformations: exploring the circles of sustainability, Kaidi Tamm

  • European Cinema, Igor Krstic

  • Civil society and non-profit organizations in democratic societies, Alzbeta Gregorova

  • Environmentally-Induced Migrations. Drivers and the Current Global Debate, Eugenia Pacini

Learn more about the EPICUR Liberal Arts and Sciences Programme and Study Tracks and how to register for courses here.

You can find the entire EPICUR study programme here.

"En route!" - Become a Global Citizen through Cross-border Service-Learning: Cross-border Civic Engagement with a New Intercultural Service-Learning Format

ZAK has the task of developing an innovative and intercultural service-learning offer for the EPICUR Internship Exchange Programme. "En route!" - Become a Global Citizen through Cross-border Service-Learning" was offered for the first time to students from all partner universities in the summer semester of 2021. This course is based on a new digital teaching-learning format and aims to promote cross-border civic engagement. The first course run took place exclusively online due to pandemic-related restrictions. In the second round in the winter semester 2021/22, it was possible for students to get socially involved in civil society organisations at one of the EPICUR locations. The accompanying seminar is conducted online which gives all participants from the different regions of the network the opportunity to meet and share their experiences.

Information about the EPICUR Internship Exchange Programme and how to apply here.

Our partners:

EPICUR

EPICUR is an alliance of eight leading European universities from Amsterdam (NL), Freiburg (DE), Mulhouse-Colmar (FR), Poznań (PL), Strasbourg (FR), Thessaloniki (GR), Vienna (AT) and Karlsruhe (DE) with the vision of creating a new European University through different approaches such as multilingualism and strengthening the region through different types of internships.

EPICUR aims to create a place where all students, doctoral candidates and staff can move boundlessly to acquire a broad and interdisciplinary academic perspective. To fulfill this vision the alliance receives five million euros in funding from the European Commission until 2022. 

Within EPICUR, ZAK | Centre for Cultural and General Studies at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) develops concrete interdisciplinary courses and promotes an intercultural service learning project.Together with its partners at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, ZAK designs English-language seminars that are open to students from all EPICUR partner universities.

For the first time in the winter semester 2020/21, the following seminars were offered within EPICUR by ZAK – inviting students from all partner universities across Europe to participate: “European Identity in Cinema” by Dr. Igor Krstić, “Intercultural Competence for Global Citizens” by Kerstin Kilanowski, “The European Project Revisited: National Identities as an Opportunity or Risk for European Integration” by Maximilian Jungmann and Martina Vetrovcova and the Jean Monnet Circle Seminar” of Prof. Dr. Caroline Y. Robertson-von Trotha and six further experts on European Integration issues. Along these lines, ZAK contributes to the development of the very first joint EPICUR curriculum for Liberal Arts and Sciences.

 

For the summer semester 2021, four virtual courses are planned again:

 

We firmly believe that it is increasingly important for universities and research institutions to be present in society. The aim of the new service learning course is to strengthen the exchanges with civil society and to provide students with knowledge and skills that enable them to act as responsible global citizens. Students from all EPICUR partner universities are invited to participate in this service learning offer, which consists of a digital academic part and a practical part. 

As coordinator of the German network of the Anna Lindh Foundation, ZAK can provide access to a broad network of civil society organisations across Europe and in the southern and eastern countries of the Euro-Mediterranean region. 

You can register for the EPICUR courses offered by ZAK via the ZAK registration calendar.