REPORT
For carrying out of working meetings in Bulgaria
In the period 25-30 September 2022 in Bulgaria, in the cities of Sofia and Plovdiv, the Department of Japanese Studies hosted working meetings aimed at the development of a Joint international Master’s program by Erasmus Mundus with the title: Intercultural Communication along the Eurasian Axis (Tracks: Japanese Language Teaching and Oriental Studies).
Representatives from partner universities of the consortium took part in the working meetings, namely: Assiya Nurelova, PhD and Shynar Saudanbekova, PhD – professors at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University https://www.kaznu.kz/en/11841/news/one/29079/, Associate Professor Tolga Ozsen, PhD – lecturer at the Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkiye, and Professor Frank Rövekamp, PhD – lecturer at Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society, Germany. From the Bulgarian side, participants in the meetings were: Professor Gergana Petkova, PhD, Vice-dean of the Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology and Head of the Department of Japanese Studies, Associate Professor Vyara Nikolova, PhD, researchers Lyudmila Kirilova, PhD and Iliyana Kostova.
During the meetings, the participants were informed about the results achieved at this stage by the working groups during the first half of the project, the specifics and practices in the relevant universities and countries were discussed on the following topics:
- Common framework of MA program
- Joint management and graduation policy
- Joint enrollment policy
- Curriculum development
- Student mobility policy
- Joint evaluation policy
- Draft agreements
- Program recognition procedure
- Dissemination strategy
Intensive discussions led to important conclusions and decisions with which to develop the mechanisms for a Joint Master’s program. The deadlines and those responsible for the next stage of the program’s preparation were also determined.
As an addition to the working meetings, our partners from the consortium were introduced to the cultural and historical heritage of Sofia and Plovdiv, which in 2019 was the European Capital of Culture. The guests also took part in the “Power of the Word” – Open Day at the Department of Japanese Studies and the European Day of Languages, held on September 26 in the “Emil Boev” hall of the Center for Eastern Languages and Cultures, Sofia University. The participants in the project had the opportunity to get acquainted with the material base of the Faculty and the educational process, as well as with colleagues from the department. The working sessions were held at the Center for Eastern Languages and Cultures at the “St. Kliment Ohridski” Sofia University and in the office of the Japanese-Bulgarian company for the production of frozen sushi Japan Agri Products Europe (JAPE) in the city of Plovdiv. The work done during these few days gives the participants serious reasons to assume a successful completion of the preparatory project and a successful application for the next program period.