Tempus is the European Union’s programme which supports the modernisation of universities in the partner countries and contributes to the creation of an area of cooperation in the field of higher education between the EU and Partner Countries neighbouring the EU. This programme promotes voluntary convergence towards European policy developments in higher education, as it has been outlined by the Lisbon agenda and the Bologna Process. Main specific objectives of Tempus are: – to overcome inter-country fragmentation in the area of higher education and inter-institutional fragmentation in the countries themselves; – to enhance interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity; – to enhance the employability of university graduates; – to make the European Higher Education Area more visible and attractive to the world; – to enhance mutual understanding between peoples and cultures of the EU and the Partner Countries. Those aims are reported in the documents of Conference of Rectors of Italian Universities, which promotes the involvement of universities in the National Tempus program. This paper deals with one of our direct experience in Tempus program. In this work we propose some considerations on the cultural transformation that undergoes a scientific theory when it is transferred and applied in non-Western socio-cultural contexts. If the scientific disciplines have, among others, the function of promoting the wellbeing of community, there must be also an exchange and encounter between cultures, which would enable to overcome a Western-centric perspective. In this way the scientific disciplines can arise according to an emic approach. That does not mean to require decades of theories that are milestones of scientific knowledge, but foreshadows an adaptation of the theoretical models to the specific social, cultural and ethical background. In this way, even a university cooperation project – as is the Tempus programme – take the form of a community development project.

International Cooperation in the field of higher education: The Tempus Programme

DE PICCOLI, Norma;GATTINO, Silvia;MOSSO, Cristina Onesta
2014-01-01

Abstract

Tempus is the European Union’s programme which supports the modernisation of universities in the partner countries and contributes to the creation of an area of cooperation in the field of higher education between the EU and Partner Countries neighbouring the EU. This programme promotes voluntary convergence towards European policy developments in higher education, as it has been outlined by the Lisbon agenda and the Bologna Process. Main specific objectives of Tempus are: – to overcome inter-country fragmentation in the area of higher education and inter-institutional fragmentation in the countries themselves; – to enhance interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity; – to enhance the employability of university graduates; – to make the European Higher Education Area more visible and attractive to the world; – to enhance mutual understanding between peoples and cultures of the EU and the Partner Countries. Those aims are reported in the documents of Conference of Rectors of Italian Universities, which promotes the involvement of universities in the National Tempus program. This paper deals with one of our direct experience in Tempus program. In this work we propose some considerations on the cultural transformation that undergoes a scientific theory when it is transferred and applied in non-Western socio-cultural contexts. If the scientific disciplines have, among others, the function of promoting the wellbeing of community, there must be also an exchange and encounter between cultures, which would enable to overcome a Western-centric perspective. In this way the scientific disciplines can arise according to an emic approach. That does not mean to require decades of theories that are milestones of scientific knowledge, but foreshadows an adaptation of the theoretical models to the specific social, cultural and ethical background. In this way, even a university cooperation project – as is the Tempus programme – take the form of a community development project.
2014
1
246
248
N. De Piccoli; S. Gattino; C. Mosso
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2318/158853
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