Annual Conference 2024 | Programme

5 November 2024 | CHARM-EU Annual Conference 2024

Main venue: Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), H-1053 Budapest, Egyetem tér 1-3 (Some of the afternoon workshops will be organised at a different venue.)

How to arrive: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ArmsBK1UNUL1prU99

Format: On-site with hybrid sessions. The plenary sessions will be live streamed on the CHARM-EU YouTube Channel.

Speech-to-Text Reporters provide real-time captioning. Their expertise is essential to the Conference to cater to the greatest level of attendees' access and participation needs. Inclusion by design means designing the environment from the beginning to the greatest extent of users (preventive) rather than a retrospective approach (fixing the environment afterwards). The hybrid feature is in line with the core values of CHARM-EU.

Morning sessions

08:30—09:00 | Registration

09:00—09:45 | Opening ceremony

Institutional welcome address.

09:45—10:15 | Keynote speech

Keynote speaker: Prof. Lan Anh Nguyen Luu, Director, Institute of Intercultural Psychology and Education, ELTE Faculty of Education and Psychology

10:15—11:30 | Intercultural awareness in European Universities Alliances

This panel session focuses on the intrinsic nature of interculturality within European University Alliances. Taking the CHARM-EU initiative as a prime example, the session will explore how alliances are equipping students with the tools to thrive in an international environment. The CHARM-EU intercultural awareness course provides comprehensive intercultural training for students participating in mobility programs across all CHARM-EU universities and study levels. The course aims to equip students with the necessary skills for navigating intercultural interactions, fostering intercultural learning, reflection, and competencies. The discussion will be a platform to share and explore the diverse strategies employed by European Universities Alliances to raise awareness on interculturality and empower students to navigate a globalized academic landscape.

11:30—13:00 | Group Photo and Lunch Break

Afternoon sessions

13:00—13:30 | Opening of the first CHARM-EU Cultural Festival

13:30—14:45 | Global South Perspectives in European Higher Education

This panel session will focus on inter- and multiculturality from the perspective of the Global South. The speakers will offer insights on diverse cultural and educational approaches that are not in the European mainstream discourse. Through dialogue, the session will foster a deeper understanding of intercultural dynamics, challenging conventional Western-centric narratives and advocating for inclusive approaches showcasing the plurality of global cultures.

15:15—16:45 | Workshop sessions

Some of the workshops will take place in another venue within walking distance.

Workshop 1 | Developing an intercultural positionality resource for Challenge Based Learning

In this session, participants will co-create an intercultural positionality resource for CHARM-EU challenge-based learning activities. Positionality is a reflection and recording of the researchers’ position upon the research being conducted, and what impact it may have on the research. Within challenge-based learning activities, students and staff are often engaged with stakeholders from different cultures and backgrounds to develop solutions to challenges. A key part of this process is for students to acknowledge their positionality and consider how their biases and backgrounds may influence the research design, methodology, and interpretation of their results. This session invites students, researchers, teaching staff and stakeholders to share experiences and collaborate to produce a positionality resource for challenge-based learning.

Workshop 2 | Exchange students and interculturality

Come and meet students from your universities! Almost all CHARM EU HEIs have sent exchange students to ELTE during the autumn term. They had different expectations, doubts, practical issues to solve, etc. before their exchange period. They have now been studying abroad for a while and faced many interesting experiences. How is it to study abroad in comparison to how it is at the home university? What are the intercultural experiences? What were the expectations? What are the challenges? What has been more difficult or easier than expected? Are there any surprises? What do they foresee to take away? In other words – has the dream been fulfilled so far?

Workshop 3 | Culture(s) and Story Circles

Through the adaptation of two activities by famous interculturalists Kate Berardo and Darla Deardorff, participants will be invited to reflect upon the notion of culture(s) what is required to build intercultural competence. (Developing Intercultural Competencies Through Story Circles – Adapted from Darla Deardorff https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000370336)

Workshop 4 | AI era challenges of multilingualism in Europe

Having 24 official languages, the European Union promotes linguistic diversity and multilingualism and encourages citizens to communicate in two other languages than their mother tongue. However, protecting linguistic diversity and promoting multilingual learning can be challenging without appropriate support and resources. This workshop will focus on the multilingual aspect of Europe, discovering the roles European Universities can have in supporting language learning and multilingualism through reflecting on several issues: What exactly do we meany by multilingualism in the European context? How can European Universities leverage technological innovation and AI for supporting language learning and multilingualism? What is the role of ‘translation’ in the everyday life of European citizens in the 21st century and how can universities and European University Alliances position themselves in this regard? How can European Universities support learners in practicing their language skills and learning new languages? How can we promote/incorporate interculturality and multilingualism in the classroom? How can we use English as a facilitator for further language learning and intercultural understanding without threatening linguistic diversity?

Workshop 5 | Day to day interculturality in the lives of Alliance staff members

This interactive workshop will bring together representatives from different Alliances (members of joint virtual offices or networks of institutional units supporting administration, IT services or research issues, etc., emerging through the joint work of alliance partners) to prompt exchange of good practices, experiences and intercultural issues on diverse organizational models and inter-institutional cooperation.