From March 19 to 21, academics from five Central and Eastern European countries discussed current intercultural issues at the university (Görlitz site). The HSZG hosted the 2015 annual meeting of the "Laboratory for Intercultural Studies" (LABIK). LABIK is a scientific East-West working group that has been dealing with intercultural studies for over ten years. The participants from Vanadzor (Armenia) and Kostroma (RUS) had the longest journey. Other participants came from Darmstadt, Osnabrück, Poznan (PL) and Minsk (BY).
During the course of the conference, participants gave presentations on selected aspects of teaching and applied research in the field of "interculturality". During a visit to the Studium-fundamentale lecture "Interculturality" (Prof. Klaus Werner), the guests familiarized themselves with specific forms of teaching at our university. Discussions were held with students about their interest in intercultural issues. According to the participating guests, the continuation of the East-West dialog was an important result of the conference.
In the welcoming address by the Rector Professor Friedrich Albrecht at the main meeting of the LABIK in the Hermann-Heitkamp-Haus. He emphasized the great importance of intercultural competence and education today and referred to the HSZG's many years of experience with various intercultural teaching and learning opportunities.
Important contributions were the informative lecture "Perspectives of contacts between Russian and German educational institutions" by Dr. Natalja Schibaewa - about the vocational training in Kostroma with Hartmut Pätzold, (F-EI) who in turn presented the cooperative engineering education
KIA. Dr. Tamara Denisova's presentation
About the (Laboratory for Intercultural Studies) LABIK:
Interculturality, intercultural, interdisciplinary exchange in the international cooperation of Western and Eastern European universities has been a focus of its work for ten years. The aim is to intensify and improve academic transfer between East and West, to develop curricular elements in the field of intercultural communication and action competence and to create networks between the cooperating universities. The results of this work are interesting both for the field of university teaching and for the field of management in business and research. In September 2005, the Nekrasov State University of Kostroma (Russian Federation), represented by Prof. Dr. Lidia Vaulina, and the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt, represented by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. (RU) Alexa Köhler-Offierski and Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. (RU) Gert Straßer, founded the (LABIK) at an international conference at the Nekrasov State University of Kostroma. In summer 2014, LABIK had 22 members in six countries; the HSZG has been an active member since 2011/12. The HSCG has a long-standing cooperative relationship with Kostroma Nekrasov State University.
Contact:
Faculty of Mathematics/Natural Sciences
Studium fundamentale
Prof. Dr. Bernd Delakowitz
Mail:
b.delakowitz(at)hszg.de
k.werner(at)hszg.de
f.schneider(at)hszg.de