Call for Papers

30 Years of Erasmus in Ireland:  Study Abroad in Research and Practice

University College Cork

Friday 16th June 2017

Abstracts of no more than 200 words / Proposals for discussion groups of no more than 400 words should be sent to studyabroad2017@ucc.ie by 8th February 2017.

In our increasingly globalised village, crossing international and linguistic borders has become commonplace resulting in growing international recognition of the importance of study abroad (SA) in education.  The global workplace ensures that multilingualism and international experience are no longer a luxury but an economic necessity. While many third-level language courses require a portion of the official studies to be spent in the target language country, cross-border organisations are also investing heavily. The Erasmus programme celebrates its 30^thanniversary year in 2017 and currently provides nearly €2bn of funding per year for education and training.

Taking the full spectrum of SA into account, UCC School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures invites papers and discussion proposals on the theme of study abroad. Proposals for research papers (Strand 1) from established, early career and postgraduate researchers are welcome. We also encourage proposals for practice-focussed discussion groups (Strand 2) from international office administrators, year abroad co-ordinators, and any staff directly involved with in-coming and out-going study abroad students. Below are the calls for each of the two strands. Suggested areas of interest include but are not limited to:

STRAND 1 – Research papers on study abroad

Suggested areas for research presentation:

These may relate to:

• The history of study abroad in the Irish context
• Second Language Acquisition during the stay abroad
• L2 identity development
• Social networks
• Social and personal development
• Cultural learning
• Reflective learning and the student experience
• Digital learning and study abroad
• Multilingualism and English medium instruction at European universities
• Intercultural competences
• Impact of study abroad

Abstracts of no more than 200 words should be sent to studyabroad2017@ucc.ie by 8th February 2017.

STRAND 2 – Practice-focussed discussion groups

• Partner university relationships
• Administration of student placements
• Methodology and content in Study Abroad preparation courses
• Student module selection and learning agreements
• Student support provision during study abroad
• Setting and assessing learner goals
• Student withdrawal from study abroad programmes
• Work placement
• Postgraduate student mobility
• Implications of Brexit for study abroad in Ireland
• Staff mobility

Proposals for discussion groups of no more than 400 words should be sent to studyabroad2017@ucc.ie by January 23^rd 2017

Key Dates

8th February 2017 - Final Date for submission of abstracts and proposals.

28th February 2017 - Presenters will be notified.

1st March 2017 - registration opens.

28th April 2017 - final date for Early Bird registration.

16th June 2017 - conference at University College Cork.

Registration

Registration is now closed.

Practical Information

For information on travel, getting to UCC, parking and accommodation, please click here.

Plenary Speakers

Plenary speaker: Dr Martin Howard (Head of School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, UCC and editor of Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education)

Title:  Study Abroad Research and Practice: An ‘Embarrassment of Riches’ in the context of Erasmus at 30?

Senior Lecturer in French and Applied Linguistics, Dr Howard teaches a range of courses reflecting his areas of research specialisation in Second Language Acquisition, Sociolinguistics and Canadian Studies. He is currently Chair of the Board of Applied Linguistics, and has previously served as Chair of the Board of Language & Cultural Studies.

He has held various positions within a number of (inter)national associations. He is currently Vice-President of the European Second Language Association (EUROSLA), and has previously served on the International Council for Canadian Studies (ICCS) [Director-at-Large / Secretary / Treasurer], Association for Canadian Studies in Ireland (ACSI) [President, Secretary], and Irish Association of Applied Linguistics (IRAAL). He is founding co-convenor of the AILA Research network on 'Study Abroad and Language Learning'. He has organised a number of international conferences, including the Annual Conference of the European Second Language Association (EuroSLA 19), and a Language Learning Roundtable. A former recipient of the Prix du Québec, he has previously received two Government of Ireland Research Awards from the IRCHSS, and a 'New Foundations' award from the Irish Research Council. He has also held two Canadian Government Faculty Awards in Canadian Studies.

Plenary Speaker: Professor Fred Dervin. 

Title:  Is intercultural competence in study abroad an actual true myth? 

Fred Dervin is Professor of Multicultural Education at the University of Helsinki (Finland). Dervin also holds several professorships in Canada, Luxembourg and Malaysia. In May 2014 he was appointed Distinguished Professor at Baoji University of Arts and Sciences (China). Dervin has been visiting professor in Australia, Canada, China, Estonia, France, Hong Kong, and Portugal.

Prof. Dervin specializes in intercultural education, the sociology of multiculturalism and student and academic mobility. He defines his work as transdisciplinary, critical and reflexive. Inspired by E. Said (1993), he believes that “(…) giving up to specialization is, I have always felt, laziness, so you end up doing what others tell you, because that is your speciality after all.” His current definition of his approach to the ‘intercultural’ reads as follows: it is about giving the power to the powerless – ourselves included – to become aware of, recognize, push through and present/defend one’s diverse diversities, and those of our interlocutors”.

Dervin has widely published in international journals on identity, the ‘intercultural’ and mobility/migration in English, Finnish and French. He has published over 20 books: Politics of Interculturality (co-edited with Anne Lavanchy and Anahy Gajardo, Newcastle: CSP, 2011), Impostures Interculturelles (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2012) and Linguistics for Intercultural Education (co-edited with Tony Liddicoat, New York: Benjamins, 2013). His website: http://blogs.helsinki.fi/dervin

Practice focussed panel discussion: including representatives from Leargas and Higher Education Authority. Speakers tbc

Conference Schedule

The final conference schedule as well as the Book of Abstracts are available at the links in bold.

Erasmus conference schedule final‌‌

Erasmus conference Book of Abstracts final‌‌

Conference Dinner

The Conference dinner will be held in the UCC Glucksman Gallery.

The Lewis Glucksman Gallery is a cultural and educational institution that promotes the research, creation and exploration of the visual arts. Located at the main entrance to University College Cork on Western Road, the Glucksman is an award-winning building that includes display spaces, lecture facilities, a riverside restaurant and gallery shop. For more information click here:  http://www.glucksman.org/visit.html

The dinner will be held in the Gallery's restaurant Fresco, which will provide delicious buffet dining in a picturesque setting.

The gallery restaurant brings you tasty dishes created freshly every day using quality and local ingredients. With floor to ceiling glass windows looking out to the picturesque UCC lower grounds, Fresco is a beautiful setting for you to enjoy something to eat.

You can also visit the Glucksman's current exhibition:  http://www.glucksman.org/exhibitions.html or wander around UCC's beautiful campus and view the UCC Art Collection: http://www.glucksman.org/collections.html