Students from nearly 30 countries to study at UT International Summer University
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The University of Tartu’s International Summer University takes place from the beginning of July to the end of August, offering 11 programmes with topics ranging from the semiotics of culture, and language studies to defence policy. Besides the traditional programmes there are two new ones this year: “Asia and the Middle East: Differences and Commonalities” and “Educational Change in Times of Rapid Technological Innovation”.
The summer university programme focusing on the topics of Asia and the Middle East is intended for both international and Estonian students and aims to bring together people interested in these topics from all continents, promoting the acquisition of new knowledge in a multicultural classroom. “It is highly necessary to bring an academic discussion of these regions to the University of Tartu, and involve learners and lecturers from different cultures, whose perspectives and academic background will be enriching for all participants,” said Head of the UT Asian Centre Elo Süld. She added that this year’s summer university also gives a good opportunity to inform the participants of the Asia-related master’s programme that will be opened in autumn 2019.
According to Laura Roop, Senior Specialist for International Summer University, the programme “Educational Change in Times of Rapid Technological Innovation” is extremely popular among applicants – the university received more than 90 applications in the first year the programme is taught. “The huge number of those interested in the programme shows how topical and necessary the theme is, not only in Estonia but also elsewhere in the world,” Roop added.
This year’s participants of the International Summer University come from nearly 30 countries all over the world, including, for example, Luxembourg, Germany, Greece, Italy, Finland, Canada, Malaysia, Japan, China and Hong Kong.
This year, 27 participants received a scholarship for studies at the University of Tartu’s Summer University. Twenty of them were supported by the development cooperation programme scholarship of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and seven by the Archimedes Foundation’s national scholarship programme for foreign students, researchers and lecturers. These 27 participants come from the USA, Ukraine, Russia, China, Albania, Iran, Georgia, Moldova and Belarus. Participants from Germany are supported by the Go East scholarship programme of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
With the support of scholarships, it is possible to complete the programmes “Social Dimension: Estonian Business Environment and EU-Russian Relations”, “Social Dimension: EU-Russian Relations and Baltic Regional Security”, “Educational Change in Times of Rapid Technological Innovation”, “Juri Lotman and the Semiotics of Culture” and “Estonian Language with Instruction in English”.
In 2018, the University of Tartu’s International Summer University celebrates its 20th anniversary. For the first time, international summer courses were organised in 1998, and since then, the summer university has served as an opportunity to introduce the studies and research of the University of Tartu to learners from other countries.
Further information: Laura Roop, Senior Specialist for International Summer University, University of Tartu, +372 5349 0995, laura.roop@ut.ee