The knowledge powerhouse of Circle U. becomes stronger with the creation of new, ambitious platforms. On 1 and 2 February 2024, the CU.mil (Circle U. Multilingualism, Interculturality and Language Lab) and the CU.til (Circle U. Teaching Innovation Lab) were officially launched at UCLouvain with a kick-off meeting gathering representatives from the nine Circle U. universities in the two platforms.
In it for the long term
In their opening address, Kevin Guillaume, Circle U. Secretary General, and Prof. Dana Samson, Prorector for International Affairs at UCLouvain, highlighted the reasons for the creation of these platforms for the long-term sustainability of the alliance and its objectives.
“Circle U. universities have committed to something deeper than just any other strategic partnerships. The creation of these platforms is a statement reiterating that we are there for the long term,” said Kevin Guillaume, Circle U. Secretary General, at the opening of the launch event.
Prof. Dana Samson underlined that Circle U. offers students and academics an international experience that goes well beyond the traditional Erasmus mobility. It is about students and academics from different countries, areas of study, languages and cultural backgrounds coming together in one place. When it comes to accomplishing this, there are several challenges: how to prepare students and teachers to deal with such settings? How to foster the intercultural mindset needed for these types of encounters? The CU.mil and CU.til aim to facilitate this process by getting students, researchers and teachers to work together to co-create and implement new ways of doing teaching and learning.
“The beauty of Circle U. is that it is like a blank page; a page of freedom to explore new ways to use creativity and build the university of tomorrow,” said Prof. Dana Samson.
"Languages are not simple functional tools for communication"
Being an alliance of European universities, Circle U. embodies a distinct combination of cultures and languages. “This diversity is a richness that needs to be maintained. It is of utmost importance to understand - or make understand - that languages are not simple functional tools for communication,” said Fanny Meunier, Academic Director of the CU.mil and Professor of English language, linguistics, and teacher education at UCLouvain.
She explained that multilingualism and interculturality are both research fields and vital competences in today's globalized world. The CU.mil will therefore design and deliver a number of initiatives geared towards promoting research in multilingualism and interculturality, as well as the active use of languages. The underlying rationale - and ultimate goal - is that multilingualism and interculturality are used as tools of inclusivity, empathy, broadened knowledge, and effective communication within – and beyond - the Circle U. ecosystem.
“Linguistic diversity is not just about speaking different languages; it represents a mosaic of worldviews and embodies a spectrum of epistemologies, each offering unique insights into human cognition, cultural heritage, and societal values,” said Fanny Meunier.
Co-designing the way we learn and teach
The CU.til engages students and staff in co-designing the future of higher education. The objective is to develop and implement transformative educational opportunities that will equip students to confidently face the challenges of a rapidly changing world.
Its mission is to enhance the quality of teaching and learning through student and staff collaboration in research, pedagogy, curricular innovation, professional development and internationalisation.
Open to the students and staff of the nine Circle U. universities, “this platform will allow students to be more involved in the design of pedagogical systems” – said Benoît Raucent, lead of the CU.til and President of the Louvain Learning Lab, a teaching and learning incubator and one of UCLouvain’s flagships. “It will also complement UCLouvain’s existing efforts in this area and become a place for exchange of practices with similar centres at the Circle U. universities”.
In concrete terms, the CU.til will produce booklets on educational themes, facilitate the sharing of educational resources from the nine universities, measure the impact of educational systems, carry out research together with students studying to become teachers.
What’s next
If you are a PhD candidate, postdoc and/or a teacher interested in second language acquisition, please note that the CU.mil is organising a summer school to be hosted by UCLouvain in August 2024. More information will be available soon.
If you are a teacher at one of the Circle U. universities and are interested in pedagogical innovation, a CU.til week is going to take place in autumn 2024. It will combine two days of training for teachers from Circle U. universities and a three-day bootcamp.
