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Since 2018 members of the U4Society network have been working together on intensifying the cooperation with higher education institutions in Africa, and subsequently established the U4Society Africa Initiative in the course of 2019 with the aim of enhancing the joint collaboration with African HEIs. 

On on June 5, 2019 staff members of Ghent, Göttingen and Groningen have met together with African PhD students from the participating institutions in the framework of a workshop on African-European Cooperation on occasion of the Groningen lustrum conference. Ms. Beth Yoder (University of Groningen), expert on intercultural relations, prepared a tailored-made workshop addressing themes such as 'what is cultural identity', 'how to visualize culture' and 'how to build trust in an international, intercultural setting'.

In the course of the spring semester several events took place in the framework of the U4Society Student Network that brought together student representatives of all partner institutions: peer visits from Groningen and Tartu to Ghent, the annual U4SN meeting and the Tartu Model United Nations.

The workshop 'Concepts and Tools in Cultural Transfer Research. Case: Travel Writing' took place in Göttingen on 16-17 of May. The workshop was organised by the Cultural Transfer Research Group, which was initiated by Petra Broomans in Groningen.

In this fourth edition of the workshop Barbara Schaff, Professor for English Philology at the University of Göttingen and Petra Broomans organised four panels that each focused on a different topic. The panels illuminated theoretical connection between concepts of cultural transfer and the genre of travelling literature as well as highlighted the importance of concepts of identity in cultural exchange and another focused on the performative and literary aspects of cultural exchange in literary pieces on travels to Scandinavia in the 18th to 20th century.

Currently, around 35% of the students at the University of Göttingen go abroad during their studies and spend a semester at our partner institutions, participate in short term programmes, do an internship or conduct research for their (final) papers. As not all of our students will be able to participate in mobility options, the internationalisation of the curricula enables students to acquire academic knowledge in reference to international contexts and practice a change in perspective in the academic activities they undertake. At the same time, the internationalisation of the curricula fosters students’ and academics’ linkages with international partner institutions and promotes the collaboration between local and incoming students.

It therefore holds great potential for extended connections in teaching and learning amongst the U4Society partner universities. The University of Göttingen is one of the first German universities to develop a systematic approach of internationalisation of the curricula. It supports academics in their internationalisation efforts and joins forces with its international partners to further develop curricula.

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