“Practices of Liberal Education” is a bi-monthly seminar of the Smolny College, aimed at peer-to-peer sharing of know-how and best practices in methodological implementation of liberal arts and sciences. EHU’s experience in preparation and launching of the Core Curriculum in AY 2016/17 was presented by Head of the Core Curriculum Center Assoc. Prof. Aliaksei Makhnach.
Assoc. Prof. Makhnach addressed faculty and academic leadership of the Smolny College, Herzen State Pedagogical University, and Murmansk Arctic State University with 1.5 hour presentation, supplemented by samples of EHU curriculum and examples of students creative projects fulfilled in the framework of Core Curriculum courses (namely, the First Year Seminar, and the Language and Thinking) and various forms of student assignments, like symposiums, conferences, seminars, workshops and tutorships.
After the presentation counterparts joined an in-depth follow-up discussion with Assoc. Prof. Valery Monakhov (Herzen State Pedagogical University/Smolny College), Assoc. Prof. Denis Akhapkin (Smolny College), Assoc. Prof. Inna Ryzhkova (Murmansk Arctic State University) and other academic counterparts, regarding challenges of the transition between high school and tertiary education in the post-Soviet academic environment, as well as prospective avenues of strengthening mutual existing cooperation between liberal arts Universities in the Eastern Europe and Russia.
New EHU Core Curriculum was developed in 2014-2016 by 25 higher education specialists from 7 countries, all of them representing liberal arts partner network: Bard College (USA), The Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Smolny College) of St.Petersburg State University (Russia), European College of Liberal Arts Bard College Berlin (Germany), American University of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan), Al-Quds Bard College for Arts and Sciences (Jerusalem) and EHU.