The European Consortium of Liberal Arts and Sciences, or ECOLAS, is a non-governmental educational consulting group based in Europe, that proposes to address key issues associated with liberal arts undergraduate education as a consequence of the reforms initiated by the Bologna Process. [1] [2] It was founded by three international educators, Samuel Abraham, President and Rector of the Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts (Slovakia), Hans Adriaansens, Dean of Roosevelt Academy (Netherlands), and Laurent Boetsch, President Emeritus of European College of Liberal Arts, Berlin (Germany).
The mission of ECOLAS is to work within the sphere of European undergraduate education to foster and disseminate good practices essential to nurturing the ideals and skills necessary for lifelong learning and good citizenship that are embedded in the educational tradition of the liberal arts and sciences.
The consortium is a voluntary association headed by an Executive Board formed by the three founders and Jochen Fried of the Salzburg Global Seminar. The Board is responsible for the overall supervision, implementation and evaluation of projects undertaken. ECOLAS Associates are a team of international educational experts who work in association with the consortium and who are assigned to projects depending on their particular areas.
ECOLAS has recently received a grant form the European Union as an Erasmus Multilateral Project [3] within its Modernisation of Higher Education initiative in Lifelong Learning Programme. Those funds are expected to meet three-quarters of the costs of operation for the first two-years of the consortium. Projects planned within the course of the grant funding include: the preparation of a comprehensive information manual on the history, values, and methodology of the liberal arts and their potential for undergraduate education in Europe; a major conference for associates, institutional partners, and interested parties to focus on the practical aspects of establishing a liberal arts programme; a "flying advisors" initiative to provide expert advice to partner institutions and newly established liberal arts programmes; the creation of a database of information concerning current initiatives in the liberal arts; the establishment of a website detailing consortial activities and providing a central source of information about liberal arts education in Europe; an outline of a quality assurance framework with criteria and procedures for current and emerging programmes in the liberal arts.
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A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and general sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capacities, in contrast to a professional or vocational curriculum. Students in a liberal arts college generally major in a particular discipline while receiving exposure to a wide range of academic subjects, including general sciences as well as the traditional humanities subjects taught as liberal arts. Although it draws on European antecedents, the liberal arts college is strongly associated with American higher education, and most liberal arts colleges around the world draw explicitly on the American model.
Liberal arts education is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. Liberal arts takes the term art in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. Liberal arts education can refer to studies in a liberal arts degree course or to a university education more generally. Such a course of study contrasts with those that are principally vocational, professional, or technical, as well as religiously based courses.
A bachelor's degree or baccalaureate is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years. The two most common bachelor's degrees are the Bachelor of Arts (BA) and the Bachelor of Science. In some institutions and educational systems, certain bachelor's degrees can only be taken as graduate or postgraduate educations after a first degree has been completed, although more commonly the successful completion of a bachelor's degree is a prerequisite for further courses such as a master's or a doctorate.
The SOCRATES programme was an educational initiative of the European Commission; 31 countries took part. The initial Socrates programme ran from 1994 until 31 December 1999 when it was replaced by the Socrates II programme on 24 January 2000, which ran until 2006. This, in turn, was replaced by the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013.
The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) was launched in March 2010, during the Budapest-Vienna Ministerial Conference, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Bologna Process.
Mandalay University is a public liberal arts and science university located in Mandalay, Myanmar and one of the sixteen autonomous universities under Ministry of Education. Formerly an affiliate of Rangoon University, Mandalay University is the second oldest university in Myanmar, and the oldest and largest university in Upper Myanmar. The university offers mainly undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in liberal arts, sciences and law.
Education in Armenia is held in particular esteem in Armenian culture. Education developed the fastest out of the social services, while health and welfare services attempted to maintain the basic state-planned structure of the Soviet era, following Armenia's independence in 1991. Today, Armenia is trying to implement a new vision for its higher education system while pursuing the goals of the European Higher Education Area. The Ministry of Education and Science oversees education in the country.
Ganja State University is a public university in Ganja, Azerbaijan. Officially accredited and recognized by the Ministry of Science and Education of Azerbaijan), Ganja State University is a medium-sized coeducational higher education institution. The university offers courses and programs leading to officially recognized higher education degrees such as bachelor degrees, master degrees, and doctorate degrees in several areas of study. The 80 years old higher-education institution has a selective admission policy based on entrance examinations. The admission rate range is 80-90% making this Azerbaijani higher education organization a least selective institution. There are 20 doctors and professors, 156 doctoral candidates and associate professors, and 150 assistant professors and lecturers in the 26 departments of the university. The university has a library, several computer rooms and laboratories. The university ranks as 19th best nationwide and 8547th best worldwide.
University College Maastricht (UCM) is an English language, internationally oriented, liberal arts and sciences college housed in the 15th century Nieuwenhof monastery in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 2002, it is the second of its kind in the Netherlands. The college is part of Maastricht University and offers a selective honours programme with a high workload.
A public policy school or school of public affairs is typically a university program, institution, or professional school of public policy, public administration, political science, international relations, security studies, management, urban planning, urban studies, intelligence studies, global studies, emergency management, public affairs, nonprofit management, criminology, and the sociology of law.
Master's degrees in Europe are the second cycle of the Bologna process, following on from undergraduate bachelor's degrees and preceding third cycle doctorates. Master's degrees typically take two years to complete, although the number of years varies between countries, and correspond to 60 – 120 ECTS credits. Within the European Higher Education Area, representing almost all countries in Europe, master's degrees are referenced to the Framework of Qualifications for the European Higher Education Area and national qualifications frameworks.
European Humanities University is a private, non-profit liberal arts university founded in Minsk, Belarus, in 1992. Following its forced closure by the Belarusian authorities in 2004, EHU relocated to Vilnius (Lithuania) and thus continues its operations as a private university.
The Enhancing Student Mobility through Online Support (ESMOS) project is a European-funded partnership between higher education institutions from Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Lithuania and the United Kingdom. It has the aims of developing, evaluating and modelling the use of Virtual Learning Environments and online technologies to support students who take part in either a study exchange (ERASMUS) or work placement programme (LEONARDO), spending part of their studies overseas.
College transfer is the anticipated movement students consider between education providers and the related institutional processes supporting those secondary and post-secondary learners who actually do move with completed coursework or training that may be applicable to a degree pathway and published requirements.
The Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts (BISLA), located in the Old Town of Bratislava, Slovakia, is the first liberal arts college in Central Europe. A private, accredited three-year degree-granting undergraduate institution, it opened in September 2006.
Samuel Abrahám is rector of BISLA, a small liberal arts college in Bratislava, Slovakia. Samuel Abrahám studied political science and political philosophy at the University of Toronto and at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The Estonian Academy of Arts is the only public university in Estonia providing higher education in art, design, architecture, media, art history and conservation-restoration. It is based in Tallinn.
Leiden University College The Hague (LUC) is a small interdisciplinary Liberal Arts and Sciences honours college, part of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs of Leiden University. The institution's curriculums focus on tackling global challenges, such as peace and justice, sustainability, prosperity and diversity.
The Military Erasmus Programme, formally the European initiative for the exchange of young officers inspired by Erasmus, is an initiative undertaken by the European Union (EU) member states aimed at developing the exchanges between armed forces of future military officers as well as their teachers and instructors during their initial education and training. Due to the fact that the initiative is implemented by the Member States on a purely voluntary basis, their autonomy with regard to military training is not compromised.
University College Groningen (UCG) is a public liberal arts college based in Groningen, the Netherlands. The college offers a bachelor's degree in liberal arts and sciences. Established in 2014, the college currently has approximately 360 students. The university has a diversity of subjects and majors, from which students can choose. UCG is a Faculty of the University of Groningen, one of the world’s top 100 universities.