European and International Exchanges

The College has been actively involved in European Higher Education Initiatives since the Erasmus Programme began in the 1980s. Significant student and staff mobility has been supported by the Socrates Erasmus Programme. It has been through the formal acknowledgment of initially European networks and latterly European bilateral exchange relationships that the value of such a policy has become evident.

The consistency of the relationships has been due significantly to the possibility of funding student and staff exchange programs on a regular basis through the Socrates Erasmus programme. The impact of European exchange programs on curriculum development has been considerable. It has helped to maintain and develop an already established international profile.

The Socrates-Erasmus Programme has also funded intensive projects and the development of a European module which has brought together a number of European institutions to share not only the development of approaches to teaching and learning but also to engage with a number of significant issues of contemporary arts practice and research.

Our Woodlane and Tremough campuses have built strong links with Western and Central European HE Institutions. Current and active Bilateral Agreements with Universities and HE Institutions are established in Belgium, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands and Turkey. We also have international Bilateral Agreements with Australia, Japan and Canada. Further details and a list of all Institutions collaborating with our Woodlane & Tremough campuses in Exchange Programmes is available.

In recent years the links with Central and Eastern Europe have been developed and supported by the inclusion of these countries in the Socrates Erasmus programme. Our Dartington campus has current and active Bilateral Agreements with Universities and HE Institutions in Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Hungary and Lithuania. Further details and a list of all Institutions collaborating with our Dartington campus in Exchange Programmes is available.

A Socrates funded Intensive project was hosted by Dartington called 'Devising for Live Performance'. This was an extremely successful event with 14 European Colleges, Universities and professional organisations taking part in workshops, performances, presentations, lectures and 'talkshops'. The event, its documentation and dissemination, was particularly useful for curriculum development within the participating Institutions and in a number of other Higher Education Arts Institutions throughout Europe and the USA.

The development of Taught Masters and postgraduate work in our Performance courses has increased student mobility at a different level. The distinctive MA in Performance and Cultural location in Contemporary Europe has student mobility built in to Part 2 of the course. University College Falmouth, in collaboration with a number of partners in Europe MACAPP, has established a shared Masters programme with the title MA in Critical Arts Practice and Dissemination. There are four existing partners from Gerona, Rotterdam, Vilnius and Ljubljana and new partnerships being developed with Universities and professional organisations in Zagreb, Berlin, Madrid and Cagliari. Two ‘gatherings’ have taken place so far this year, in Gerona and Ljubjana. The next ‘gathering’ will be on the Dartington campus in October 2008. The development of the MA has been supported by the European Union Erasmus Curriculum Development Programme.

Performance has just completed a Grundtvig project co-ordinated by the University of Graz. The project has developed a Life-long Learning project 'Theatre in Social Fields', which our School of Performance has contributed to through teaching expertise, experience in the field and student collaboration. Performance also organised the documentation and dissemination of this work. The second phase of the project was called Theatre Work in Social Fields European Research TWISFER. This involved Performance in a distinctive research project in collaboration with Exeter Youth Offending Team called No Fear Theatre for Wicked Kids.