Target area:	Higher Education Development
Sub-target area:	Curriculum Development
Target countries:	Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine
Duration:	December 2009 - Juli 2018
Partners:	ERSTE Foundation
Budget line:	ERSTE Foundation
Amount (€):	256.000€

Project description

PATTERNS is a transnational program initiated by ERSTE Foundation and implemented by WUS Austria.

The program supports the development of university courses in the fields ofartistic research, art history, cultural theory and cultural studies. The fourth edition of the programme focuses on new artistic and activist practices, new social movements and their significance for the recent cultural history in Central and South Eastern Europe (CEE). The programme aims to research, analyse and understand different aspects of cultural practices related to the transformation of society, life, art and culture in CEE, while accounting for the pluralities that characterise the region.

The programme stresses critical methodology as well as innovative and interactive teaching practices. It encourages international academic exchange by enabling lecturers to go on study visits and offer guest lectures by international colleagues.

 

What?

The programme supports courses that have been recently developed and have not been offered before. The courses should critically analyse the period after 1989 up to the present day and

• deal with cultural and social phenomena including aspects of popular, marginal, parallel and counter culture
• focus on new artistic and activist practices
• ask how and if art contributes to society and investigate the potential and limits of art
• stress aspects of migration, nationalism, xenophobia and homophobia
• deal with social movements and socially engaged art
• stress aspects of ecology and environmental issues in art production
• reflect on "peripheries" and "margins" understanding them regionally, culturally and politically

 

How?

The courses should

• examine interdisciplinary and cross-cultural history in CEE
• involve critical methodology
• integrate innovative and interactive teaching practices
• offer practical and theoretical perspectives of the topic
• offer comparative analysis
• deal with social aspects of art practices and educational practices in art and curating
• encourage students to become active citizens and practice democracy
• reflect ethical and political aspects of teaching

 

Who the program supports:

The call is directed at lecturers at public universities in CEE who offer study programmes in the fields of artistic research, art history, cultural theory, cultural studies and cultural sciences as well as related fields. Course proposals by external lecturers must be integrated into the framework of a public higher education institution. Please note that upon receiving a grant, the university is expected to have a working contract with the lecturer who implements the PATTERNS Lectures course.