Joint Degree in Political Geography (POLGEO)

An international cooperation under the Erasmus+ funding line of the European Union.

Project number

101127749

Members of Consortium

• University of Ostrava, Faculty of Science, Department of Human Geography and Regional Development – leader of the consortium; programme coordinator Assoc. Prof. Vincenc Kopeček
• Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Science, Department of Social and Economic Geography, Assoc. Prof. Ferenc Gyuris
• Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Department of Human Geography, Prof. Giorgi Gogsadze
• Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Faculty of Geography, Prof. Kostyantyn Mezentsev

Duration

October 2023 – December 2024

Funding

The project is co-funded with 55.000€ from the Erasmus+ funding line, Key Action 2 (Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters) of the European Union.

Project Description

The goal of the project is to develop a new, innovative, high-standard, integrated transnational Joint Master Degree Programme in Political Geography, as well as to enhance the capacities of the involved institutions to modernize and internationalize their curricula and teaching practices.

The specific objectives of the proposed project are:

1. To develop a fully integrated curriculum delivered by the four involved universities, which will lead to a joint degree, include compulsory physical mobility for all recruited students, and aim at recruiting excellent students worldwide;
2. To develop a normative and procedural framework of the Joint Degree Programme;
3. To launch an accreditation process at the involved institutions.

The members of the project team work in thematically defined working groups, in which they address every single aspect necessary for designing and running the Joint Degree Programme. The main outputs of the project will be

1. The Partnership Agreement, which will stipulate core rules and procedures of inter-institutional cooperation;
2. The Accreditation Files which will be submitted to respective accreditation bodies;
3. The Student Agreement which will provide extensive information on rights and obligations of both the Consortium and the students;
4. The Programme Conduct Manual, which will be a detailed guiding document towards successful realization of the programme and will address practical steps in admission, internal evaluation, work with alumni, marketing strategy, etc.;
5. The programme website.

The previously mentioned outputs will result into launching the accreditation processes in the four involved institutions and eventually applying for Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters programme.

The goals of study in the study programme

The curriculum of the joint degree programme in Political Geography (POLGEO) is based on the principle of critical geography, which leads students to think about power, politics and space in alternative and innovative ways. In addition, the program emphasizes applied research and field trips during which students will engage in project-based learning or community-oriented participatory research. In this way, students will learn to integrate geographic knowledge through the example of a smaller region or locality. Modern teaching methods, including hybrid forms of teaching (e.g. COIL, etc.) will be used in the teaching, which will allow students to fully exploit the capacities of all participating universities within the consortium. Students can specialise in certain sub-topics according to their preferences, e.g. economic diplomacy, international development, international conflicts and separatism, border studies, urban geopolitics, etc., or in selected macro-regions, mainly Central and Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, but also post-Soviet Eurasia, the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, the Arctic, or Indo-Pacific Asia).

Profile of the absolvent of the study programme

In addition to a sound theoretical foundation reflecting the main theoretical debates within human geography in general and political geography in particular, students will acquire solid methodological skills such as working with qualitative, quantitative and spatial data (GIS). Students' employability in the labour market is enhanced by the involvement of practitioners in the teaching and the offer of internships and placements in partner organisations. Typical areas of employment for graduates of the programme include diplomacy, public administration, international organisations, NGOs and think tanks focusing on international politics, migration, human rights or international development, and possibly in the media focusing on international politics or private business companies focusing mainly on international trade.

Rules and conditions of the creation of study plans

The design of the study is based on the agreement of the parties involved, which states that:

1. The student begins his/her studies at the University of Ostrava, where he/she spends the first semester.
2. The student spends the second semester at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest.
3. The student spends the third semester either at the Taras Schevchenko National University in Kyiv, or the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.
4. The student spends the fourth semester at selected university from the consortium, where he/she will work on the master thesis.