To articulate why culture matters, to formulate a philosophy of practice that develops students’ and teachers’ cultural competence and to plead for the value of culture as a component of a university education, these are the desired outcomes of the Transatlantic Dialogue that will take place in the Abbaye de Neumünster from 4 to 6 June 2014.

The “Transatlantic Dialogue” was first created in 2008 as a collaborative effort between the University of Luxembourg and Miami University/Ohio. The second Transatlantic Dialogue was organised in May 2011 with the theme “Living Culture in the University - Developing Citizens of the World”.

The 2014 Transatlantic Dialogue Conference, entitled “A Vision for a Global Citizenship”, will focus on examining the critical role of culture for developing students and teachers who think broadly, who recognise and respect cultural diversity and heritage, and whose commitment to the arts conduct to personal authenticity and innovation.

Economic constraints put pressure on policy makers, educators and students to consider whether liberal arts curriculum vs. one focused more narrowly on vocational preparation is central to the educational mission or, rather, an ideal that is no longer relevant or affordable. The goal of the conference is to dig deeply into key questions that help assess the value of embedding culture into higher, respectively, basic education curricula.

The conference days, organised by Espace Cultures, the cultural department of the University of Luxembourg, directed by François Carbon, will be devoted to specific themes and questions:

• How do culture and broad education prepare students and teachers to become globally literate and responsible citizens?
• How can culture be embedded in academia and in daily life?

Starting from the idea that having obtained a broad (cultural) education is beneficial for individuals as well as for society, the conference wants to explore how this idea is reflected in educational policy making and practice on both sides of the Atlantic.

> > > Note also in the framework of the 3rd Transatlantic Dialogue Conference:

• the special Open air Concert Pure BLUEGRASS by the ‘Wise Guys’ University College Virginia at Wise conducted by Rick Galyean.
• ‘Im Reich der Mitte’, a multilingual authors’ reading by Regiofactum, Edudrame Student Theater Group & Landgang ‘Food for your senses’.

On Thursday, 5 June 2014 at 8:00 pm at the Place d’Armes
Open to the public!
No need to sign up!
Contact Dany Weyer for further information.