The Open Sky project aims at carrying out information and communication activities, at local level, in the Euro-Mediterranean Region, covering subjects related to the European Union and its cultural, social and economic relationships with MEDA Area Partners. The circulating of a proper information concerning the political-institutional structure of the European Union, the managing of common policies and processes leading to the articulated network of international relations, represent an essential and sensitive objective in the delicate and complex historical phase the European construction is going through.
This is especially true either from the point of view of the balance between member States, represented by the European Union bodies and from the viewpoint of the Union’s political, economic and social relations with strategically relevant actors, such as the Arabic world and the Mediterranean countries and territories. Starting from the outcomes achieved in the context of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, the new objectives to be achieved – which will contribute to establish stabler and richer relationships between European and Mediterranean countries, based upon a mutual knowledge, understanding and tolerance – are considered as a priority issue.
In order to achieve this goal, we intend to promote a distance education pattern focussing on the subject: the European Culture. This is a general preparatory course addressed to graduated and under graduated people interested in a more specific Master title.
In order to promote the Master, a quiz-based contest involving the MEDA countries’universities will be organized, in which all the students of the universities supporting the project can participate.
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A) The Contest and Quiz among MEDA Universities
The contest among Universities will take place among the Universities of the MEDA countries and territories (approximately 300) that will have accepted our proposal and will include the following 4 successive activities:
1. The promotion of the contest among the Universities
2. The selection of the participants
3. The rules of the game and the related organisation
4. The prizes.
The utilisation of different communication means shall be considered: Internet, university magazines, terrestrial and satellite television channels.
A.1 Promotion of the Contest
The promotion and visibility activities will be disseminated on internal magazines. The inclusion of a link on their Internet site can be considered including an presentation of the project, but also the distribution of flyers or the production of advertising spots on local and national television channels or the adoption of any other available tool, provided that they are appropriate for the dissemination of the event. This promotional activities will be supervised and supported by UNINETTUNO.
Every University will be free to organise for its own student courses of any kind between the beginning of the promotional period and the beginning of the contest in view of the first intra-university selections. UNINETTUNO project team will assure its support in organising these activities, if required to do so.
Consequently, the graduates and the other university students will have to register for the contest by a fixed deadline.
A.2 Rules of the Game
A.2.1– National Contest
The first selection of the participants will be made at national level in one or even more of the universities participating in the initiative. Those who are willing to participate will have to register via the internet on the UNINETTUNO website and will have to physically participate in the selection. The information about the universities where the first contest will take place will be available in the “news” section of the site. The contest will be based upon 20 questions on different items relating to the European Union and prepared by the Scientific Management Committee on the basis of the video-lessons that will be transmitted for a month on the internet and on the two satellite channels RAI NETTUNO SAT 1 and RAI NETTUNO SAT 2.
Each MEDA partner will have the freedom to set up its own rules for the national selection, according to the number of the participating universities and to any other national circumstances. Each national contest will be controlled by a committee which is going to verify that rules are followed. The committee will be nominated among the university professors of the university that is hosting the event. Each question will correspond to a certain score. The winners (up to a maximum of three for each country) will be those with the highest score. In case of equal scoring, the committee will select the best participants through a series of oral questions, by which they will select (unquestionably) the three students that are going to participate in the international contest.
In order to maximise the project visibility, the organisation of the national events will be made in close cooperation with the participating universities and, if possible, by means of local TV channels. Anyhow, the broadcasting and re-broadcasting of the contest will be guaranteed by UNINETTUNO, thanks to its two satellite channels
A.2.2– International Contest
The winners at the national level will compete in an international contest, for which a specific knowledge of all European topics will be required.
The three members of the jury will be nominated by the Scientific Management Committee.
The contest will be filmed and broadcasted via satellite and, if possible, on the national television channels of the participating countries. To this purpose, a co-operation with COPEAM (Permanent Conference of the Mediterranean Audiovisual) has already started in order to attract as many local television channels as possible, beginning from the first edition of the contest..
A.3 The Prizes
The winners of the contest within the different universities will be awarded with the free attendance to the Master course.
Their travel, hotel and subsistence expenses will be charged to UNINETTUNO. The travel, hotel and subsistence expenses of the three winners of the national selection that are going to participate in the international contest will be charged to UNINETTUNO.
The three final winners will be invited to travel to Brussels to visit the European Institutions for three days. Their travel, hotel and subsistence expenses will be charged to UNINETTUNO.
A.4 Final comments on the contest among the MEDA Universities
The creation of an internet site is proposed (or a page in the local newspapers or of the university magazines) where the implementation of the contest can be followed, as well as the performance of the teams at all moments. The scores obtained will be shown, as well as mini-reportages and interviews completed by photos. This information tool would have the function of “digital gazette” for example between supporters and teams and to enhance the international visibility of both the programme and the University/Faculty.
For the implementation of the last phase of the contest, the international one, a European country can host the contest chosen between Italy (Rome) and Jordan (Amman, on the Dead Sea) or any other EU or MEDA country or territory, based upon the interest shown by the local authorities and television channels. This selection will be made in close cooperation with the Contracting Authority.
The contest can be broadcasted by the two satellite television channels managed by UNINETTUNO and will be made available for free to all local televisions and in the participating territories and in the EU member states, as well as in the concerned countries.
B) Master in European Culture
Today the European Union constitutes a real political actor, both in Europe and at international level. The current acceleration of the integration process is strictly linked to the globalisation of the economy and to the need of the European countries to face the new political, social and economic challenges.
The debate on the role and future of the European Union also reflects the need to understand and integrate in this supranational “hybrid” entity.
The idea of a Master in European Culture addressed to MEDA students has been conceived and developed in order to face some of the challenges emerging from this difficult context of reference. Therefore a deeper knowledge of the European Union by the citizens of the Euro-Mediterranean countries is to be hoped for.
The Master’s distance modules are defined and developed by UNINETTUNO according to the instructions of the Scientific Management Committee in charge of the Master. The above committee, directed by Prof. Franco Cardini from the ISU Institute of the University of Florence, is composed also of other intellectuals from the Euro-Mediterranean regions, leaders of the project: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia.
The main assignment of the Committee of Scientific Management will be to define and to confirm the Master proposed by the President of the Master Prof. Franco Cardini
B.1 Educational objectivs
The program main objective consists in offering to university students and to graduated people a specialised education in the field of European studies. In particular, the Master is focused on European Culture, namely on the long constituting process of an effective unitary yet articulated European identity, in the respect of the diversities constituting Europe itself, for which Mr. Cacciari’s apt interpretation has been adopted: Europe as a cultural Archipelago, unitary yet composite inside.
B.2 Structure and content of the modules
The Scientific Management Committee has identified the following structure for the Master.
5 main modules and 5 optional modules are envisaged.
Each main module is composed of 10 hours of videolessons and 20 hours of exercises and online tutoring, carried out by the MEDA Universities that will support the students in choosing their study programmes and in preparing for the exams.
Each one of the additional modules envisages 5 hours of videolessons and 10 hours of exercises.
The Master course will end with the preparation of a final dissertation in which the students should demonstrate their capacity to orientate themselves and to deal with the topics treated by the didactic programme.
The title is issued by UNINETTUNO and will be countersigned by the respective MEDA universities supplying the tutoring activities. It will be functional and preparatory for the students wishing to attend the Master in European Studies at the College of Europe of Bruges (Belgium) and at the Institutes d’Etudes Politiques of Paris (France).
The Master’s languages will be English, Arabic and French.
Main Modules
The students must attend 5 distance modulesof 10 hours each:
1stMODULE: The 20th Century European History
Prof. Franco Cardini, Full Professor of Medieval History, Istituto Superiore di Scienze Umanistiche – Florence (Italy)
Prof. Lea Campos Boralevi, Professor of History of Political Doctrines – University of Florence (Italy) – Department of Social Sciences
Strongly characterising subjects to be taken into consideration in structuring the course contents:
- The identity self-awareness and the concept of West
- The historical "roots" of Europe: the great issues (I)
- The historical "roots" of Europe: the great issues (II)
- The times of history. The concept of Long Middle Ages
- The "religions" of history.
More specifically, the titles of the 10 lessons are as follows:
The identity self-awareness and the concept of West |
The historical "roots" of Europe: the great issues I |
The historical "roots" of Europe: the great issues II |
The times of history I |
The times of history II |
The religions of history I |
The religions of history II |
The development of single-party political systems and totalitarianism I |
The development of single-party political systems and totalitarianism II |
Freedom and the rights of the liberal and socialist tradition |
2nd MODULE: Economy of the European Integration
Prof. Kiril Ribarov, Professor at Charles University of Prague (Czech Republic) – Chair of Business Administration
Prof. Nicolas Vernicos, Department of Cultural Technology and Communication - Aegean University - Greece
Topics characterising the course contents:
- European culture and the Economic Sciences
- From the industrial revolution to the European Integration. Short economic history of contemporary Europe
- Beyond the welfare state and post-capitalism
- The governance of the economy at global scale
3rd MODULE: The European Union and its Institutions
Prof. Sandro Gozzi, Professor at the College of Europe, Bruges and Professor at the Institutes d’Etude Politique de Paris Science Po.
Prof. Pier Virgilio Dastoli, Director of the Office of the Representation of the European Commission in Rome
4th MODULE: European Political and Legal System
Pierpaolo Settembre, Researcher at the EIPA, European Institute of Public Administration, Maastricht (Belgium)
Prof. Saverio Sticchi Damiani, Professor of Law of the Public Heritage – Economics Faculty, University of Lecce (Italy)
Topics characterising the course contents:
- Birth and evolution of the European Union
- Human dignity and the guarantee of the protection of the fundamental rights within the process of constitution of the European Union
- The humanitarian action in the European Policies
- The protection of man’s fundamental rights
5th MODULE: The EU in the international context
Prof. Cosimo Risi, Professor of International Relations – University of Salerno (Italy)
Prof. Mohammed Al-Momany, Assistant Dean, Faculty of Arts - Political Science Department - Yarmouk University
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Optional Modules
The students will have to attend 5 modules of 5 hours each as listed below:
1st MODULE : Freedom and Human Rights in the EU
Emilio De Capitani, Secretary of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs at the European Parliament
Prof. Lea Campos Boralevi, Professor of History of Political Doctrines – University of Florence (Italy) – Department of Social Sciences
Topics characterising the course contents:
- Humankind, Human Rights and Moral Dignity (the anti-utilitarian thinking?)
- Western Europe: ways of facing different cultures
- Law and religion in European societies facing the questions brought about by globalisation
- Democracy and rights
- Freedom and rights in the liberal and socialist tradition
- The emancipation of women in Europe
2nd MODULE: Foreign and Commercial Policy
Alessandro Fusacchia, Researcher at the European University Institute of Florence (Italy)
Topics characterising the course contents:
- Cooperation for development in European policies
- European Policies (agriculture, etc)
3rd MODULE: Euromediterranean cultural heritage
Prof. Jean-Frederic Schaub, Director of Etudes at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales - EHESS – Paris
- The western Phoenician world as measure of the Mediterranean world
- From Syria to the West, the role of the Mediterranean Sea in the development of the Greek and Latin Culture
- The Mediterranean historical-cultural heritage
- Valorisation and protection strategies of the Euromediterranean archaeological heritage
4th MODULE : The Enlarged Europe and its influsence on the MEDA countries and territories
Prof. Attallah Al-Jundi - Chairman - Department of Political Science - Faculty of Arts - Yarmouk University – Jordan
- The enlargement of the European Union, issues and prospects
- Turkey as part of Europe
- The Union’s foreign policy after the enlargement
- The enlarged Europe and the MEDA Countries
- The Enlarged Mediterranean Frontiers of Europe
5th MODULE: The Globalisation in a multicultural world
Prof. Danilo Zolo, Full Professor of Philosophy of Law, Law Faculty, University of Florence (Italy)
- Social and political perspectives on Globalisation and Culture
- Globalisation and protection of the national cultural heritages
- The European Union as a new international actor
- Globalisation and cultures
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Students are supposed to attend a total amount of 180 hours programme including videolessons and on-line practice exercises. Courses will be attended via Internet or by satellite television. Professors of the different participating universities will be able to give their contributions to record videolessons and, if possible, the Commissioners, or Commission’s high-level staff will be invited to take part in the recording of these videolessons.
On-line tutoring, carried out by MEDA Universities, will support students in choosing their study programmes and in preparing for the exams. It will be possible to participate in on-line seminars and in research work groups organised in collaboration with the professors of the European Universities. Exams will take place in the respective universities.
The Master course will end with the preparation of a final dissertation (10,000 – 12,000 words) in which the students should demonstrate their capacity to orientate themselves and to deal with the topics treated by the didactic programme.
The title will be issued by UNINETTUNO and will be countersigned by the respective MEDA universities responsible for tutoring activities.
The Master course will be promoted and advertised over the MEDA countries and territories through a inter-university contest conceived to take place among approximately 300 Universities. The same Universities will be later on invited to actively work at organising the Master course at their own sites, assuring the tutoring activities.
The Master course includes a total amount of 60 ECTS, it is managed by UNINETTUNO and is functional to the preparation of the MEDA students willing to attend a Master in the field of European studies within the Universities associated to UNINETTUNO or in any other University participating in the Jean Monnet Action.
B.3 Languages of the courses
The languages used in the Master are English, French and Arabic .
B.4 Requisite for the admission
The course is addressed to citizens of the MEDA countries and territories; they must be graduated or be at least university students, preferably in Social or Political Sciences, Sociology, Law, History or Economics.
Neverthless, applications from all kinds of faculties will be taken into consideration.
Students must demonstrate to have a good command of English or French.
