MIREES main characteristics are based on: 1) aninternational Faculty (provided by partnership); 2) an international students'environment (provided by an internationally wide students' enrollment); 3) acompulsory students' mobility within the partnership; 4) a strong researchcomponent; 5) language skills; 6) interdisciplinarity; 7) a wide and intensivemethodology aimed to encourage active participation and to provideorganizational, analytical, multifunctional, cross-cultural mindset skills andempathy towards the geopolitical Area of specialization.
Indeed, the main educational goals of MIREESProgram are inspired by a comprehensive rationale, marked by the following:
- Providinga specialized, in-depth regional knowledge of the Post-socialist Countries intransition, the new EU member States after the Enlargements of 2004 and 2007,as well as the New East-European Neighbor Countries;
- Encouragingan interdisciplinary approach, able to encompass economic, social, politicaland cultural studies and understand their interaction and interdependency;
- Invigoratinganalytical skills with language expertise and transnational mobility, in orderto get access to primary sources, strengthen the empathic approach to the areaof studies and diversities on the basis of the 1996 UNESCO report Learning theTreasure Within and its four pillars of education applied to MIREESpeculiarities (i.e. Learning to know: the Area studies; Learning 08/04/2014 todo: analytical, research, organizational and other skills as reported in theabove boxes;
- Learningto Live Together: thanks to mobility, international environment andcross-cultural communication; Learning to Be: building a strong sense of socialresponsibility to public and common goals in terms of trust, knowledge andcooperation).
- Equippingthe students with multifunctional abilities through an educational 2-yearsprogram, whose disciplinary learning goals are expended by a set ofproficiencies in terms of work organization, respect of deadlines, multipleobligations to fulfill, dynamic life experiences, transnational and cross-cultural commitments and challenges.
Thanks to these comprehensive learning goals,MIREES combines an academic approach with professional training, forging potentialinsightful consultants, analysts, and managers as Area Experts forinternational agencies, public administrations, Ministries and EU institutions,private and public companies, NGOs, and Research and Study Centers, while alsooffering a solid basis for further academic studies at the PhD level.
Eachstudent attends the third semester abroad in one of the partner Universities inorder to fulfill the required number of University credits while the fourthsemester is devoted to the thesiswriting and implementation.
Students are expected to attend the firstsemester of the second year in one of the partner Universities for at least 5months. The student mobility can be carried out also at an associated partnerUniversity, on the basis of separate specific agreements. The mobility is anintegral part of the student teaching program and is aimed at carrying outeducational activities in order to fulfill the required number of Universitycredits as well as the research activities related to the master's thesis.
Living and studying for a semester in a MIREESPartner University allow students to combine knowledge, fieldwork, and concreteexperience on the ground. In addition, they will become aware of the importanceof learning different languages (even less used or taught languages) andperspectives in order to get access to local primary sources, to become moreopen minded and tolerant in the context of multilingual and multiculturalEurope, to acquire an insightful empathy towards the Area for his/her owninterest. As a result, they will be better prepared in managing differences,cross-cultural communication, transnational interaction as well as in rooting asense of co-ownership of the process of European integration.
Therefore, as soon as the 1st and 2nd term arespent in Italy, where in any case the Faculty is international and provided bythe partner Universities, MIREES students can experience their mobility andattend courses in the 3rd semester in another academic institutions after theperiod of study in Italy.
The selection of the University partner for themobility period is to be negotiated with the MIREES International AcademicBoard (IAB) on the basis of the following:
- Theteaching plan and the thesis project
- Thestudent's skills developed during the first year of study in Forlì andmotivation (including language skills)
- Thenumber of available exchange places offered by the hosting University.
MIREES mobility is provided by Erasmus+, by theMIREES Mobility Scheme (MMS, for European countries or students who are noteligible to the Erasmus+ scholarships) or by any other bilateral agreement withthe University of Bologna. Exceptions might be considered by the IAB andinvolve the Associate partners' Universities.
One of the main peculiarities of MIREES programis its research component. Particularly, students are strongly encouraged toimprove their research and data processing skills by collecting essentialsources for their thesis work in the geo-political field as well as in theselected disciplinary field through fieldworks. This is one of the main task oftheir mobility experience in one of the Partner Universities during the 3rdsemester.
Moreover, in order to strengthen the researchdimension, a compulsory methodological seminar is foreseen during the secondyear (between February and March), when students are expected to present awork-in-progress of their thesis research, including research questions,bibliography, and one chapter to an international Commission of Mireesprofessors. These work-in-progress seminars take place in the Universities werestudents spend their mobility and in Forlì, for those who are spending themobility in Associated Universities. Furthermore, during the second year,students are warmly invited to apply to apply and submit paper proposals tointernational convention: if included in panels they can compete for a MIREESgrant.
The 4th semester, when no teaching activity isscheduled, is completely devoted to the thesis writing and implementation.
Finally, during the whole academic year and forthe purpose of expanding its range of cultural activities, MIREES organizes orpromotes together with other subjects, many extra-curricular activities (inparticular conferences, seminars, workshops, book presentations, cinema events,summer schools) on topics relating to the challenges of modern society inpolitical, historical, economic and sociological thought concerning theEastward enlargement of EU, relationships with new neighbors and the changestaking place in Central, Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
