Interzones - EACEA Report

Herewith further information regarding the Interzones doctoral program. The following information is drawn from the executive summary of the Education, Audiovisual & Cultural Executive Agency (EACEA) Joint Doctoral Program Evaluation Report and highlights several aspects of the program that were particularly interesting to the Education, Audiovisual & Cultural Executive Agency and which were consequently key in the decision to support the application.

One of the first elements which the committee commented upon as a particularly strong point in the program was the use of a poly-systemic and trans-disciplinary (as opposed to interdisciplinary) approach as well as the use of a broad set of comparative perspectives (past-present, geographical distance & cultural difference) in order to enable the potential doctoral students to “credibly anticipate the forthcoming challenges of European research”. Students who have already been involved in the Mundus Masters program will be familiar with the variety of approaches that are encouraged and, moreover, stimulated, by the ever changing academic environment in which the students find themselves. Quite evidently the doctoral program builds on this, in including 2 non-European universities, the diversity of this program is emphasised and students will consequently benefit from an exposure to vastly different ways of life both social and academic. The committee emphasise precisely this, valorising the lifetime and professional experience garnered as a result of zigzagging from one continent to the other in the course of the doctoral program. They also highlight the strong academic nature of the program and the challenging and enthusiastic approach that the doctoral program takes, as well as the importance placed on future “employability” given the links that have been and will continue to be forged between both partner institutions and the private sector.

Further remarks of importance include those related to the experience and excellence of the members of the committee that will run the doctoral program (including Prof. Didier Girard.) as well as their success in the Mundus program (it should be noted that the new and revised Mundus Masters Student handbook has been praised as an example of good practice by the EACEA – and as regards current Mundus students, it should be available at the start of the semester, if not earlier, from your respective universities). The EACEA praised the concept of a doctoral student logbook that would help enable supervision to be well coordinated and largely seamless between the various universities that doctoral students will attend. In a similar manner to the Mundus program, an internal blog will be created to facilitate communication, as well as an extensive website, which remains for the time being under construction.

In conclusion, while there are some small critiques regarding the nature of the organisation (for instance, poorly defined roles for certain participants, and a lack of external body assessment of the program) these critiques are easily surmountable and moreover, having been noted in the official report are sure to be addressed by Prof. Girard and his team in the coming months before the start of the program. Finally, the report notes clearly the “already elite and groundbreaking reputation” of the Interzones Doctoral program leaving no doubt that this is one of the most exciting multilingual and multinational programs in the humanities.