Welcome

This blog was created as part of the Erasmus Mundus Crossways in Cultural Narratives Masters programme, which is the only one of the EU approved and funded Erasmus Mundus Masters programmes to specialise in traditional humanities with a modern languages background. The Crossways Consortium comprises 6 top-class European universities.

For further information, please check the programme's official website and the universities' websites on the Useful Links section on the left. If you wish to have a specific question answered, please click on Email here and submit your query.

Mundus students, here you will find regular posts regarding the universities of the consortium, tips, activities, events, pictures, etc. Apart from checking it regularly to keep yourself up to date, a good way to use the blog is through the search device. We already have a significant amount of information on some universities of the consortium, so if you want to find information on a specific city, type its name in the search field (top left). You will then see all posts related to that specific city (because each post title contains the city's name in it). You can also type "General" in order to find information concerning everybody.

Thursday, 10 September 2009

Research Abstracts

As part of the effort to increase both the participation and the academic content of the Crossways blog, Roberta Gregoli suggested that we invite past and present members of the program to submit abstracts for the research that they are currently engaged in, be it for their Crossways Masters, or for further studies, or for conference or journal submission. Hopefully we can build up a data base of the research that has been performed and which is ongoing, enabling the demonstration of the academic quality of this program to potential employers, applicants and other stake holders.

Herewith the first abstract from Roberta Gregoli

TRANSNATIONAL RECEPTION OF CITY OF GOD AND ELITE SQUAD
GENDER, SPECTATORSHIP AND IDENTITY


Roberta Gregoli

Brazilian cinema has historically had a pivotal role in raising social issues. Recently, it has been the recipient of considerable attention worldwide, and a catalyst for the debate of urban problems such as social inequality, drug trafficking, and violence in the favelas (slums). Although the favela is not a new topos in Brazilian cinema, City of God (Cidade de Deus, 2002) and Elite Squad (Tropa de Elite, 2007) have been particularly successful in reviving its representation while problematising it in the public forum. Such vivid debate seems to reflect, and only be enabled by, spectators’ deep engagement with national film. Notwithstanding, despite the popularity of Brazilian cinema among the public, critics, and the media, the relationship between cinema and audience and its ability to reflect, as well as affect, social issues seem not to have been explored, there being a scarcity of research on film reception, particularly empirical, in Brazil. It is thus the aim of this study to investigate theories of reception and spectatorship through the analysis of audience reaction to City of God and Elite Squad. Due to current interest in transnational studies and the relevance of analysis involving empirical data, the two films are investigated through the examination of 238 responses collected from three groups: non-Brazilian, Brazilian middle class, and Brazilian favela inhabitants. The films will be examined through the weaving of empirical data and theories pertaining cinematic spectatorship, gender and the relationship between cinema and national identity. While analysis of the data has yielded thought-provoking insights on notions of masculinity and identity in the context of postmodern theorisation, the study advocates for further research in the field of cinematic spectatorship in Brazil.

15th EMA Newsletter

15th EMA Newsletter

Dear EMA members,

Summer is over, but EMA is starting with plenty of activities into the new academic year.

Please consider especially the Call for Articles for the next Emanate magazine, as well as Calls for Applications for two upcoming large EMA events: GeoMundus Symposium 2009 and Erasmus Mundus Second Thematic Conference "Communication and Dialogue on Energy and Sustainable Development".

Yours,

EMA


EMA

Call for Articles and Photos for New Emanate Magazine!
The next issue of Emanate, EMA's own magazine, will be published in late autumn. Submit your articles and photos until September 20, 2009, and take your chance to share your thoughts with the EMA members in the new issue![more]

Thematic Conference: Communication and Dialogue on Energy and Sustainable Development

Call for applications is now open for the second Erasmus Mundus Thematic Conference organized together with N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie, University of Groningen and DG for Culture and Education of the European Commission. [more]

Latin American Chapter Directive Board Elections - Polls are now open!

Members of EMA Latin American Chapter can cast their votes in the elections of the Directive Boards, starting from now on. Polls will be open until 18 September 2009. [more]

Call for Industry Contacts! And other Updates from the EMA’s Jobs & Career Team.

Here you will find an update on the Jobs and Careers Team industrial networking, vacancies and outreach activities along with a glimpse of what is in store from the Team for this year... [more]

EMA Steering Committee Handover Meeting Report Online!

The Handover Meeting of EMA Steering Committee took place from 17 to 18 July 2009 in Frankfurt. [more]

EMA Taiwan Network

EMA Taiwan Network announces its upcoming activities and events. All Taiwanese EM students and alumni are invited to join the network! [more]

Iqbal Akbar New President of EMA SEA Chapter!

EMA South East Asia Chapter has conducted its presidential elections over the past weeks. Of the three candidates, Iqbal Akbar has won the presidency in a landslide victory... [more]

Field Reporter: Festival MED’s 6th edition!

From June 24th-28th, 2009, this year's Festival MED (http://www.festivalmed.com.pt) in Loulé, Portugal, showed once again its growth in the world music festival scene. Ariadna Purroy Albet experienced it also as an encounter and mixture of cultures in gastronomy, exhibitions, handicrafts and animated theater. [more]

Spanish Fulbright Alumni Association invites EMA Representative to Annual Dinner

Andrea Piehl was invited to represent EMA at the annual dinner of the Spanish Fulbright Association. In the following report, she discusses her impressions and the experiences of other Student and Alumni Associations, which she believes are valuable for the EMA as well... [more]

EMA invited to ALGANT Graduation Ceremony

Dane Lukic of EMA Conferences and Events Team (CAT) was present at the ALGANT graduation ceremony as official EMA representative. Read his report for expressions and suggestions... [more]

Field Report: Body World Exhibition in Seville

EM student Praveen Kumar, in his function as a Field Reporter for EMA, has made an exiting trip to Body World in Seville. The exposition has been discussed controversely throughout European media. Read the first hand account here... [more]

EMA Regional Chapter CIS and Mongolia

Online elections were held to choose the president and the vice-president of the newly launched EMA Chapter. [more]


Erasmus Mundus Programme

Upcoming Erasmus Mundus Event: GeoMundus Symposium 2009!
GeoMundus is the inaugural Erasmus Mundus Symposium on Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences to be held in Lisbon from October 30 to November 1, 2009 . The organizing committee is a group of students from the Erasmus Mundus Masters in Geospatial Technologies Program. [more]

Erasmus Mundus Pre-departure Orientation in Russia


The first Erasmus Mundus pre-departure orientation for Russian students took place in Moscow on 31 July 2009 in the office of the EC delegation to the Russian Federation. [more]


International Education Events

Opportunity for Environment Activists - EarthCorps International program
The internationally recognized organization EarthCorps offers a learning program in Seattle, Washington State. Find out more about the great opportunity to participipate in the 6-months program that charges no tuition or fees here...[more]

Climate 2009 - Online Conference

The 2nd online Climate Conference "Klima 2009/Climate 2009" will be held from 2nd to 6th November 2009. This year's conference will focus on the latest scientific findings and information on social, economic and political aspects of the climate change. [more]


One Issue One Programme

MSc in NeBCC – The Bits and Bytes of Information Technology and e-Business
MSc in Network and e-Business Centered Computing is today the focus of "One issue - One Programme" special feature... [more]

Wednesday, 9 September 2009

2nd CROSSWAYS GENERAL MEETING

2nd CROSSWAYS GENERAL MEETING

It is my pleasure to announce that the tradition started by Roberta Gregoli will continue this year, with the 2nd Crossways General Meeting of Students. The GM allows students from all the 7 universities from the consortium to meet and discuss the changes that should be made to the program. Last year, issues such as that of the heavy workload in the 2nd semester, were addressed to the director of the program after being discussed in the GM, and are now in the process of being changed. In addition, the General Meeting is a great opportunity to meet another university, another city, and students who otherwise you wouldn’t have met.

Where: Lisbon, Portugal

When: November 13-15, 2009

This year, for the first time, the Alumni meeting will be parallel to the students’ meeting, allowing for joint activities and discussions regarding the past, present and future of the program. In addition, students will have the opportunity to explore Lisbon and its wonders! Financial help will be available for accommodation in hostels.

If you are interested in participating, please send me an email (guerreiro.asofia@gmail.com) before Wednesday, 30th September and let me know how many nights you’re spending in Lisbon, so that accommodation costs can be calculated.

I hope to see you all there!

Sunday, 6 September 2009

Erasmus Mundus in Brazil Network

If you are a Brazilian Erasmus Mundus student or alumni, please read the following message in Portuguese.


Prezad@ ex-alun@ Erasmus Mundus,

Como parte da iniciativa de divulgar o programa Erasmus Mundus no território nacional, venho convidá-l@s a participar do grupo Erasmus Mundus no Brasil (http://groups.google.com/group/mundus-no-brasil).
Os objetivos do grupo são:

- Estabelecer uma rede sólida entre alumni brasileir@s de maneira a promover interação social e profissional;
- Discutir maneiras eficientes de promover e divulgar o EM no Brasil, bem como auxiliar candidat@s brasileir@s no processo de seleção;
- Organizar e realizar palestras informativas;
- Compartilhar materiais promocionais e promover treinamentos informais, de maneira que todos transmitamos a mesma mensagem.

Para entrar no grupo, por favor acesse
Google Groups
Subscribe to Erasmus Mundus no Brasil
Email:
Visit this group
e clique em "Sign in and apply for membership".

A Rede EM no Brasil está em crescimento constante, tendo realizado mais de 10 visitas a universidades brasileiras, participado uma feira de educação de grande porte (ExpoBelta 2009) e em encontros de assessores internacionais.

Adoraríamos ter você a bordo! Você escolhe se quer participar mais ou menos ativamente (através da função "Edit my membership", onde você escolhe se quer receber emails diários ou não).

Qualquer dúvida ou esclarecimento, não hesite em me contactar pessoalmente em roberta.gregoli@ema-la.eu

Esperamos ver você em breve!

Roberta Gregoli
MA Erasmus Mundus Crossways in Humanities
University of Sheffield, Université de Perpignan and Universidade Nova de Lisboa

EMA Country Representative for Brazil
EMA Latin America Promotions Team