Paper short abstract:

In the presentation I will explore possibilities of collaboration across national borders, institutions and disciplines and contribute to a discussion about how we can learn from various universities and institutions, programs, framework of studies, and everyday practices.

Paper long abstract:

Last autumn the SIEF Interactive Map of University Departments and Programs in European Ethnology, Folklore Studies, and (Europeanist) Anthropology was launched on the SIEF homepage. For the first time it was possible to get an overview, and therefore a more holistic picture, of the different fields that form SIEF. Furthermore, through the interactive map one can directly visit the homepages of various program that are given within respective institutions. That is a great beginning! But how can we build on that and let the map further our interests?

In the presentation I will explore possibilities of collaboration across national borders, institutions and disciplines, as students often seem rather isolated professionally when it comes to disciplines and institutions. Obviously, students at an advanced level often go to other countries as exchange students, but this collaboration sometimes lacks in depth and variety. The specific topic for this discussion will be how to expand existing collaboration to include joint degree programs and thus opportunities to divide our study to accommodate different interests.

I also want to discuss the possibilities of creating small clusters around specific topics that could strengthen the various disciplines. Lastly, I will talk about my experience within two universities in Iceland and Sweden respectively. By doing that I hope to contribute to a discussion about diverse approaches and what we can learn from various universities and institutions, programs, framework of studies, and everyday practices.