Events
PARTNERSHIPS WITH INDIAN UNIVERSITIES
- December 21, 2021
- Posted by: Monika
- Category: News
One of the priority areas of the KUAS Strategic Action Plan 2021–2023 is to develop internationalisation by raising the profile of the KUAS. The KUAS has established and continues its cooperation with Indian scientists to improve the scientific qualification of students, researchers and scientists through practical scientific activities, exchange of scientific ideas, and promotion of intercultural communication. The KUAS’s links with India began five years ago through the international project ‘Intercultural Social Work from Individual and Social Perspectives in Diverse Contexts’. The project involved researchers from Europe, Asia, and South America and led to the establishment and ongoing friendship with Dr Hilaria Soundari from Gandhigram Rural University in India.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has limited international mobility; however, it has opened up opportunities for a significant shift from live meetings to teleworking while maintaining and developing international contacts. The discussion of joint activities, initiated by Dalia Gineitienė, the International Relations Coordinator of the KUAS, and Evelina Darulienė, the Head of the Student Services Centre, together with Dr Hilaria Soundary, also included representatives from Bharathiar University and the Central University of Tamil Nadu in India. In a joint dialogue, it was decided to give presentations and share practical experiences. The first joint project — the series of intercultural social work lectures — was successfully launched in September–November 2021. Students from the KUAS, Gandhigram Rural University, Bharathiar University and the Central University of Tamil Nadu, majoring in social work, participated in the remote lectures. They were presented by lecturers from India: Assoc. Prof. Dr M. Hilaria Soundari (Researcher of the Centre for Applied Research at Gandhigram Rural University), Prof. Dr F. X. Lovelina Little Flower (Dean of the College Development Council, the Head of the Department of Social Work at Bharathiar University), Prof. Dr Sigamani Panneer (Head of the Department of Social Work of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at the Central University of Tamil Nadu, a coordinator of the Centre for Happiness), Jeya Baskaran S. (Researcher of the Centre for Applied Research at Gandhigram Rural University). From the Lithuanian side, the lectures were presented by: Assoc. Prof. Dr Julija Eidukevičiūtė, Associate Professor of the Department of Nursing and Social Care at Klaipėda State College, Eglė Rušinskaitė, Head of Kaunas Centre for Cultures of Different Nationalities, KUAS lecturer, Vilma Ražanauskaitė, Specialist of the Competence Development Unit of the Training Centre at the Prison Department under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania, KUAS lecturer, Dr Salomėja Karasevičiūtė, Associate Professor of the Department of Pedagogy, Arts and Social Work of the Faculty of Education and Social Work at Marijampolė College of Education and Social Work, Chairperson of the Social Work Study Programme Committee, Assoc. Prof. Dr Gerda Laurinavičienė, a PhD student at the University of Lapland (Finland), Chief Specialist – Defender of Child Rights Protection Assoc. Prof. Vida Lukamskienė, Associate Professor and practitioner at the KUAS, with more than 10 years of experience in the field of social services management (research, social projects, experience in social work with families), and future supervisor.
During the virtual meetings, students and lecturers from both countries had the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience in social work, discuss cultural differences and try out the new opportunities for remote international cooperation opened by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Following the series of intercultural social work lectures, a remote meeting of the organisers of this cooperation phase took place on 8 December 2021 to evaluate the experience gained and provide guidelines for further joint projects. It was decided to continue the joint lectures from the autumn of the next academic year to involve more social partners. In addition, training materials for students and presentations for social workers were planned. Opportunities for students to prepare the final bachelor thesis with a comparative analysis of India and Lithuania on a topic of their choice were discussed and jointly commemorate the World Social Work Day on 15 March 2022.