Abstract:

One of the aims of the European higher education project is to prepare citizens for the new century. This, as stated in the Declaration of Bologna (1999), requires an awareneness of shared values and belonging to a common social and cultural space. In addition, the Council of Europe has launched different projects and programmes in order to foster education for democratic citizenship and efforts has been made to find a balance between an integrated identity as European citizens and the necessity of maintaining linguistic and cultural diversity. At the University level, the challenge has been how higher education institutions can foster integration and shared values in a zone of linguistic and cultural diversity. This is not easy task, but it is necessary in a global world which requires students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds to be fully integrated in society. From this perspective, we will review theories of cultural identity, suggest a hybridity hypothesis for students’ integration and present some of the projects carried out in the University Jaume I to train students both as professionals and citizens. In particular, the linguistic projects show how our efforts to remain in the vanguard of scientific and technological innovation are complemented by a humanistic education to foster the readiness of our students, as European citizens, to have knowledge of different linguistic codes and socio-cultural norms at their disposal. In addition, the humanistic and solidarity projects will illustrate how the universities can promote tolerance, pluralism and diversity as part of our teaching quality programme which aims to prepare students to either undertake different studies in the European Area of Higher Education or take on new professional responsibilities in a global world.

Keywords:

European higher education project, languages, humanistic projects, solidarity projects, teaching programme, Universitat Jaume I.