Abstract:

Keeping in line with the European Higher Education Area and the Europe 2020 strategy, the Faculty of Philology of the University of Belgrade has adopted a strategy to harmonize its study programs with academic institutions in the EU and the region, as well as with EU, regional and local labor markets. Through international projects and cooperation, the Faculty aims to build study programs that educate autonomous, motivated students who can become highly qualified, global oriented professionals and humanists. Upon graduating, they should become true citizens of Europe and the world, capable of adjusting to different professions and changeable markets and ready for lifelong learning. The study programs developed under this strategy are characterized by: languages, literatures and cultures in multilateral dialogues; a wealth of disciplines and languages offered; modularity; interdisciplinarity; interculturality; and orientation towards learning outcomes. In this paper we present six study programs developed and offered at the Faculty of Philology University of Belgrade: one undergraduate degree (Languages, Literatures, Cultures - LLC), four master degrees (International Trade and Foreign Languages, Cultures in Dialogue, Conference Interpreting and Translation, and Serbian as a Foreign Language), and one non-degree Serbian language and culture immersion program (The World in Serbia).
The undergraduate study program LLC is the most complex of the six, as it offers a platform that enables more than 1000 students to choose from more than 30 different languages, literatures and cultures, and all possible combinations of the courses offered. It has a robust structure, based on the mandatory choice of a main field of study, while offering multiple and flexible modularity through a wide range of diverse electives. The workload and learning outcomes are in line, and the study program is iteratively modified using the Inspect and Adapt technique. LLC enables the creation of a solid curricular framework, as well as the recognition of philology as a homogenous discipline within the humanities. At the same time, it offers students tailor-made education paths and customized interculturality. In many aspects, LLC resembles the emerging Massive Open Online Courses and general orientation towards developing learning objects in higher education. We give statistics showing the success of LLC in the past years, while also presenting the areas for further development.
The master study programs presented all, in a certain way, deal with cultures in contact. They combine research and practice, while promoting multilingualism and multiculturalism. Two of the master programs are offered as joint degrees between national and EU universities and the University of Belgrade. We show how each degree builds on the idea of creating intercultural bonds in the very design of the study program, including the actual and the hidden curriculum.
The non-degree Serbian language and culture immersion program is aimed at students from across the globe. In the past two years, more than 200 students have gone through the program and many have continued their studies in different fields at the University of Belgrade. This program, carried out in cooperation with the national Ministry of Education, gives future students a solid introduction to interculturality, thus embedding the essence of a humanities education into a study path oriented towards different disciplines.

Keywords:

interculturality, study program, humanities education, higher education, philology