Slovene at Foreign Universities

The STU programme supports Slovene teachers and Slovene Studies courses at foreign universities, connecting them in various joint projects, facilitating cooperation with other universities, organising academic gatherings of teachers and their permanent training, and producing teaching materials. It is financed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport.

The goals of the programme are to ensure, with the academic support of the Centre for Slovene as a Second and Foreign Language, the Department of Slovene Studies, the Faculty of Arts and the University of Ljubljana, high quality study of Slovene at foreign universities, to encourage research work in the field of Slovene Studies and its interdisciplinarity abroad, to promote Slovene language, literature and culture around the world, and to strengthen cooperation among universities.

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Contact

Head of the programme
Mojca Nidorfer Šiškovič, PhD
T: +386 1 241 86 75
E: mojca.nidorfer-siskovic@ff.uni-lj.si

Programme coordinator
Damjan Huber, PhD
T: +386 1 241 86 76
E: damjan.huber@ff.uni-lj.si

NEWS

Archive
For STU teachers

Universities with Slovene courses and degree studies in 2019/2020

Cultural projects

Although class teaching, together with mentoring of the students, is the most important aspect of the teachers’ work, they are also representatives of Slovenia, who provide their students with information about Slovene culture and topical events in Slovenia. At most lectureships there are every year various cultural events for which teachers often obtain sponsorship from Slovene companies abroad and funds from public calls for applications, while the STU also covers some of the costs: film evenings featuring films from the Slovenian Film Centre, literary evenings and translation workshops, visits by Slovene writers, musicians etc., and lecturers from Slovene universities, other events with financial support from the Slovenian Book Agency (JAK) and some publishing houses, especially Študentska založba. Alongside these events, teachers together with their students often prepare printed materials, and the Slovene embassies also make their contribution. Every year, students from some lectureships have the opportunity to go on excursions to Slovenia.

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General Information

  • Centre for Slovene support

    Lectureships and Slovene Studies programmes around the world are supported by the Centre for Slovene as a Foreign and Second Language. It has 8 programmes within which new text books and proceedings appear alongside learning materials. Teachers are offered further professional training and preparation before their departure for a foreign university; they are involved in various international and Slovene projects relating to teaching Slovene language, literature and culture, and testing; they also teach on various summer courses, at the Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture, and work on various seminars and on Obdobja Symposium.

  • Teachers

    Slovene teachers at foreign universities are mainly selected and sent to foreign universities via the STU programme and employed by the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. In Slovenia, they have completed an MA degree in Slovene Studies, have experience in teaching Slovene as a foreign language, are familiar with the host country and have good knowledge in the language of the host country or one of the world languages. Before leaving Slovenia, they undergo training at the Centre for Slovene as a Second and Foreign Language and attend as observers some courses in Slovene and the summer Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture. Some of the teachers at the universities abroad are employed by foreign universities or are graduates of Slovene Studies or Slavic Studies who live in the country in question.

    The work of a teacher at a foreign university is very varied. At Slovene departments with a degree programme in Slovene, their work is divided across a number of subjects, on which the Slovene teachers, in addition to their language classes, also lecture. At these universities the majority of lectures are given by one or more locally employed university professors. Where Slovene has the status of a lectureship, the focus is on language teaching, although teachers also incorporate other areas, such as Slovene literature and culture. Teachers as mentors and comentors help their students writing seminars and degree papers as well as searching for the study materials in Slovenia.

    The STU programme and the Centre for Slovene organise each year three two-day educational gatherings, where teachers actively participate and also learn about new developments and methods of teaching Slovene as a second or foreign language and about new teaching materials. As during the academic year communication can only be at a distance through the e-mail list SiLektornet, an important part of these sessions is being in the company of other teachers, working on team projects and exchanging experiences, the teachers also present good practise and new publications.

  • Financial support

    The programme Slovene at Foreign Universities is financed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also contributes to its organisation. The programme obtains financial resources for the implementation of additional projects, excursions and special events for the lectureships from tenders (e.g. from the Slovenian Book Agency), sponsors and donors in Slovenia and abroad.

  • Meetings of Slovene specialists in Slovenia

    Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture

    Each summer, foreign specialists who teach and research Slovene at foreign universities and institutes, or study it at graduate or postgraduate level, attend the traditional Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture. This event is held every year for more than 50 years (since 1965) in the first two weeks in July. It is attended by over 100 Slovene specialists usually from more than 25 countries; over 80 of them are students and teachers from Slovene lectureships who can also obtain various types of grants for attending the Seminar. The Seminar offers in-depth study of Slovene through language courses, lectures and optional courses in language, literature and culture, as well as contact with teachers at the Department of Slovene Studies, the use of the libraries at the Faculty of Arts, and being in the capital city, access to the major Slovene research institutions. The afternoon and evening programme is devoted to socialising at events such as concerts, attending exhibitons, excursions and literary evenings. The Seminar is financed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport.

    Obdobja Symposium

    The international gathering of Slovene specialists known as the Obdobja (Eras) Symposium is a high-level academic event that takes place each November, alternating between linguistic and literary themes, encouraging interdisciplinarity. It is intended for specialists in Slovene or Slavic languages, linguists and literary theorists, as well as experts from other humanities fields, who are interested in contributing a paper that is published in the Symposium proceedings. 

     

  • Mobility programmes for teachers and students

    The programmes Erasmus (EU) and CEEPUS (Central European Exchange Programmes for University Studies), and some others are an important part of the STU’s involvement in the international exchange of university students and teachers. These programmes promote and co-finance student and teacher exchanges between universities. In Slovenia they are run by the organisation CMEPIUS, while academic exchanges are also encouraged by the Slovene Human Resources Development and Scholarship Fund.

    The role of lecturers as project links and as representatives of their country and of its university education is a very important element here, particularly in the light of the widening opportunities for the mobility of both students and teachers provided by the Bologna process and credit transfer schemes. The Slovene universities have signed a large number of bilateral agreements with other European and non-European institutions and are included in the CEEPUS partnership network. All the programmes enable students of Slovene at foreign universities to complete part of their study in Slovenia.

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  • Annual reports (in Slovene)

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