Suchergebnisse

Defence date: 14 June 2010 ; Examining Board: Prof. Bruno de Witte (European University Institute) Prof. Marise Cremona (European University Institute) Prof. H. Schneider (Maastricht University) Prof. M. Dougan (University of Liverpool) ; In 2012 awarded the 'The Jacqueline Suter Prize for the Best Doctoral Thesis in European Law' ; First made available online: 24 August 2021 ; The Bologna Process is a powerful reform movement, aimed at establishing a European Higher Education Area, most specifically by introducing a common standard of a three-cycle Bachelor, Master, Doctorate system for higher education degrees all over Europe. The Process is based on the non-binding Sorbonne and Bologna Declarations, and is a powerful follow-up process consisting of regular Ministerial Conferences and in-between follow-up meetings. In this sense, the Bologna Process is an important de-nationalisation of higher education. However, the strictly inter-governmental Process takes place outside the institutional framework of the European Union, even though all the EU Member States take part. Also the framework of the Council of Europe has been avoided. This exclusion of the European Organisations is remarkable, especially considering the large overlap between the subject matter of the Bologna Process and their activities. Most notably, the Bologna Process deals with diploma and study credit recognition, student and teacher mobility, research, lifelong learning, quality assurance and a European dimension in higher education, which are all well-established fields of activity of both the EU and the Council of Europe. In this way, it is argued, Bologna detracts from the large body of EU higher education law, and the – often underestimated – legal competence of the EU in higher education. Therefore, the Bologna Process can also be considered as a re-nationalisation of higher education. The Bologna Process is controversial. Some consider Bologna to be a great success, as it has spurred an overwhelming amount of (legislative) changes in almost all European countries through voluntary convergence, whereas others oppose it for precisely this reason. This thesis provides a legal analysis of the Sorbonne and Bologna Declarations and the ensuing Process. From a European law perspective, there are several grave concerns about the way the Bologna Process was created and how it is currently operated. Using the option of operating within the EU framework, most particularly the option of a Bologna Directive, as a comparison, it is argued that with the Bologna Process the Member States have chosen to harmonise their higher education system by less accountable, less transparent, less democratic and less effective means. This is why the Bologna Process amounts to harmonisation by stealth.

From the late 1950s until 1975, the war between North and South Vietnam had both domestic and international consequences. Unlike the Cold War divide between the United States and the Soviet Union, the war between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV, the Communist North) and the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, the non-Communist South) was an armed conflict between two polities that both identified themselves as Vietnamese. In this twenty-year-long struggle, the fates of the DRV and the RVN were tied to their success in producing new generations who would subscribe to their respective agendas. This was done through many venues, of which education was one of the most important. Relying on archival materials and published documents, this article compares the educational systems at the primary and secondary school levels in the DRV and RVN after the division of the country, with a special focus on the period 1965–1975.

Rapid ageing leads to huge transformations in many areas of life - politics, economy, culture, education, medicine and care services, which in turn shapes the future of all people. Active lifestyle, education and better quality of geriatric care will undoubtedly improve the health and well-being of seniors. The growing population of elderly people, caused, among other things, by the increase in average life expectancy, and current trends in reproduction, migration and mortality, necessitate the development of a new vision on the functioning of seniors and their social roles in the transforming social reality. One platform for the activity and cooperation of older people involves universities of the third age. Universities of the Third Age is an international initiative promoting lifelong learning. They are educational institutions for adults whose programme offers are targeted at seniors. Universities of the third age were established in response to rapid socio-demographic changes in society. They are part of the lifelong learning concept, where education in modern gerontology is regarded as a process enabling seniors to develop comprehensively, manage their own lives, be active in late adulthood, and develop and broaden their interests. The purpose of this article is to explain the idea behind universities of the third age as an unquestioned need to support seniors in education and adaptation to old age. Key words: senior, ageing, education, gerontology, university