“Challenges in Internationalization: Sustainable Mobility and Virtual Concepts” – last week RheinMain University of Applied Sciences (HSRM) hosted the International Staff Week 2023 and the partner meeting of the Global Design and Media CoSpace project. Invitations for the International Staff Week 2023 went out to international academic and admin staff responsible for questions of internationalization at their home universities. The goal of the staff week was to exchange ideas, network and establish and strengthen partnerships in various workshops on the topic. The International Office at HSRM welcomed participants from Algeria, France, Greece, Jordan, Northern Macedonia, Norway, Austria, Spain and Turkey.

The week started with a welcome reception at the Unter den Eichen Campus. Professor Christiane Jost, Vice-President for Academic and International Affairs, welcomed the participants and described internationalization as the core topic of the staff week and a key factor for quality in many areas of university work. She encouraged devoting special attention to this important topic. Afterwards, Professor Claudia Aymar gave an overview of the Global Design & Media CoSpace project, whose international partners came together for the second time last week at HSRM to attend several workshops together. Professor Claudia Aymar went on to present other international activities at HSRM, including the Traveling Classroom, which this time was held in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in the U.S.

Film night at Unter den Eichen Campus

During the current traveling classroom, Creative Media Conception students partnered  with double master’s students from Thailand and Norway as well as students from the U.S. to make films together. The results were presented at a film night on Thursday evening. Afterwards, the highlights of the degree program were showcased to give students from secondary schools a chance to get to know the program and the premises.

Panel discussion on international exchange

On the last day of the week, many of the participants came together once last time at the Kurt-Schumacher-Ring Campus. In a panel discussion with Honorary Professor Arthur Landwehr, three students and one of the first double master's graduates from Bangkok and Wiesbaden, spoke about their experiences as outgoings or incomings at ICO NIDA in Thailand, the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in the U.S. and HSRM. They discussed different forms of teaching and course content and also talked about very personal experiences such as finding accommodation, cultural peculiarities, traveling the host country and advice for future exchange students.

A second panel with Erik Johnson, Professor of Music and Stage and Screen Arts at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF), and Dan Paulus, Professor of Art (Graphic Design) and also from UWRF, discussed cultural differences as well as the influence of political issues in teaching. For Professor Dan Paulus, international exchange aims to expand opportunities for students. Professor Erik Johnson emphasized that they wanted to show students differences and similarities and discuss other perspectives. The two professors accompanied the traveling classroom last week and have been part of the Global Design & Media CoSpace project since the beginning.