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Education Minor and Crossing Borders

Use the minor tool of options to see which minors you are allowed to take
  • Education minor (Leren Lesgeven)

    Information about the Education minor (Dutch minor 'Leren Lesgeven') is only available in Dutch. More about the education minor can be found here.  

  • Crossing Borders

    Crossing Borders | INTERNATIONAL GRAND CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES FOR TECHNOLOGY, SUSTAINABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT (2*15 EC)

    Organisation

    Website of the minor   Canvas page: Crossing Borders (2024-2025)
    Responsible Faculty     BMS
    Coordination Team       Laura Franco-Garcia (CSTM)
                                           Ben Jongbloed (CHEPS)
                                           Renze Kolster (CHEPS)
                                           Martin Stienstra (NIKOS)

    To learn more about the minor Crossing Borders and its versions (short and extended field study, virtual project), you can visit the Crossing Borders team during the Minor Fair on 19 March 2024. During the fair, you can join our 10-minute presentation followed by a 20-minute Q&A session. If you wish to receive more information through an additional information session (after the Minor Fair), please enrol in the Crossing Borders 2024/2025 Canvas course

    Please note: Bachelor students in Chemical Science and Engineering (CSE) can apply for this minor, but they should get permission from their faculty’s Examination Board. Students from the Applied Physics (TN) study programme are not permitted to join this minor.

    PRACTICAL INFORMATION CROSSING BORDERS

    Module 1 (15 EC) consists of two versions of which you can choose one:

    ·         Virtual project: for students who wish to gain an international experience by working at home for an organisation abroad (Version A).

    ·         Extended Field Study (part 1): For students who want to do a field study / internship at an organisation outside the Netherlands (Version C, part 1).

    Module 2 (15 EC) consists of three versions of which you – depending on participation in Module 1 – can choose one:

    ·         Extended Field study (part two): only for students who started in Module 1 with Extended Field Study (part one) and, as such, continue their field study (Version C, part 2).

    ·         Field Study: only for students who completed the Virtual Project in Module 1 (Version D).

    ·         Short Field Study: for students who did not take any of the Module 1 versions of Crossing Borders (Version E).

    Students in the Extended Field Study (Version C part 1 and part 2) will go abroad for 15 weeks (from mid-October). Students in the Field Study and Short Field Study will go abroad for about 10, respectively 9 weeks, after having done the required preparation work in the first week(s) of Module 2.

    Registration for Crossing Borders 2024-2025

    Students interested in a Crossing Borders’ field study can enroll to our Canvas course. Under ‘Assignments’, you can find a form with which you can register for a Crossing Borders Field study. Note that official registration will start after the minor fair (19 March 2024). After the minor fair we will ask you to confirm your enrolment in Crossing Borders. We will inform the UT minor coordinator of your enrolment. Consequently, your registration in Osiris will be arranged for you.

    For students interested in doing Crossing Borders’ ‘Virtual Project’ there is a separate assignment on our Canvas course. Students interested in doing this version are to write a motivation letter. There are 30 places available.

    Note that for the field study versions, there is no selection of students, and a motivation letter is not required.

    During the minor fair we will provide more information on Crossing Borders. In addition, a follow-up session will be organised, where there will be time to answer questions.

    More information can be obtained from the Canvas course ‘Crossing Borders (2024-2025)’ as well as from the Crossing Borders coordination team.

    Learning objectives

    This minor offers students opportunities to gain international experience by going abroad for a field study / internship, or by working from the Netherlands with international partners. Where possible, the students’ study background will be connected to an international project that they will have to carry out. Crossing Borders consists of one or two (15 EC) modules, which can be taken separately.

    Students who wish to participate in Crossing Borders will work on a challenge-based project in an international setting. They will bring their knowledge and competences to a higher level. The design of the minor is framed around the world’s Grand Challenges, expressed in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

    The course has two key goals: (1) giving students an opportunity to gain an international experience and (2) make students work on topics that require them to also go beyond their disciplinary boundaries, thus gaining a cross-disciplinary experience. This explains the name Crossing Borders.

    The minor Crossing Borders is grounded on the belief that the most important issues for ensuring a sustainable future are cross-disciplinary. This will require knowledge, creativity, innovation, and thinking in terms of systems and cross-overs.

    International Grand Challenges and Globalisation

    Our starting point in the minor are the ‘International Grand Challenges’. These challenges include:

    ·         How to feed 9 billion people in 2050, on a planet that is heavily pressured by climate change, a lack of natural resources, acidified oceans, and a shortage of food and fresh water (to name a few)?

    ·         How to improve energy security that reduces both political tensions and environmental impacts?

    ·         How can firms raise productivity in an environmentally friendly and socially equitable way, while still being competitive?

    ·         What role is to be played by governments - national, regional and international – to enhance responsible innovative solutions?

    As part of the International Grand Challenges, globalisation processes will be discussed. Cultural differences and internationalisation of companies, universities and NGOs are becoming increasingly important. However, what exactly do we mean when talking about globalisation? Is the world getting smaller? Is the role of Western countries diminishing and are emerging countries, such as China and India, taking over the role of Western countries? What will be the role of Africa and Latin America in the future?  

    Short explanation of the Crossing Borders versions

    In the Virtual Project students work on an international project with a foreign partner organisation. Students will be based at the University of Twente (UT), thus experiencing ‘internationalisation at home’. To communicate with the international partner they will make use of Zoom/Teams/email (hence the term ‘virtual’). The project work requires students to solve a practical problem (linked to one of the SDGs) proposed by the organisation abroad. 

    The Extended field study starts in Module 1 and will continue throughout Module 2. Students choosing Field Study or Short Field Study will start in Module 2. All Field Study students carry out their own research project abroad, usually at a charity, NGO, foundation, school, company or a research institute abroad. As part of this, they volunteer in the organisation abroad, thus contributing to the organisation’s goals. A large database containing a broad range of host organisations from around the world, is available for students. Students can contact these organisations, but they are also allowed to find a host organisations through their own searches. All of this is done in agreement with the student’s tutor. After a field study preparation, students will go abroad to their host organisation.

    Organisation

    Minor coordinators: Laura Franco-Garcia, Ben Jongbloed, Renze Kolster, Martin Stienstra

    Responsible Faculty: Behavioural, Management and Social-Sciences (BMS)

    For more information, download the brochure.