INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM – ROMANIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Dear Colleagues,

Dear Students,

We have the great joy and honor of welcoming you to the International Symposium “Romanian as a Foreign Language. Language and Culture: Entities in Continuous Re-Harmonization“, 2nd Edition, taking place from May 16 to 17, 2025, at the Universityof Macedonia in Thessaloniki, Greece.

This year’s event provides a space for knowledge and direct communication for international students learning the Romanian language: within the Romanian language, culture, and civilization Lectureships established by the Institute of the Romanian Language, Bucharest (ILR), at various universities worldwide, in the Preparatory Year programs, as well as in the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs of universities in Romania or abroad. These students come from very diverse cultural backgrounds, from Europe, Asia, and Africa. Furthermore, the theme proposes a valuable exchange of experience among specialists, as well as the opportunity to examine the process of teaching-learning-assessment of Romanian as a foreign language, in relation to the current European level.

With the liberalization of borders and movement, and the opportunity to engage with various cultures and mentalities, people have become increasingly eager to learn as many foreign languages as possible. These languages are progressively demonstrating their role as cultural connectors, prolific means of intercultural communication, and pathways to access the global cultural and linguistic heritage.

The reality of the moment opens up to the mutual understanding of so many cultures, driven by the common desire to achieve a harmonious and coherent transcontinental dialogue. From this perspective, the use of the Romanian language emerges as one of the most desirable and useful instruments of cultural and social mediation, serving as an effective factor in addressing the new demands of the socio-human environment. Intercultural dialogue gains new perspectives, and this fact requires and stimulates the improvement of the means of mastering the mechanisms necessary for linguistic communication.

The organizers

GlobalMed Séminaire de recherche hybride: “Impérialismes” 16/05/2025

The second session of the GlobalMed network research seminar will be held on 16 May 2025 at the École française d’Athènes, starting at 14:30 EEST (Eastern European Summer Time). Organised in hybrid format, it is accessible by videoconference upon registration (see link or QR Code on the attached programme).

This session, co-organised with the École française d’Athènes and the University of Macedonia, will focus on the theme of ‘Imperialism’.

The aim of this session is to take account of the historiographical and epistemological dynamism surrounding the notions of empire and imperialism, and its effects on Mediterranean studies. By examining situations spread over the long term, whether they place the Mediterranean in relation to the rest of the world or call for comparisons between the Mediterranean and other areas, we will address the dual question of the universal nature of the notions of empire and imperialism (are their definitions valid in all times and places?) and the reasons for their mobilization in certain situations and under certain conditions in the production of knowledge about history and societies. We will also examine the relationship between the notions of empire and imperialism and other categories (kingdom, nation and nationalism, capitalism, colonies and colonialism), and question the discrepancy – where tension does not exclude porosity – between their use as descriptive or analytical categories on the one hand, and as categories of political action on the other.

You are cordially invited to attend and take part in the debates.