Physical Twinning, 2022, University of Granada

On May 16–20, 2022, the Physical Twinning international joint workshop “The Problems of Reception Of the Antiquity in Modern Greek Culture” took place at the University of Granada. The visiting lecturer was Dr Fatima Eloeva and five students from the Faculty of Philology at Vilnius University.

The scholar has shared the feedback on the visit.

– In what Twinning activities did you participate? What was the main purpose?

– The main purpose of our visit was to establish better collaboration between the Greek Institute of the University of Granada and the Philology Faculty of Vilnius University. The students participating in the project were supposed to develop their communicative skills in Modern Greek, English and Spanish. On the other hand, they got the chance to get a profound understanding of the specifics of the hermeneutic approach to a number of important texts of Greek literature, discussed during the lectures in Spanish and Greek delivered by Fatima Eloeva (Vilnius University) and Moxos Morfakides (Granada University).

Moreover, within the week that passed in Granada, the students of Vilnius University could participate in the lessons of Modern Greek delivered by the professors of the Department of Modern Greek Philology of Granada and get acquainted with specific different approaches to language education. They also had a precious chance to be present at the lecture of Rodolfo Maslias (Luxemburg), heading the Terminology Coordination Unit of the European Parliament.

An important objective of the studies has been the final presentations prepared and delivered by the students in Greek and Spanish during the last meeting. I would like to stress that in the case of the program, we are dealing with a limited number of students and professors, which gives a crucial personal touch to the quality and mode of communication.

– What did you learn from participating in Twinning activities?

– Participation in the program strengthens our confidence in the openness of the world in general and the academic world. This program teaches students and teachers – who have to teach and communicate in new conditions – to adapt better, to feel that the learning process is endless, and within a short time (one week), a qualitative leap can be made.

– How will you use this knowledge in your future studies / further collaboration with partners?

– We are definitively going to invite our partners from University of Granada to Vilnius to continue our collaboration in the new context but within the same frame. We also would like to organise a conference (or a workshop) with the participation of other members of Arqus.

– What obstacles did you encounter participating in Twinning activities? How did you solve them?

– Neither my students, nor I personally encountered any obstacles.

– Would you recommend participating in Twinning activities for other students/professors? Why?

– For all the reasons mentioned above, and because participation in the program allows you to master and develop the skills of multilingualism, enjoy the different cultural environment and contemplate the masterpieces of art, to establish new contacts with colleagues, I would highly recommend participation in the program to the teachers and students.