European Graduate School

From Free net encyclopedia

The European Graduate School (EGS) in Switzerland is a privately funded graduate school founded by the non-profit European Foundation of Interdisciplinary Studies (EGIS). Its German name is Europäische Universität für Interdisziplinäre Studien (EUFIS; European University for Interdisciplinary Studies). The European Graduate School is governed by a Presidential Board that includes a representative of the accrediting state (Swiss canton of Valais).

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1 History
2 Faculty
3 Intercollegiate connections
4 Unique Program and Criticisms
- 4.1 European Style of Education
- 4.2 Criticisms
5 See also
6 External links

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History

The EGS was established in 1994 for the purpose of providing continuing education for professionals. The EGS is a postgraduate degree-granting University of Wallis with three divisions: Media and Communications; Science, Technology and Society; and Arts, Health and Society.

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Faculty

The faculty includes: Giorgio Agamben, Chantal Akerman, Pierre Aubenque, Alain Badiou, Lewis Baltz, Jean Baudrillard, Yve-Alain Bois, Catherine Breillat, Victor Burgin, Judith Butler, Sophie Calle, Diane Davis, Michel Deguy, Manuel De Landa, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan, Tracey Emin, Chris Fynsk, Peter Greenaway, Durs Grünbein, Werner Hamacher, Donna Haraway, Martin Hielscher, Michel Houellebecq, Shelley Jackson, Claude Lanzmann, David Lynch, Christian Marclay, Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid, Carl Mitcham, Jim Jarmusch, Jean-Luc Nancy, Klaus Ottmann, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Cornelia Parker, Avital Ronell, Wolfgang Schirmacher, Volker Schlöndorff, Michael Schmidt, Hendrik Speck, Bruce Sterling, Sandy Stone, Fred Ulfers, Gregory Ulmer, Agnès Varda, Victor J. Vitanza, Hubertus von Amelunxen, John Waters, Samuel Weber, Krzysztof Zanussi, Siegfried Zielinski and Slavoj Žižek. Jean-François Lyotard was a guiding spirit during the founding phase.

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Intercollegiate connections

In recognition of the benefits of international scientific exchange the EGS has established a curricular cooperation with the Graduate School of Music and Theater, Hamburg, Germany. The EGS is accredited by permission of the State Council (Staatsrat) of the Canton Valais, Switzerland, to award recognized Master (M.A.) and Ph.D. (Dr.phil.) degrees which are co-signed by the Valais Minister of Education.

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Unique Program and Criticisms

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European Style of Education

The EGS program consists of online tutorials, consisting of reading assignments and discussions with classmates in online forums, throughout most of the year. The main component of the program are the 3 week intensive seminars, in Switzerland, during the summer. While this teaching method differs from most universities in the U.S., it is more common among schools in Europe.

From Wolfgang Schirmacher's Wikipedia page: The EGS Media and Communications program aims at creative breakthroughs and theoretical paradigm shifts in art, media, communications, film, internet, web and cyberspace studies from a cross- disciplinary perspective. The EGS program’s focus is on philosophy as applied to media and communication. Schirmacher states: “Philosophy, in its genuine sense as a bold and creative questioning of the world, guides our approach.” Theory and practice are given equal importance in the program, and the faculty members reflect this cross-disciplinary approach, as they are considered philosophers in their fields as filmmakers, academics, artists and media professionals. Schirmacher believes that every new thinker is in a position to change the nature of philosophy.

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Criticisms

Some have criticized EGS for having only one professor in residence, Wolfgang Schirmacher, who is the dean. The rest of the professors at the school attend and teach the summer seminars.

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