Jean Monnet Chair in European Cultural Studies awarded to former IASIL Treasurer Prof. Joachim Fischer
Anyone teaching at European universities will associate the EU-cofunded Jean Monnet Chairs designed to foster the teaching of EU Studies as well as EU-related research at third level institutions with the academic disciplines of political science, law, economics and, to a lesser degree, history. In the last few years, and accelerated by Brexit, there has been a rethink of the EU’s educational strategy and much more emphasis is now being placed on interaction with the wider community and on areas traditionally not served by existing schemes. One evidence of this wider remit is the first Jean Monnet Chair ever awarded to Irish universities with an explicitly cultural, literary and language focus. The holder of this new Chair in European Cultural Studies, Prof. Joachim Fischer, is well known to IASIL members due to his former role as Treasurer. Alongside his involvement in Irish Studies, Joachim has for many years been engaged in the teaching of European Studies at the University of Limerick; he is currently also Director of one of the longest-established undergraduate European Studies programmes in the whole of the EU (since 1972). The three-year work programme to be undertaken by the Chair is focussed on Ireland in the EU and includes the areas of film studies, literary images of the EU, travel writing in Irish as well as the integration of language teaching and European Studies in Irish secondary schools.
IASIL would like to congratulate Joachim on his success. For further information on the Jean Monnet Chair in European Cultural Studies at the University of Limerick please contact: joachim.fischer@ul.ie