The Institute of Czech-German Area Studies and German Studies of the Faculty of Arts has been aware of the importance of inter-university partnerships for sustainable development in the field of education throughout its existence - this is evidenced by the long-term intensive cooperation with the universities of Augsburg and Passau. As a result of the last joint project funded by the European Territorial Cooperation (Interreg), a double-degree bachelor's programme for German Studies was established in 2022 at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice and the Universität Passau.
The double-degree model is undoubtedly a key tool for achieving the goals of sustainability and quality education, as it combines the academic curriculum of two universities, mostly from different countries, and thus allows students to spend a significant part of their studies abroad. This is a great benefit in many ways: in addition to improving language competences and broadening professional knowledge, students learn flexibility, are able to adapt more quickly to new environments and understand different systems, cultures, perspectives. Studying in a double-degree mode better prepares students to work in an international environment and increases their competitiveness in the global labour market.
The cooperation between USB and Passau continues to deepen in the form of jointly organised educational events - there are several of them in the upcoming winter semester 2024/25. A joint literary and linguistic workshop on the topic "Heimat und Fremde" (Home and Foreign) is planned for October 2 and 2, which will be attended by Prof. Dr. Jan-Oliver Decker, Head of the Department of Neuere Deutsche Literaturwissenschaft und Mediensemiotik (and also Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Passau) and Prof. Dr. Julia Ricart Brede, Head of the Department of Deutsch als Fremdsprache. This workshop will then be followed (probably in LS 2025) by a joint seminar with an excursion on the topic of Linguistic Landscapes.
The next guests will be two weeks later the Head of the Department of Deutsche Sprachwissenschaft Prof. Dr. Alexander Werth with an information seminar on studying at the University of Passau and Dr. Linda von Keyserlingk-Rehbein, assistant professor at the Department of Digital Humanities and head of the digitisation project of the Reiner and Elisabeth Kunze Foundation Archive, who will present a travelling bilingual exhibition by German author and translator from Czech Reiner Kunze entitled "I Married Czech" (planned for České Budějovice in 2025/26). Although these lectures (17-18 October) do not fall within the period of the sustainability events, together with the above-mentioned workshop they conceptually launch the next phase of the Germanic partnership between the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice and the Universität Passau.
