Common Study Programme

In IMARC mobility is key. You will move between universities. In addition, during one of the semesters you will also join the Common Study Pogramme (CSP). IMARC enhances the role of informal and peer-to-peer learning, especially through twice-yearly student conferences (Common Sessions) as part of the Common Study Programme in Critical Criminology (CSP).

This programme involves seventeen universities from thirteen countries. Twice a year in Spring and Autumn, postgraduates (Master’s and doctoral), academic staff and associated professionals from participating universities and their non-academic partners meet at one of the university centres for a conference style ‘Common Session’. The CSP offers IMARC students an opportunity to engage freely with peers and academic staff in a range of structured and informal conference style settings. Though the seventeen university partners are centres of formal higher education, the Common Study Programme itself is a transnational and trans-institutional setting in which non-formal postgraduate learning takes place in the timetabled activity of the Common Session conference (see also https://commonstudyprogramme.wordpress.com).

A key educational element is the experience of short-term mobility, which is physical (geographical) as well as interdisciplinary and intercultural.

What can you expect from the Common Sessions?

This international programme, which was started at EUR in 1984, has now grown into a three-day conference in which students, PhD students and lecturers from 16 different universities from 13 different countries participate. Our colleagues in Athens are now organizing this conference. The Common Sessions are characterized by an informal character. You can enjoy presentations and participate in discussions with fellow students (master and Bachelor-3 students), PhD students and lecturers from different universities from various countries through presentations during the day and social activities during the evening program.

Participation

Through participation, students will, first, present a research-based paper and, second, gain valuable experience in exchanging ideas and experiences, fostering cross-cultural communication, and giving and receiving feedback. Students will be exposed to the rich milieu of informal learning in this unique setting. Preparation for and presentations at the CSP will be credit bearing (at UGhent integrated in the course Critical Criminology and the Criminal Justice System).

Informal learning

With the Common Study Programme (CSP) as an integral element of the IMARC student experience, it is intended that students will supplement and extend their learning opportunities through participation in the more social aspects embedded within the CSP, that is, the ‘heart’ of the Common Studies session. In this way, informal learning will operate alongside the more formal aspects of the CSP learning environment. Through developing an active role in working together as a cohort, students are engaged in the development of building positive peer-to-peer and student-to-staff relations. These are important foundations upon which students can more easily and readily engage with the informal learning opportunities present over the duration of the CSP. The social aspect and opportunities for informal learning are embedded into the very fabric of the CSP. From the outset students and staff are afforded opportunities to engage with one another, including gathering together at the evening reception before the conference begins, coffee and lunch breaks throughout the day, evening events on the first and second day, and the ‘last night’ celebration meal and party at the end of the third day.

Common Study Programme Member Universities

From the outset, the CSP was situated at the cutting edge of academic knowledge in criminology. Taking place regularly for almost 40 years, this Europe-based critical criminological programme possesses a truly global outlook. Currently, 16 universities are involved:

• City University of New York – John Jay College of Criminal Justice – New York, United Stated of America
• Δημοκρίτειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θράκης (Democritus University of Thrace) – Department of Political Science – Komotini, Greece
• Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) – Budapest, Hungary
• Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam – Erasmus School of Law, Criminology Department – Rotterdam, The Netherlands
• Ghent University – Faculty of Law and Criminology – Ghent, Belgium
• Middlesex University – Criminology Department – London, United Kingdom
• Πanteion ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟ (Pantheion University)- School of Social Sciences – Athens, Greece
• Università di Bologna – Dipartimento Scienze Politiche e Sociali – Bologna, Italy
• University of Copenhagen – iCRIM – Copenhagen, Danmark
• Universität Hamburg – Institut für Kriminologische Sozialforschung – Hamburg, Germany
• University of Kent – School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research – Kent, United Kingdom
• University of Málaga, Faculty of Law – Málaga, Spain
• Universidade do Porto – Escola de Criminologia – Porto, Portugal
• Universiteit Utrecht – Willem Pompe Institute for Criminal Law and Criminology – Utrecht, The Netherlands
• Vilniaus Universitetas (Vilnius University) – Faculty of Philosophy – Vilnius, Lithuania
• University of Oslo – Faculty of Law – Oslo, Norway