Internationalization of University Teaching Methodology

JMU is an internationally renowned university with a high number of international students, lecturers, and staff. International study programs and course content, international summer and winter schools, and an excellent network of internationally active researchers round out the university’s diverse range of offers.

Mission Statement

The mission statement of JMU expresses its dedication to internationality: “Getting to know Internationality”: “We have a large number of foreign students enrolled at our university, and we are constantly expanding our exchange programs in cooperation with highly renowned partner universities on all continents.  Interexchange with our partners is based on reciprocity and balance. The primary goal of this exchange is to enable all students to live and study abroad. We consider this international exchange to be an important element in fostering understanding between different cultures, nationalities, and languages.”

Internationalization Strategy

With JMU’s internationalization strategy, the university strives to strengthen both scientific activities and teaching, and open up new perspectives. The internationally driven, open research and study environment, possibilities for integration, and an actively lived culture of inclusion are all prerequisites for the success of this endeavor.

JMU maintains partnerships with numerous foreign universities. These arrangements make many different types of cooperation possible: for example, exchange programs for students and teachers are often supported, and other benefits relate more to cooperation in research and teaching.

The mobility of students, instructors, researchers and university staff is an important aspect of internationalization. International experiences not only enhance professional qualifications, but furthermore facilitate the acquisition of intercultural competences which in turn contribute to individual personal development.

Internationalization of University Education

In its lecture and workshop series “Internationalisierung der Hochschuldidaktik/Internationalization of Teaching and Learning”, ProfiLehre provides teachers with manifold possibilities to optimize their teaching with regard to the challenges of globally oriented education. This lecture and workshop series enhances the profile of ProfiLehre’s university teaching qualification offer for globally oriented and culturally sensitive education, and may be seen as a building block of JMU’s internationalization strategy.

Intercultural Competences

The project “Global Systems and Intercultural Competence” (GSIK) is a joint project that is unique in Germany, which is led by various departments of the University of Würzburg. This intercultural teaching program offers students in all degree programs the opportunity to acquire intercultural competences during their studies, and thus to further develop their knowledge and abilities in their professional and private lives.