From Manchester to Granada to Legacy Lives on

Like Oxford and Salamanca, Granada can be considered a true University City. The original University “La Madraza” was founded in 1349 by the Moorish Sultan Yusuf I. The modern University owes its origins to the initiative of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Today the University’s influence on the City is evident in all walks of life whose students and scholars contribute to the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

In recent years both Governments and Universities worldwide have recognised the importance of international activities and the need to develop them further. The University of Granada (UGR) has a longstanding tradition of international education and is at the forefront of bilateral agreements. Consequently the City is home to more than 3000 International students.

For many reasons, one being the increasing number of British people living in Spain, there is a strong impetus to learn English in Spain.
UGR
recognises this and is continually making efforts to extend international activities with the UK.

On a brief visit back to the England I was honoured enough to be invited to attend a meeting between Jose Luis Ortega Martin the Vice Dean of International Relations at UGR and Dr Andy Pickard, Head of Education Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). The meeting was set up to intensify bilateral agreements between these two leading Universities by discussing and revising the established exchange programme known as the Erasmus Programme. Also present at the meeting was Pura Ariza Senior Lecturer in Foreign Languages at MMU and Trisha Gladdis Administrative Officer for the Erasmus Programme, whose compassionate and caring reputation towards Erasmus students has earned her the well-deserved title “Mother Trish” throughout Europe.

Pura Ariza, Jose Luis Ortega, Dr Andy Pickard and “Maam Trish”

The Erasmus Programme is named after a Dutch Philosopher, Erasmus, who taught at various Universities across Europe in the sixteenth century. People in this century were not encouraged to think or reason for themselves. Erasmus spread and encouraged learning believing that education would turn ignorance about religion and daily life on its head. He felt that true knowledge would encourage higher morality and a greater understanding between people.

At MMU the scheme is long established running for fifteen years. Its main partners are the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Austria and Finland. The core programme which is both work and course based, sends students, for a term, to live, study and teach abroad and in exchange their foreign counterpart do the same at their University. MMU and UGR are intending to send 4 students each to spend a term experiencing teaching and life in the corresponding cities in 2008. The exchange programme is open to both graduate and post-graduate students.