São Paulo – Representatives of teaching institutions in Lebanon should participate next month in the 24th General Assembly of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (Fiuc), in São Bernardo do Campo. The meeting, to take place from the 23rd to the 27th of July, will bring together managers of catholic universities and discuss the teaching offered at those institutions to the new generation of students. The central theme will be "Teaching and Learning in a Catholic University".
According to information disclosed by FEI University, which is hosting the congress, the talks will include the presence of the presidents of over 200 institutions worldwide. From the Arab countries, there will be representatives of five Lebanese universities, among them Notre Dame University and Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik, to have speakers and representatives at roundtables at the event. Enrolment for congress, however, is still open and other universities may enrol.
"Due to the changes in in society, of this more demanding generation, of the new tools, what is our part as educators?” inquires the vice president for Extension and Community Activities at FEI, Rivana Basso Fabbri Marino, in reference to the theme of discussions. She said that catholic universities are not concerned solely with preparing students for the profession, but also with human formation. "How can we get to this youth, how can we create value, more profound formation?” she asks, regarding inquiries to be made at the conference.
The objective will be to discuss what has already been done at universities, to bring out the concerns of academia, to debate the part played by these institutions and what to do to guarantee this complete formation for the new style of student. The meeting is also an assembly for the Fiuc, with election of the leaders, among other matters. This part, however, is to be considered in the last day of the conference and on other dates there will be talks, roundtables, debates, masses and even some ceremonies for homage.
On Tuesday, July 24, for example, the theme of one of the roundtables will be the discussion of the different religious orders in higher education. In this talk, one of the participants will be Walid Moussa, president of Notre Dame University, in Louaize, Lebanon. There will also be managers from Switzerland, Japan, India, the United States, Brazil and France. In the panel "What professor for what university”, the speaker will include Hoda Matar Nehme, of the College of Philosophy and Human Science of Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik, a member of the institution’s university council.
Fiuc is an institution recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). The General Assembly takes place every three years and this is the third time that Brazil hosts it. Fiuc includes around 200 universities, with a permanent secretariat to execute orientation and policies. It also operates as a facilitator promoting the flow of information among the different institutions that are members. In Brazil there are 89 catholic universities.
Service
24th FIUC General Assembly (Federation of Catholic Universities)
FEI campus São Bernardo (Avenida Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, 3.972 –Asuncion)
From July 23rd to 27th, 2012
Information and enrolment: www.fei.edu.br/fiuc/
*Translated by Mark Ament
