EPISTEME ACHIEVEMENTS

The EPISTEME-POLIS – Enhancing Political Science Teaching Quality and Mobility in Europe – Thematic Network was conceived to help consolidate the European academic community of political science teachers. It also aimed to facilitate the adaptation of our discipline to the rapidly changing international and European higher education landscape.

The first stage on this process has been an evaluation and comparative assessment of the state of the discipline, on both individual country and regional levels. This assessment was realised in 1996 for 16 Western European countries and in 1999-2000, for 11 Central and Eastern European countries (cfr. Klingemann H.D., Kulesza E., Legutke A., eds.: “The State of Political Science in Central and Eastern Europe” Berlin, Sigma, 2002).

Taking advantage of the Thematic Networks option proposed by the European Commission under the SOCRATES – ERASMUS programme, a group of about 100 university departments successfully proposed, in 1997, a project for a Thematic Network in Political Science. The main contribution of this “first” Thematic Network (1997-2000) was to mobilise energies, launch new cooperative projects, devise a working methodology, conceive information and communication tools and offer a systematic forum for further expertise and experience-sharing. The also TN published several reports, surveys and other materials dealing with the challenges and the needs of our discipline, and proposing solutions for a deeper and more solid “Europeanization” of our profession.

One of the main outcomes was the creation, in June 2001, of a new pan-European association of political science teachers and professionals, the European Political Science Network (EPSNet). EPSNet has subsequently played a major role in the further steps of Episteme project. The three main objectives of EPISTEME hence have been:

• To improve the quality of teaching, through a better adaptation of contents, methods and pedagogical tools, the definition of quality standards and common evaluation criteria on the European level, and the introduction of new pedagogical approaches.
• To foster the quality of training and of the professional qualification of political science graduates, by: improving the preparation of doctoral students for their future activities as teachers; promoting a better training of political science graduates for extra-academic professions, and contributing to a better adjustment of the profession to the increased “Europeanisation” of the job market.
• To stimulate, facilitate and extend teacher and student mobility, in order to encourage students and teacher mobility amongst the partner institutions and to improve the conditions for implementation of mobility schemes.