The week that just wrapped up saw EMUNI hosting two visitors from the Université Virtuelle de Tunis (UVT). It was an original experience for the entirety of the staff as it took place on-line, in a trailblazing experiment of “Virtual Mobility”. In this sense it was fitting that the two visitors, Nessrine Arfoui and Dorsaf BenMalek hailed from the virtual university of Tunis.
It was an occasion for our guests to meet the entire staff of EMUNI as well as some of the students. In fact virtual mobility allowed a sequence of different meetings that provided a complete overview of the activities of our university. It was also an occasion to exchange about Slovenian and Tunisian cultures, like any real mobility should be.
Dorsaf BenMalek, who is coordinator of English language training at the UVT, but also a researcher in pedagogy and intercultural communication enjoyed the intercultural aspect of these interactions. She said that she was struck by the similarities between Slovenian and Tunisian culture. For us at EMUNI, this remark not only comforts us about the importance of intercultural communication but it also confirms the importance of fostering it across the Euro-Mediterranean region.
EMUNI’s staff’s meetings with Nessrine and Dorsaf focused on EMUNI’s mission, activities and projects, not least the Med2IAH project on internationalisation at home. UVT is a partner on this project and it contributes with a solid experience on line teaching, honed way before the Covid-19 restrictions made them mandatory for all academic institutions.
On these premises, EMUNI is eager to pursue new avenues for further cooperation with the Université Virtuelle de Tunis and – however productive this virtual mobility was – EMUNI’s staff looks forward to exchange with their colleagues from UVT in person.