The 2026 ECSPM Symposium, 19-20 March, focuses on internationalisation in HE, understood not as a threat but as a gateway to new possibilities for universities which are facing serious challenges in this day and age. Also it focuses on translation of academic knowledge, deeply intertwined with the internationalisation of universities. The symposium concept note is here.
Hosted by the Saarland Language Council, and supported by Saarland University of Applied Sciences (htw saar), the symposium is under the patronage of the Lord Mayor of Saarbrücken.
Programme:
09:00 – 09:10
Opening address by the two host institutions
Council Chairman, Thomas Tinnefeld
09:10 – 09:15
Welcome address by the Mayor of Saarbrücken
Barbara Meyer
09:15 – 09:20 Group photo
09:20 – 09:50
Introduction to the Symposium theme
by ECSPM president, Bessie Dendrinos
09:50 – 11:00
Internationalisation of HE in the time of antiliberalism (online)
by Andrea Pető, followed by discussion coordinated by Irini Tsamadou-Jacoberger
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 – 12:30
Towards an inclusive multilingual university
by Terry Lamb, followed by a discussion coordinated by Waldemar Martyniuk
12:30 – 13:00
Universities as bordering spaces: Internationalisation, immigration, and the affective realities for students
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 14:30
The de-internationalization policies in the Netherlands, and the experiences of students
14:30 – 15:00
Discussion (for both previous sessions) led by Jos Swanenberg
15:00 – 16:00
Bilingualism Matters: Bridging research and society: Perspectives, challenges and mutual benefits
by Antonella Sorace, followed by a discussion led by Tanja Rinker
16:00 – 17:15
DIALOGUES – Languages, literacies, learning in a digital age
Language teaching and citizenship language requirements in Scandinavia
Discussion led by Agnieszka Moraczewska
09.00 – 10:00
Language data for European AI
by Christos Ellinides, followed by a discussion led by Monica Barni
10:00 – 11:00
What are the prerequisites for constructing foreign academic knowledge through translation?
by Jan Engberg, followed by a discussion led by Ulrike Jessner-Schmid
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee break
11:30 – 12:00
Monolingual filter bubbles in the translanguaging space? Machine translation and multilingualism in HE
by Péter Szabó
12:00 – 12:30
Translation as global knowledge infrastructure: From European interoperability to planetary knowledge commons
12:30 – 13:00
From translation tool to epistemic technology: Generative AI and the changing nature of knowledge translation across languages
13:00 – 13:30
Discussion (of the three previous sessions) led by Guðrún Gísladóttir
13:30 – 14:30 Lunch
14:30 – 15:45
Literacy in diversity settings: Integrating international approaches in research and teaching at the University of Hamburg
by Carla Bohndik, Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer & Sarah McMonagle, followed by a discussion led by Latisha Mary
15:45 – 16:30
The ACTIN project (ACT and connect for INtegration: language learning and cultural awareness)
by Theodoros Marinis, Andrea Young, Justine Holtzweiler, Karina Al-Katauneh & Saskia Braun, followed by a discussion led by Maria Zerva
16:30 – 17:30
Machine Translation as Educational Technology? (online)
by Per Urlaub & Eva Dessein, followed by a discussion led by Nikolay Slavkov