Cooperation with Universities

A one-sided and emotionally heated public debate on any topic doesn't do society much good. It fosters bad mood, mutual distrust and sometimes even fear for the future. In order to maintain dialogue in the public sphere, debate needs to reflect different perspectives and attitudes, but at the same time take the facts into account, thus contributing to understanding new situations. A balanced debate in the public sphere is not possible without a professional one at the academic level and the sharing of scientific knowledge across society and academia itself. For this reason, the Migration Awareness programme also emphasises close cooperation with universities, and long-time partners of People in Need, in the areas of shared analytical and pedagogical work. But, how do we do that?

We offer:*

• cooperation with the Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism at Charles University where we teach two one-semester courses for undergraduate students of journalism and marketing/communication. In the winter semester, we offer the course Media and Migration, and in the summer semester we offer the course Global and Development Journalism.

• published expert studies and analyses on the topics of media portrayal of diversity, migrants, migration and integration. In collaboration with the Faculty of Social Studies of Masaryk University, we published a 2019 comparative analysis titled, In the Spotlight. Media Coverage of Migration in the Czech Republic, Estonia and Slovakia (available in Czech). In 2016, we published an analysis entitled Expressions of Hate in Cyberspace and on Social Networks (also available in Czech) in response to the Syrian refugee crisis.

• participation and implementation of expert lectures for journalism students at Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University, and the Faculty of Arts at Comenius University in Bratislava (along with our sister organisation, People in Need Slovakia). 
  

• regular involvement with the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Humanities at Charles University, where we give guest lectures on the topics of the media portrayal of migration, the role of the civil sector in the integration of foreigners, and the integration of migrants in Czechia.
  

• networking and knowledge exchange on current migration topics between Czech and foreign migration experts by hosting expert lectures and joint workshops.
  

• professional conferences focused on the topics of the media portrayal of migration, integration of migrants and migration policies.
  

Who we've partnered with in the past:

• The Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University.
  
• The Department of Media Studies and Journalism of Masaryk University where we've regularly given guest lectures as part of their Ethics and Media course.
  
• The Department of International Political Relations of the University of Economics in Bratislava, where we held regular lectures twice a year between 2016 and 2019 on the topics of migration and integration in the Czech Republic as part of the course Minorities, Marginalised Groups and Equality Policies in the Visegrad Region.
  
• We've also hosted ad hoc lectures and seminars ourselves on the topics of migration, integration and minorities.
• Czech students from the Faculty of Education at the University of Ostrava, the Faculty of Philosophy and Science at Silesian University in Opava, the Faculty of Science or the Faculty of Philosophy at Charles University. 
• Foreign students from the University of California Berkeley, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Our team includes male and female experts who have academic experience (teaching, research and publishing) and who, in addition to their work in the Migration Awareness Department, currently work at universities in the Czech Republic. 

Mgr. Jakub Andrle, Ph.D. – a graduate of the Institute of International Studies of Charles University, Jakub specialises in the topic of migration in modern world history and migration processes in the post-Soviet space.

RNDr. Tereza Freidingerová, Ph.D. – a social geographer and migration researcher, Tereza is a graduate of geography from the Faculty of Science of Charles University. She specialises primarily in the Vietnamese diaspora.

In 2020, we published study materials for journalism students and aspiring journalists People Between the Lines – A Handbook on Migration for (Future) Journalists, available both English and Czech.

* the possibility to implement the offered activities depends on the current financial capacity, which is dependent on project fundraising. Upon agreement, it is possible to fund selected activities privately.