International

Because of its geographic position, Kulak has a close collaboration with Lille (France) and Mons (Belgium). The Kortrijk area borders on the large and dynamic metropolis, Lille, which boasts well-established academic institutions. There are, of course, many shared areas of interest, and it is thus natural that we should collaborate with our colleagues across the border.

• There is an ongoing education exchange in the Faculties of Arts, Law and Business and Economics.
• As far as research is concerned, we have an agreement with Université Lille III in the framework of the Interreg III programme, aimed at the development of educational software for language teaching.
• There is a growing collaboration between Kulak and the universities in Lille for the creation of cross-border research institutions in Humanities, Exact Sciences and Biomedical Sciences. Kulak researchers and their French colleagues are discussing the setting up of research projects into economic, social and cultural phenomena in border areas.

Students who prefer to stay in their own region can thus take advantage of our position near the (language) border to get an international experience by taking optional courses in Lille or Mons. At the campus, they also get into contact with foreign visiting lecturers and researchers.

Apart from internationalisation in the border region and internationalisation at home, Kulak is expanding its contacts to the Netherlands (Leiden and Utrecht) and the UK (London). Our aim is to create a small network of highly qualified universities where students can take lessons during a semester, take optional courses, do research or even obtain a double diploma.

Finally, there are two socially engaged study trips that are integrated in the curriculum:

• students of the Faculty of Medicine can participate in an intensive medical training in the Philippines 
• students of the Faculty of Educational Sciences can participate in an educational project in the townships of South Africa.

In brief, Kulak offers many different ways of getting a personalized international experience, and students can choose one that fits their interests and possibilities best.