University of Catania (UNICT) celebrated Europe Day on May 9th.
University of Catania hosted an event to celebrate Europe Day, which was chaired by Rector Francesco Priolo and Vice Rector Francesca Longo. Guests included Manuela Sessa from European Commission – Representation in Italy, Professor Thomas Christiansen at Political Science Department of LUISS-Guido Carli University (Rome, Italy), university staff and lecturers involved in European Documentation Centers (EDCs), EUNICE and REUNICE project, ERASMUS project, Departments and other activities most devoted to internationalization, and also the students.
Since the institutional greetings, importance of being part an European university alliances was highlighted. Rector Francesco Priolo said: “Europe is a recent achievement, allowing us to trade economically, travel easily between countries, gain experiences that until recently were very complicated”. He added: “Being part of EUNICE means networking with other European universities, facilitating mobility of our students and university staff, offering higher quality teaching, and multiplying opportunities for researchers.”
One of the presentations was entitled “European University Alliances and the Common Education Area: students tell the EUNICE experience”. Eugenia Curione, EUNICE project officer at Unict, started by asking attendees how many were aware of the EUNICE project, and more than half of the 40 present raised their hands. Students told how they have been enriched professionally by their international experiences, focusing on the EUNICE activities in which they participated: Francesca Laneri joined the Ph.D. Industrial Workshops and Davide Russo did an internship in Belgium through the EUNICE internship portal.
The event ended at the University Theater with a concert of the athenaeum chorus, which performed Gaudeamus igitur and An die Freude / Ode to joy, and a theatrical improvisation show by students from “Scena Erasmus”, which is a project creating an international student theater company.
