Rural Studies in english
Rural Studies is a multidisciplinary partnership network of six universities, which has a networked management system and politics. It offers its students academic teaching in rural studies, brings forth interdisciplinary master’s degree studies in the field and develops teaching and research.
The network serves students and teachers at universities, interested in rural questions. The aim is to bring additional value to the development and internationalisation of the rural field.
The Rural Studies network considers it important that rural areas and towns can develop in sustainable and constructive interaction. Mutual activity between universities can broadly yield information, know-how and expertise related to rural areas for national and international demand.
The networked method, based on equal academic partnership, is flexible and effective. It creates critical mass, based on versatile expertise, which is the basis for high-grade teaching of rural studies. It increases the effectiveness and visibility of rural research in Finland as well as abroad.
From the viewpoint of the success of the activity it is important that the network is widely known both in Finland and abroad. It is important that Rural Studies are known also outside the system of higher education. It is especially significant to raise the consciousness of the future employers of the students on the different sectors of society from ministries to the organisations of civic society. An important measure is the concern with the image and the determined use of the Rural Studies -brand in the marketing.
The Rural Studies programme offers ca. 70 credits of studies, from which the students construct a secondary subject for themselves. The Rural Studies teaching is carried out both as intensive studies and e-learning. The Rural Studies programme has a separate application time during the spring for the students of the partner universities but not a separate acceptance. A complementary application time is arranged in the autumn if needed. The students graduate from their own universities and with their own subjects. The students accepted in the programme have a right to study to all Rural Studies.
Rural Studies -presentation in_English_2011
ESRS Summer School in Mikkeli, august 2012 (See more in www.ruralstudies.fi/ESRS-2012)