Tuning brochure

Welcome to the website of ATHENA3!

ATHENA3, the Advanced Thematic Network of Women's Studies in Europe, has brought together more than 100 institutes (please consult section Partners for more information) in the interdisciplinary field of Women's and Gender Studies. The aim has been to unite scholars, teachers, and stakeholders from civil society and public institutions in the field of gender and diversity. The focus of ATHENA3 has been on education in the fields of humanities and social sciences with special attention to European cultures and European Citizenship.

I. ATHENA3 has thematically focused on "Gender, Culture and European Diversity" and "Women, Access and European Citizenship", consolidating expertise in three areas.

II. Curriculum Development and Research on Education: evaluation tools, descriptors of competencies for women's studies, collections of best practices for ICT in gender education, databases for teaching material.

III. Forging links between universities and civil society: databases and collections of material available in women's libraries that serve communities with information and LLL-projects.

During three years (2006-2009) of its activity, ATHENA3 has achieved and surpassed its targets.

Concrete outcomes:
Curriculum development: teaching modules at BA, MA and Doctoral level designed, tested, delivered and integrated in existing and new programmes offered by ATHENA3 Partners: Intensive Programmes, GEMMA, 'Intergender' and 'Gender Graduates'.

Publications: a book series 'Teaching with Gender' devoted to the teaching and learning of Gender Studies (7 volumes published - paper & online), several other books, articles in professional and scholarly journals, an ATHENA-CDrom with articles on the translation of 'gender' in European languages, and 2 volumes in the Series 'The Making of European Women's Studies' mapping the development of Gender Studies in Europe. (please consult section Publications)

Gender Studies Tuning Brochure (crucial tool for a quality assessment in Gender Studies Teaching Programmes): prepared according to the Tuning methodology (Tuning is an EC-sponsored programme for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) and assessment during the Validation Conference, 18 February 2010, Brussels. (please consult section Tuning)

Strengthened Cooperation between academic and social/civil organisation addressing gender, women and diversity achieved in projects, conferences, website and publications where academic scholars, equal opportunity specialists, librarians and documentalists from women's centres met and worked together. The cooperation is exemplified in the founding on September 30, 2009, of ATGENDER, a professional European Association for Gender Research, Education and Documentation. Over 200 individuals committed their support to this professional association that will bring lasting joint forum of experts in gender. (please consult section Professional Association)

For detailed information on the Working Groups' objectives, activities and results please go to section Working Groups.

In January 2010, the Final Report of ATHENA3 activities was submitted to the European Commission. The Report was accepted and assessed as well structured, comprehensive and transparent. Both the active involvement of partners and the professional management were highly praised. In the newsletter you will find more details and three answers to the question why this positive evaluation is so important.

On February 26, 2010, the ATHENA4- Transversal Impact Application has been submitted to the European Commission. The ATHENA4 - TI is meant to be both a continuation of ATHENA3 and its transposition to another level. The new project: ATHENA4 - Transversal Impact will be directed at broadening the impact of ATHENA3 work via cooperation with new partners in new fields while connecting with other continents, other LLL contexts, other disciplines and generations.

The Commission approval of the ATHENA3 Final Report means that ATHENA3 is officially over. The ATHENA3 website however will remain open and active. It will bring you information about dissemination of ATHENA3 results, the progress in the ATHENA4- Transversal Impact, and the activities of ATGENDER.

Additional Note:
ATHENA3 is the continuation of the activities and results of two-three years cycles of ATHENA (1997-2001) and ATHENA2 (2003-2006) and those undertaken during the dissemination year (2002-2003). The main achievement of these activities has been the growth of the European dimension and institutional development of the new scholarly field of women's studies. European women's studies have developed progressively through the first phase of initiating and mapping a European network of experts, teachers, institutions and activities, a successful dissemination year and a second cycle of expansion. The network has jointly developed modules, teaching materials and programmes, and conducted extensive research and published reports about didactic and educational aspects of the interdisciplinary field.

* The public pages of this website contains information about the activities and results of the ATHENA3 Erasmus Network for all who are interested in cutting edge expertise in gender studies in Europe. ATHENA3- partners may login to have access to organizational information. For any questions and suggestions for this website, please mail to athena.assistant@uu.nl

Tuning brochure

Tuning Educational Structures in Europe. Reference Points for the Design and Delivery of Degree Programs in Gender Studies

Tuning Educational Structures in Europe, University of Deusto, Spain, 2010

Gender Studies is a vibrant field of innovative research, reflective policy studies, life long learning about gender equality with a commitment to gender equality. The Tuning Project has enabled educators, researchers, policymakers, students and activists in gender studies to participate in a European educational project aimed at educational structures in Europe. The Tuning Project invites professionals throughout Europe and beyond to think across national boundaries, to reflect on the global location of their programmes, and to formulate their learning goals in a language that will allow potential students to understand throughout Europe what is on offer and as such stimulate educational mobility.

Gender Studies Tuning Brochure comprehensively reflects the position, situation and achievements of this field and contains the reference points for the design and delivery of degree programmes in Gender Studies. In this sense the importance of the Gender Studies Tuning Brochure is twofold. First, it broadly discusses and emphasizes the significance and indispensability of Gender Studies in contemporary educational schemes. Second, the reference points offered in the Brochure are intended to help those involved in the design and delivery of degree programmes in Gender Studies to reflect on their own quality requirements, their choices and decisions, and their students’ needs.

Gender Studies Tuning Brochure is the result of over a decade of intensive cooperation and exchange in Gender Studies in Europe. United by a shared interest in the interdisciplinary field of Gender Studies, academics, students, activists and professionals engaged in gender equality established Athena, a network in advanced Women’s Studies, in 1998. This network has been supported by the Erasmus/Socrates financing of Thematic Networks ever since. Scholars from almost every European country within and outside the European Union have taken up the challenge to explore, define and improve Gender Studies in higher education. The network has produced expertise in Gender Studies at a truly transnational level by bridging the gap between universities and civil society. At the same time the results are deeply rooted and embedded in different locations: interdisciplinary classrooms, international educational exchange, NGOs and governmental policy making as well as political activism directed at strengthening women’s position. Involve

Gender Studies Tuning Brochure is to a large extent composed of the results and reports of a decade of cooperation within the Athena network and individual contributions provided by the Gender Studies SAG members. Furthermore, two questionnaires were sent to stakeholders, Gender Studies academics, students, graduates, women and men active in organizations and institutions dedicated to gender equality, women’s emancipation and equal opportunities. The questionnaires asked respondents to rate the importance of different competences in Gender Studies Programmes and to assess the degree to which they were implemented. One questionnaire was dedicated to generic competences, the other to specific Gender Studies competences. The second list was based on a careful scrutiny of the ATHENA reports on education that describe learning outcomes for Gender Studies courses.

Gender Studies Tuning Brochure has been produced by the Athena network. The Athena 3 Taskforce appointed an editorial committee (Subject Area Group) assisted by the executive editor. The prepared text was presented to all Athena 3 partners. Academics who teach Gender Studies, students and graduates who have taken courses, and activists critically assessed the text. Their feedback was integrated in the Brochure.

The final phase of preparing the Gender Studies Tuning Brochure was sponsored by ATGENDER the new European Association for Gender Research, Education and Documentation.

The Tuning Brochure is available on the ATGENDER website.

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