These events are part of the CHEER research project

Higher Education, Internationalisation and Mobility: Inclusions, Equalities and Innovations (HEIM) 

 

Monday 2nd November 2015

Gallery 2, Conference Centre, Bramber House, University of Sussex

10-11am

Inclusive education and ethnic identity: Educational policies for Roma in Central and Eastern Europe

by Dr Iulius Rostas (Visiting Lecturer at Corvinus University of Budapest & Associate Fellow, with the Institute of Advanced Study at the Central European University)

The last 25 years have seen numerous initiatives addressing the Roma predicament in Europe. The most prominent of these were the national Roma strategies developed by the governments of Central and Eastern Europe during the European Union enlargement process, the Decade of Roma Inclusion and, most recently, the EU framework for Roma National Integration Strategies. In spite of the generous policy objectives, the situation of Roma continued to worsen as research from the field indicates - a policy paradox that needs to be explored. The question of why these policies had such a limited impact is one that policy-makers, scholars and activists must provide answers to. One of the causes for the lack of impact is the lack of ethnic relevance of these policies - their failure to take into consideration Romani ethnic identity. In his keynote presentation, Dr Iulius Rostas will analyse the inclusiveness of educational policies towards Roma using ethnic relevance as an indicator. He will also analyse the educational policies in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania as part of the EU Framework for Roma National Integration Strategies though the lens of Roma ethnic identity, using policy design theory and critical race theory as relevant theoretical frames. How are the Roma defined by the policy-makers? What are the problems faced by the Roma identified by policy-makers? How are these problems defined? Who exactly is part of the policy target group? What are the limits of the ethnic group set by policy-makers? These questions will be the guide.

11.15am-12.30pm

The second part of this HEIM seminar will focus on presentations from Roma PhD researchers sponsored by the Roma Education Fund. They will make 15 minute presentations and answer questions on the following topics: 

‘Educational Systems and Romani Identity: A comparative study of legal strategies for exclusion and inclusion educational systems in Macedonia’ Ljubica Tomic, University of Florence, Italy

‘Generational changes of the Roma graduates, in the impact of social resilience’ Máté Dezső, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary

‘Migration Dynamics and New Trends in European (In)Security’ Gabriela Petre University of Bucharest, Romania