About CLE

Click here to download our CLE brochure.

You can download here the document Relevance and impact of the Erasmus Mundus CLE's project (intakes 2019/2021 - 2022/2024)

CLE (Erasmus Mundus) is a study programme that brings together  eight prestigious universities promoting the study of European languages, literature and cultures within and outside Europe.

The programme involves two years of study  at two or three of the eight partner universities: University of Bologna, Dakar, Haute-Alsace (Mulhouse), Lisbon, Mumbai, Thessaloniki, Strasbourg and Tbilisi.

At the end of the two-year course, after defending their thesis before an international committee, CLE students obtain a double or multiple Master's degree issued by the universities of the Consortium where they have spent at least one semester. The language in which the courses are taught may vary depending on the university where they are delivered. 

CLE has received confirmation of the Erasmus Mundus label of excellence from the European Agency EACEA and, even without European funding, will continue to operate, offering training aimed at acquiring the skills necessary for graduates to enter professional life on a global scale. All locations plan many activities each year, grouped under the acronym HEAD (Humanities and Enterprises Annual Dialogue), whose purpose is to collaborate with various players in the cultural world of work: seminars and workshops, annual meetings and conferences, internships and even the co-supervision of theses by professionals.

PARTNER UNIVERSITIES: 

• Università di Bologna (coordination)
• Université de Haute-Alsace (Mulhouse)
• Université de Strasbourg
• Panepistimion Thessaloniki
• Universidade de Lisboa
• Université de Dakar
• University of Mumbai
• Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University

TYPE OF ACCESS: Open access with assessment of personal competencies.

TEACHING LOCATIONS: Bologna (Italy), Mulhouse (France), Strasbourg (France), Thessaloniki (Greece), Lisbon (Portugal), Dakar (Senegal), Mumbai (India), Tbilisi (Georgia).

The CLE Master Course is a program devoted to improving the quality of European Higher Education Area and strengthening intercultural communication.

The program encourages and supports:

- cooperation as well as student, scholar and staff exchange among universities;
- the worldwide promotion  of the image of the European Union as a space of academic excellence;
- communication between university and cultural institutions and enterprises (Museums, Publishers, Foundations) as well as public and private companies;
- better career opportunities for its graduates and access to the international workforce.

The CLE Master Course aims at providing international students with excellent T-shaped skills in:

- at least three European languages (English – mandatory, two other languages among French, Italian, Greek or Portuguese);
- at least  three domains of European culture and thought (Literature, Art, Cultural History, Ethics and Aesthetics, Science of Language).

Over the years, many additional activities (seminars, conferences, workshops, language courses...) have been entrusted to high-profile scholars/guest lecturers. The CLE intends to maintain and reinforce this successful collaboration pattern.

After fifteen successful years in the framework of the Erasmus Mundus program, the European Union has once again recognized the excellence of the CLE Master Course, confirming on june 2018 the particiaption to the Erasmus + Erasmus Mundus Joint Master  program. At the end of the funding period (July 2024), the European Commission continued to emphasise the excellence of the programme, confirming the Erasmus Mundus label  even in the absence of funding.

The program aims at:
1. fostering excellence, quality improvements, innovation, and internationalisation in higher education institutions (HEI);
2. increasing the quality and the attractiveness of the European Higher Education Area and support the EU's external action in the higher education field;
3. improving the level of competences and skills of Master graduates, and in particular the relevance of the Joint Masters for the labour market, through an increased involvement of employers.

Erasmus Mundus Joint Master programs are integrated study programs delivered by consortia of organisations from Program and Partner Countries. Academics or guest lecturers coming from all over the world contribute to the added value of CLE by teaching and researching in the Master degree program.

Thanks to its participation in the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master program, the attractiveness of the CLE Master Course will be raised further to get the best students from all over the world. The Master Course improves the level of competences and skills of Master graduates and their employability thanks to the contribution of the associated partners.

Watch the video What our students say: