Departament-Catedra UNESCO pentru schimburi interculturale şi interreligioase, Universitatea din Bucureşti

Département-Chaire UNESCO d’étude des échanges interculturels et interreligieux, Université de Bucarest

Department UNESCO Chair on the study of inter-cultural and inter-religious exchanges, Bucharest University

In 1994 a special professorship was created and reinforced in 1995 by the University of Bucharest for the mission of Professor Martin Hauser from Switzerland. In 1999 this post was transformed into the UNESCO Chair on the Study of Intercultural and Inter-religious Exchanges, and after words, in 2002, this Chair became an autonomous Department within the University of Bucharest.

From the very beginning, Switzerland (National Fund for Scientific Research, Swiss Government and Fribourg Cantonal Administration, as well as Reformed Churches in Switzerland, represented by EPER) played a key-role in sustaining all those activities, sometimes with modesty, some other times with generosity, accordingly to the opportunities and to the different periods of time. For some years, our activity has been sustained as well by Kirkenaktie, Global Ministries, Utrecht, Netherlands. Since 2001 the activity of the Department-UNESCO Chair for the Study of Intercultural and Inter-religious Exchanges (then just UNESCO Chair) has been characterized by a good cooperation with the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. For a certain period of time our Department has extended its collaboration also to the Haute Ecole de Gestion, Fribourg (HEG-HSW Fribourg). We even dare to say that the University of Bucharest has an embassy in Fribourg and the University of Fribourg has its own embassy in Bucharest. Besides these things, there also existed the possibility that the representatives of the two universities met in reciprocal visits.

Our Department-UNESCO Chair for the Study of Intercultural and Inter-religious Exchanges defines its specificity by coordinating the master course called „Intercultural Communication in the Context of European Integration”, and also by organizing and coordinating other master programs and different academic activities. We would like to  underline as a very important issue the fact that our Department develops most of its activities in an international context, a fact that especially involves sudents’ and professors’ exchanges. Our international contacts do not resume themselves to the relations with Fribourg, Switzerland. Our Department’s international relations are many others in Europe and, with the help of UNESCO, in the whole world. That became possible, because Professor Martin Hauser, with the help of Mr. Lilian Ciachir, coordinates the international Network of UNESCO Chairs on inter-religious dialogue for intercultural understanding.

Within the University of Bucharest, our Department develops important cooperations with the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work and also with the Faculty of Theology. We also have important links with the Romanian Academy, as well as with other educational and cultural institutions.