Welcome to the Compas-EU Master Program

The choice to set up an English language Erasmus Mundus Programme in “Comparative East Asian and European Studies: Approaches to Regional Cooperation” (hereafter identified by its acronym: COMPAS-EU) is the direct result of a series of known and verifiable academic and societal needs. First and foremost, an overall need for better mutual understanding between Europe and Asia has become ever more pressing. In response, COMPAS-EU will: on the one hand, contribute to meeting an increasing demand for a new breed of knowledgeable actors able to navigate the evermore important and complex Euro-Asian relationship; and on the other, foster a deeper understanding of the rapidly changing realities on both sides of the relationship.

With regards to the political priorities, the first ASEM Rectors Conference in 2008 concluded that (1) the ASEM framework for higher education policy dialogue needed enhancing; (2) mobility between ASEM countries needed stimulation; and (3) new Euro-Asian research collaborations needed to be fostered. Since then the Commission has recently updated its own priorities regarding the future deployment of its Erasmus Mundus programme with an eye on strengthening its Asian impact. In accordance herewith, COMPAS-EU would significantly heighten the attractiveness of European Higher Education Programmes in East Asia by attracting a wide range of East Asian graduate students. It would function as a privileged intermediary for East-Asian students - and any other party interested in Euro-Asian affairs - helping them to find their way to European Institution of higher learning in sufficiently significant numbers. Seamlessly in line with other initiatives deployed by the EACEA – most notably the recently launched ASEMUNDUS project, an EM Information Grants for National Structures which aims at enhancing the higher education cooperation between the EU and Asian ASEM member states by making the ERASMUS Mundus programme more visible and accessible for interested Asian (ASEM) higher education institutions – COMPAS-EU would be both the most effective and qualitatively outstanding effort within the Erasmus Mundus agenda regarding the enhancement of the European Research and Higher Education areas’ profile in East Asia. Perfectly complementary to other efforts within actions 1, 2 and 3 of the EM programme COMPAS-EU would quickly emerge as a central draw for East Asian graduate students, thus bring East Asia and Europe ever closer and boosting the entire Erasmus Mundus programme in the East Asian ‘market’. Also, in light of its focus COMPAS-EU would target the fasted growing group of East Asian university students: social science and humanities graduate students; incidentally a group which is particularly interested in coming to Europe in light of the continents relative and unique strengths in these fields, but which encounters a disproportionate number of obstacles. An Erasmus Mundus endorsed COMPAS-EU would be a marked step towards lifting several of these, amongst which: diploma recognition and portability, study financing, visa procedures, publicity and renown.

COMPAS-EU will also deepen and promote the significant pool of excellence in research presently available within the various consortium members. All partners are involved through their area studies departments, which are all invariably leading players within major European or Asian institutions of higher learning. The programme’s central concern is to maintain and develop their excellence, both in terms of research and teaching by securing for themselves an enviable place at the cross-roads of the different disciplines they encompass (History, Political Science, Business, Law and Society). COMPAS-EU will pool available knowledge and expertise regarding both the particular experience of the EU; as well as, an exhaustive and heterogeneous list of experts on the numerous dimensions of Asian affairs. As a result, this programme offers the institutions and students involved a unique opportunity to develop and strengthen a singularly European contribution to the ever-growing interdisciplinary field of area studies. This would make COMPAS-EU’s development a strong response to the critical need to highlight and strengthen the distinctly European contribution to the growing debates on global and regional political and societal evolutions. As such COMPAS-EU is a calibrated response to the twin threats of seeing the European interpretations of global and regional affairs marginalized either by the emergence of new voices such as those hailing from Asia, or the continued weight of American Academic quantitative pre-eminence in social sciences and humanities.

With regards to the European Research Area (ERA), COMPAS-EU will be a distinctly European driving force behind an emerging new field of inquiry. The discipline of area studies traditionally focuses on the acquisition of knowledge on a given country, region and culture through the study of its language, history and society. However with the emergence of European studies, a noteworthy qualitative leap was made within the field of area studies as more rigid methodological approaches to regions were developed. EU studies became a laboratory for innovative and interdisciplinary (policies, business and law and history) approaches to the European area. In parallel, East Asian studies worldwide have been struggling with the issue of developing a distinct integrative approach and methodological soundness. By combining the most advanced developments within European and East Asian studies, the specific problems encountered within each disciplines can be overcome though creative mutual learning processes. This will contribute towards the establishment of a sound foundation for the emerging field of Comparative European and East Asian Studies. As such, COMPAS-EU will answer some fundamental epistemic and methodological questions which have been troubling many area studies departments by using the teachings drawn from the EU.

Needs identified within the European Societies and Employment Markets

A variety of sectors – both in the private and public sector – have experienced a growing need for human resources with the necessary skills to deal with what will for the foreseeable future become the primary source of growth and opportunities world wide: East Asia. Such skills include: communication, regulatory and legal knowledge, economic understanding, cultural and historic sensitivity and a sheer familiarity with the region; all of these skills are provided for and developed coherently within COMPAS-EU. As a result, COMPAS-EU is a direct response to the needs of such economic actors - in Europe, Asia and beyond – as:

Civil Services – both National & International - wherein a growing number of official institutions are in need of expertise on Euro-Asian affairs. This need is oft met through contractual recruitment of Euro-Asian specialists. Particularly at the European level, a large and sustained need for Asia-specialists remains. Heightened interest also exists within various national Asian administrations (i.e. ASEAN countries, South Korea and P.R.China) following a boom in interest for regional cooperation. Particular areas of concern for International and national institutions include: financial regulation; trade law; business practices; IP and contract law, as well as policy-analysis, notably regarding environmental issues, multilateral cooperation, and development strategies. All of the above mentioned areas are covered by COMPAS-EU.

Think Tanks & Lobbies on both sides of the Euro-Asian relationship have: either specialized in Euro-Asian Affairs, or have created subsidiary programmes regarding such issues. Accordingly, a relative increase in demand for high-level specialist has emerged, one that presently the European Higher Education Area can only partially meet. COMPAS-EU will thus provide these actors with the human resources required combining in depth knowledge of both regions, necessary communication skills, and thorough knowledge of decision-making process on both sides

NGOs & QUANGOs will appreciate COMPAS-EU as it provides extensive first-person contacts with civil societies both in Asia and Europe, it equips its students with necessary communication skills; gives them the opportunity to start building a professional network; and by including courses on respective socio-economic development strategies it provides students with the critical knowledge needed in NGO or QUANGO employ.

Private Companies such as large European and Asia MNEs having invested in both regions are actively looking for human resources versed in the regulatory and business practices of the other partner. Such intermediary figures remain relatively more important in the Euro-Asian partnership than in other bi-regional relationship as the number of facilitators remains low.

Academic Careers are a growing avenue for graduates following the rapid growth of EU studies in Asia and Asia studies in Europe. In both cases EU studies and East Asia studies have reached a critical mass requiring further hiring of specialized researchers. The COMPAS-EU partner institutions offer various avenues for EM Master students to continue their work at the doctoral level. Moreover, at the doctoral level, both existing Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorates such as the EMJD-GEM; as well as, the consortium’s declared future intention to further its agenda at the doctoral level, illustrate the growing number of potential academic avenues for students exiting the COMPAS-EU programme.