Practical
EUTOPIA Autumn School 2026
The Autumn School: A Linguistic and Literary Perspective on Multilingual Societies invites Bachelor's and Master's students, from the EUTOPIA Network and beyond, to reflect on the challenges that highly multilingual societies are faced with, and on the opportunities that such diverse societies can offer. We will address this topic from both a linguistic and a literary perspective, raising questions and opportunities that most cosmopolitan societies face in the 21st century:
- How do multilingual societies cater to the communicative needs of their population, including inhabitants who do not (yet) speak the official or dominant language(s)? Which approaches have been developed in multilingual societies to address the challenges of communicative diversity? How can language policy and planning remain manageable in a highly diversified linguistic setting? How do speakers themselves navigate their multilingual environment?
- How do multilingual societies stimulate cultural production in e.g. literature, music, film? What challenges do authors and artists face in multilingual societies? How does cultural policy address multilingual realities? Which bottom-up initiatives can we observe in the cultural sector?
Multilingual experts with backgrounds in linguistics and literary studies will join forces with students to offer interesting insights and explore the common theme of the Autumn School:
In a multilingual society, what separates people, and what creates cohesion?
The Autumn School offers lectures and interactive seminars led by academics from the EUTOPIA partner universities and a field day in Brussels (November 11th).
The registration deadline is:
- For VUB students: 15 October 2026
- For non-VUB students: 1 October 2026
Selected candidates will be notified on October 15 2026. In case of oversubscription, students will be added to a waitlist. After October 15th, students on the waitlist will be contacted if a space opens up.
Contact: eutopia.minor.lw@vub.be
Discover the provisional programme
**The programme is subject to change based on lecturers’ availability**
Registration for VUB students
VUB students can participate in three ways (with different levels of workload):
|
A. EUTOPIA Minor |
B. Internationalisation and Society |
C. Extracurricular |
| The Autumn School can be taken up as part of the EUTOPIA Minor. | The Autumn School can be taken up as a component for your Internationalisation and Society portfolio. | Students who do not wish to obtain credits are also welcome to participate on an extracurricular basis. |
| 12 ECTS (6 ECTS for Autumn School + 6 ECTS for assignment) | 3 ECTS | 0 ECTS |
Participation in the Autumn School is free of charge for VUB students.
All students are required to attend the Autumn School in person, as this is not a hybrid programme. All students are responsible for their own transportation, accommodation, and other living expenses.
Registration for EUTOPIA students
Students enrolled in the following universities are considered EUTOPIA students:
- BabeČ™-Bolyai University
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel
- Ca’Foscari University of Venice
- CY Cergy Paris University
- Dresden University of Technology
- University of Gothenburg
- University of Ljubljana
- NOVA University Lisbon
- Pompeu Fabra University-Barcelona
- University of Warwick
- Universidad de los Andes
- Arizona State University
- Kyungpook National
- Monash University
- Université Internationale de Rabat
- Stellenbosch University
All EUTOPIA students can apply under one of the following formulas:
- 0 ECTS – Attend the week out of interest, with no additional work required beyond participation.
- 3 ECTS (subject to credit transfer being approved by home institution) – Attend every lecture throughout the week. Participants will receive a certificate specifying the number of credits earned. Students are expected to check if their home institution accepts these credits.
Participation in the Autumn School is free of charge for students who are part of the EUTOPIA network.
All students are required to attend the Autumn School in person, as this is not a hybrid programme. All students are responsible for their own transportation, accommodation, and other living expenses.
Registration for external students
All students enrolled in a university that is not a EUTOPIA partner (see list of partners in the “EUTOPIA students” section).
External students can apply under one of the following formulas:
- 0 ECTS – Attend the week out of interest, with no additional work required beyond participation.
- 3 ECTS (subject to credit transfer being approved by home institution) – Attend every lecture throughout the week. Participants will receive a certificate specifying the number of credits earned. Students are expected to check if their home institution accepts these credits.
External students are required to pay a €500 participation fee. The payment request for the fee will be sent to the student after selection for the programme. Please note that the participation fee will have to be paid before 15 October 2026, and that we are not able to refund the fee once it is paid.
All students are required to attend the Autumn School in person, as this is not a hybrid programme. All students are responsible for their own transportation, accommodation, and other living expenses.