Study and research in South Carolina: Expansion of partnership with Francis Marion University

If you would like to spend time abroad in the USA during your studies, you don't necessarily have to study English. To be able to offer all University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) students and staff this opportunity, the university intends to expand its partnership with Francis Marion University (FMU) in South Carolina. As the two universities and their regions are very similar, joint research in many areas is also an option in the future.

Expanding the partnership with Francis Marion University is part of a new strategy at University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) at Landau: Dr. Christian Dorsch from the International Affairs Office explains that the intention is not to aim for quantity in international partnerships but instead intensify the cooperation with a smaller number of partners that are a good match for RPTU. Francis Marion University (FMU) based in Florence in the US state of South Carolina has been an important partner of RPTU at Landau since 2012 and the partnership will now also be open to RPTU at Kaiserslautern. The two universities have some overlap in terms of both study programmes and research topics, which is why they are a perfect match and now want to significantly expand their partnership. In September 2023, representatives of RPTU at Landau travelled to South Carolina to renew the universities' exchange agreement. The President of FMU, Dr. Luther F. Carter, suggested that RPTU could be one of the three strategic international partnerships under consideration of the southern state university.

Representatives from Francis Marion University visited Southern Palatinate in March 2024. Christian Dorsch emphasises: “Not only do we fit together well professionally, we also all get on very well personally. We realised very quickly that FMU should be our main partner in the USA.” Another factor is that there is a state partnership between Rhineland-Palatinate and South Carolina, which provides good opportunities to define strategic projects and programmes and to acquire third-party funding for them. Both universities believe that there is a lot of potential for expanding the partnership.

Exchange in all subject areas

The focus will be on the exchange of students, teachers and researchers. To date, the exchange programme has mainly covered the subjects of English and art. “When the group from Landau visited us last September, we recognized that there was more we could do together,” explains Charles Jeffcoat, Professor of Art at FMU, who coordinates the exchange programme and study trips from Francis Marion University to Landau. “In the summer semester, we will welcome students in educational sciences, environmental sciences and psychology from Francis Marion University to Landau for the first time.” In future, there will also be exchanges between economics and political science. “There are similarities in all subject areas. I hope that we can fully expand the cooperation in every area,” says Co-President of University Kaiserslautern-Landau Prof. Dr. Gabriele E. Schaumann, who is also pleased that the collaboration offers many possibilities.

Like at University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, teacher training is also very important at Francis Marion University. Prospective teachers should therefore also benefit from the exchange programme: “Student teachers should have the opportunity to gain international experience- not only if they are studying a foreign language,” emphasises Dorsch. After all, classrooms are becoming increasingly heterogeneous, with children from very different cultural experiences and language backgrounds. This is why a planned short-term exchange programme for student teachers also includes visits to local schools.

Similar regions in Rhineland-Palatinate and South Carolina

In April 2024 RPTU will once again welcome FMU students, this time three, for the summer semester. In return, in August several students from Landau will travel to the USA to study at FMU for the fall term there. Both universities intend to provide more slots in this exchange programme in the future. Francis Marion University also utilises programmes such as Travel Study. In May 2024 twelve students and two lecturers will spend several days in Landau to study the topic of sustainability in Germany’s Southwest. FMU would also like to provide financial support for its lecturers to be able to work and research at University Kaiserslautern-Landau. “I taught cultural studies in Landau for four weeks ten years ago,” says Jeffcoat, whose wife is half German.

The strategic partnership between the two universities will not be limited to exchange, however. There is also potential for joint research, both in educational research and, above all, in the field of environmental sciences. Rhineland-Palatinate and the area surrounding Francis Marion University share many similarities. “Both are inland, both have the opportunities to conduct research on waters such as rivers or ponds,” says Dr. Mark Blackwell, Professor of Philosophy and Religion and Director of International Affairs at Francis Marion University. In the US, more funding is provided for coastal marine ecology than for inland water ecology. This is due to industry, imports and exports, Blackwell continues. Joint research with RPTU at Landau would therefore come in handy for FMU.

“We are struggling with similar things everywhere in the world”

Francis Marion University has a facility comparable to University Kaiserslautern-Landau's Eußerthal Ecosystem Research Site (EERES). “We have a lake about ten minutes away from campus where we go out by boat and take samples. The Fresh Water Ecology Centre around the lake offers great laboratories and seminar rooms,” says Jeffcoat. “Although this is different from Landau, where research is conducted in other waters, nevertheless the focus is the same.”

Jason Doll also welcomes the plan to conduct joint research in the future. He is a biology professor and coordinator for environmental sciences at Francis Marion University: “Climate change, water pollution, air pollution. We are struggling with similar things all over the world, which means we have overlapping expertise everywhere.” The biologist emphasises that the sustainability goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations are becoming increasingly important around the world. Doll sees the USA and Germany facing similar challenges in many environmental issues, such as declining vegetation or agriculture. “In Rhineland-Palatinate it's wine, in South Carolina it's cotton. The problems are similar.” Schaumann adds: “It's good that Francis Marion University is not a giant university, but a smaller one with good resources and interests similar to those of University of Kaiserslautern-Landau.”

Both universities are interested in helping in the development of their regions

Both universities also have a similar mindset in relation to their respective regions. The merger of Landau and Kaiserslautern to form University of Kaiserslautern-Landau is intended to strengthen the Palatinate region, and Francis Marion University also cares about its PeeDee region, says Dorsch: “We both do a lot for our regions. That’s important to us. When we talked about things like citizen science or outreach, I sensed a lot of interest from Francis Marion University. At the same time, we also want to learn from them because they have great programmes for their region.” Blackwell adds: “We have a lot of young people in our university who are very engaged and concerned with global and local ties. When representatives of RPTU at Landau visited us, they told us a lot about the ties between Germany, Europe and the USA. We not only exchange knowledge about our academic work, but also about community outreach and democracy. This is important.”

A close friendship has developed over the twelve years that the two universities have been working together. “It's like family,” says Jeffcoat, who was delighted to welcome some faculty members of RPTU at Landau, with whom he has been working for years, to FMU’s home city Florence for the first time in September.

Partnership between Rhineland-Palatinate and South Carolina

It is no coincidence that the two universities came together twelve years ago. The cooperation developed as a result of a partnership between Rhineland-Palatinate and South Carolina that has existed since 1997, the so-called “Sister State Agreement”. The cooperation initially started with discussions about the conversion of military properties to civilian use. Today, the cooperation is particularly strong in the fields of education and science. Numerous schools and universities as well as the State Institute of Education regularly cooperate with partners in South Carolina.

During their one-week visit, the seven representatives of Francis Marion University got to know both campuses of University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, visited the Atlantic Academy of Rhineland-Palatinate in Kaiserslautern, met the Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of Science and Health Clemens Hoch and visited the State Chancellery and the State Parliament in Mainz. “This demonstrates the importance of the partnership for Rhineland-Palatinate and we will continue to fill it with life,” emphasised Dorsch.