The Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), the largest French-speaking university in Belgium, is integrating the AVC online courses into its curriculum. Starting this academic year, graduate students in the Oriental Studies Program at UCL will be able to select an AVC course in Armenian language, history or culture, as part of their program of study. A Memorandum of Understanding between UCL and AVC was signed on September 1, 2018 in Yerevan to formalize this new partnership.
“UCL is Belgium’s largest French-speaking university established in 1425. Our Oriental Studies Program has had a tradition of teaching Armenian Studies for 200 years,” says Professor Bernard Coulie, UCL Honorary Rector and the Chair of Armenian Studies Program. Until recently, the curriculum only included grabar, the classical Armenian language. The AVC courses in modern Western and Eastern Armenian will complement and enrich the program of studies.
“AVC is the only accredited online institution that provides an Armenian education with high academic quality and in seven instructional languages,” says AVC Founder and President, Dr. Yervant Zorian. “We are proud to collaborate with the University of Louvain in promoting Armenian studies and introducing the wealth of Armenian history and culture to the UCL students,” he adds.
“During the first meeting with Dr. Zorian, we discussed the idea of teaching our students Western and Easter Armenian online,” says Prof. Coulie. Today, the idea has turned into reality, as the University announced the new online courses. “Our students can now register for individual courses and receive up to 15 credits from AVC,” Prof. Coulie says.
In addition to studying online, the UCL students will benefit from other educational opportunities that are part of the AVC curriculum, including online virtual events and discussions, communication with “virtual” classmates, interactive Skype sessions with the AVC language instructors and other activities. Upon the completion of a course, their AVC grading will be transferred to UCL.
“It’s an exemplary way of collaboration that we should duplicate with other prestigious educational institutions such as the Catholic University of Louvain,” Dr. Zorian says.
Previously, AVC successfully collaborated with several other international universities, including the University of Granada, Spain, Lisbon University, Portugal and Macquarie University in Sydney.
