The outgoing rector of the ULB Yvon Englert and the rector of the VUB Caroline Pauwels have announced the launch of the first bilingual (fr/nl) and freely accessible online course in Brussels on 21 September. A project supported by Rudi Vervoort, Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region.
Carried out under the aegis of the Brussels Studies Institute (BSI) by a group of professors from the ULB and the VUB, this “MOOC” (Massive Open Online Course), renamed “BrOOC” for Brussels Open Online Course, is intended for foreign students who are on a mobility stay in Brussels, students leaving secondary school, their teachers, foreign residents, but also and above all for all those who simply wish to discover or learn more about the many realities of the Brussels-Capital Region.
Different facets of Brussels
Conceived in six sections, each based on a preconceived idea that distorts the perception of Brussels, the BrOOC deals in particular with the history of Brussels, its geography, the sociology of its inhabitants, its political, economic and administrative organisation and the mobility of those who live and/or work there. From 21 September, the ISB will open a new section of the BrOOC to the general public every two weeks, complete with numerous illustrations and didactic exercises.
A permanent dialogue
The particularity of the approach: it will be a co-constructed course whose content will be regularly updated on the basis of the participants’ comments and suggestions, but also of current developments in order to remain, like the Brussels Studies Institute, in permanent dialogue with Brussels society.
BrOOC is currently available in two language versions (fr/nl), to which an English version will be added in 2021. BrOOC is the result of a mission entrusted by Yvon Englert, then rector of the Free University of Brussels, to the Brussels Studies Institute, the research platform on Brussels, with the participation of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the support of the Brussels-Capital Region. It was carried out under the direction of professors Serge Jaumain (ULB and President of the ISB), Joost Vaesen (VUB) and Benjamin Wayens (ULB’s interdisciplinary network of Brussels Studies) with the technical support of the ULB’s Centre d’Appui Pédagogique.
More information about BrOOC: Brussels Decoded
