Creating a New Historical Perspective: EU and the Wider World ...

The members of the Group judged that both the general and many of the specific
points raised were indeed compatible with the approach they had elaborated,
and decided that some changes might be made in the list of Subject Specific
Competences and elsewhere in the presentation of their findings in order to
make certain aspects clearer to potential readers/users.
At the same time, the Group wished to clarify that their objective has never been
to lay down ‘rules’ for History Programmes, and that their role is to formulate
suggestions and offer a methodology that the organisers of such programmes
will find useful in organising their own approach. In other words, for example,
the Group held that it might be useful to insert in the list of Subject Specific
competences some explicit references to the various specific areas of History,
such as economic history, history of science and the like, that the Panel suggested
mentioning; however it wished to underline that the existing list was
never understood to be prescriptive or limiting, but was elaborated as a general
suggestion or starting point which must be adapted to specific contexts and requirements.
In this regard a further example is the issue of foreign language. Although the
members of the Group certainly believe it necessary for history students to be
able to use a number of languages both for communication and for research purposes,
it does not believe that its role is to lay down rules on the exact number
of languages and mixture of competences required. Certainly the Group recommends
the development of extensive and appropriate language competences,
not only for professional purposes, but also for citizenship and personal culture.
However the organisers of each programme must reflect on the specific emphasis
and needs of its students, and the Group believes there cannot be a fixed rule,
valid for every country and every programme.
For these reasons, rather than modifying the structure and scope of its findings,
the Group has decided to include the Validation Panel Report in this edition
of the Guidelines and Reference points, so that potential users can take into account
the full range of the Panel’s suggestions, selecting the aspects they consider
relevant to their context.
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