Fulbright visitor Professor Bobkowski: "Finnish society works for its citizens"
Professor Peter Bobkowski from the University of Kansas made a two-week visit to Laurea.
Since 1949, the Fulbright Finland Foundation has supported Finnish-American education and research cooperation. The Fulbright Foundation scholarships have enabled international mobility for both Finnish and American students, researchers and professionals in different fields.
At the end of the summer, Laurea received a Fulbright visitor from the University of Kansas in the United States when Professor Peter Bobkowski visited Finland for two weeks. Bobkowski works at the journalism department at the University of Kansas.
“Finland has a good reputation for teaching media literacy”
Bobkowski’s research has focused especially on young people and their ways of using and sharing information. The visit to Finland and Laurea was also related to this theme:
- Recently, I have focused particularly on how to teach young people to assess the information they receive and to identify false information and disinformation, Bobkowski says.
- Finland has a good reputation for teaching critical thinking and media literacy to students, so I wanted to see how it works in practice.
During his visit, Bobkowski got to know the Finnish school system by visiting, for example, Tikkurila Upper Secondary School. At Laurea, he collaborated in terms of Master's degrees, participated in a 3AMK intensive week workshop and produced future management content for Laurea's autumn course offering.
IRWIN project studies misinformation
Bobkowski's expertise in information and media literacy also provided a new perspective on the themes currently being developed in the IRWIN project. The cross-disciplinary project funded by the Academy of Finland studies information resilience in complex environments where disinformation and its prevention also play a key role.
During his visit, Bobkowski presented teaching material related to information and media literacy used in the USA. He also described how the tackling of mis/disinformation has been implemented in a preventive manner, for example, in the national strategies of the United States and the United Kingdom. Finland has not yet reached this stage, but the need for it has been recognized.
Starting point for future cooperation
Bobkowski had never visited Finland until the trip in August. He was particularly impressed by how Finnish society supports education and citizens' well-being:
- In addition to free education, you can see it in public transport and social and health care services. Finnish society seems to work for its citizens, and it is visible in people's well-being, he explains.
The two-week visit was a good starting point for future cooperation:
- I am excited about the opportunities that the cooperation with Laurea could create in the future; cooperation in the planning of teaching and curricula, research cooperation or joint courses open to all professionals, he lists.
- Fulbright is a great program with a long and rich history in Finland, and I am grateful for the opportunity it gave me to build collaborations with colleagues at Laurea, says Bobkowski.