Indisputably, education is the basic pillar in every society. The kind of education people receives gives them a refined behavior and helps them to earn a decent living, thereby contributing constructively to the society. In today’s global world where we all face unique challenges such as global warming and new viruses, the reform of the education system is imminent especially with the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This event imposed changes in all spheres of human life including the educational system. The switch to online lectures led to different challenges in different parts of the world. Some countries face some basic issues like Internet connection and lack of computers, while others are discussing the learning strategies and are focusing on the social and psychological implications of the students and the teachers as well. This research group will discuss the current challenges the educational system is facing with focus and research on the selected subdomains.

Chair:

Dr. Mary Ann Hollingsworth, University of West Alabama, USA

Members:

ESI Program: October 2021 – December 2022

Chair:

Dr. Elena Hunt, Laurentian University, Canada

Members:

ESI Program: March 2022 – June 2023

Chair:

Dr. Tamar Kakutia, IBU, Georgia

WG Members:

ESI Program: October 2022 – December 2023

Chair:

Dr. Mary Ann Hollingsworth, University of West Alabama, USA

WG Members:

The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic opened up so many questions. Some undisputable questions which are of main concern were about finding the best strategies to deal with the virus and ensure a good health condition of the people. The lockdown during the pandemic and the closure of the borders, restaurants, cafeteria, etc. is still having a huge effect on the economies and tourism. Many small and medium businesses were not able to survive these economic turbulences imposed by the governments as a response to the virus. At the same time, many people lost or are afraid of losing their jobs. More than ever, this crisis called for global leaderships and the necessity of finding the right answers and making the right decisions. Quality Management, Innovation, and human resources management are crucial in overcoming these contemporary challenges. The uncertainty for the future raises the questions on how long the pandemic would last, what is next, and how we should deal with it? How will the economy recover in the post-COVID world? Are new economic models on the way? What is stakeholder capitalism and how should it work? How should the global leadership and decision look like? Is solidarity necessary more than ever? Hence, those are the dilemmas and questions that this research group will discuss. In addition, a topic for joint research and conclusions will be selected.

Chair:

Dr. Brian Sloboda, University of Maryland, USA

Members:

ESI Program: October 2021 – December 2022

Chair:

Dr. Monika Bolek, University of Lodz, Poland

Members:

ESI Program: March 2022 – June 2023

Chair:

Dr. Agata Gniadkowska-Szymańska, University of Lodz, Poland

WG Members:

ESI Program: October 2022 – December 2023

Chair:

Dr. Brian Sloboda, University of Maryland, USA

WG Members:

The role of the state as a main actor in the international relations continues from the antique to the modern times. Despite some new trends imposed by globalization, the sovereign states are keeping the main role in the system. The COVID-19 pandemic has confirmed that the state is still the main actor regardless of the globalization and the numerous international governmental and nongovernmental international organizations. However, the pandemic opened dilemmas and challenges for the diplomatic relations. We can now speak about vaccination diplomacy – a term that has not been known before. All of the states today are struggling in dealing with the pandemic challenges altogether with the traditional diplomatic issues, politics, and economy. The state as a supreme institutional organization had to deal with the pandemic and impose some restrictions that are not always so popular between its own citizens. Additionally, the institutional capacities of a concrete country are not always sufficient and the necessity of international organizations and leadership is visible. This working group will discuss these issues and a topic for joint research will be selected.

Chair:

Dr. Eyal Lewin, Ariel University, Israel

Members:

The interdisciplinary approach on gender, culture, religion, and ethics can pave the way in providing understanding of some of the important issues our contemporary societies are faced with today. The culture is a category that is very often and most notably used in combination with religion, ethics, and gender. Due to the conceptualization of culture as a social web consisting of symbolic forms based on signs of meaning, the religion and its interpretations have become a metaphor for cultural difference and furthermore symbolic boundary-making in some societies. Through this way, it shapes social action in the world, not excluding the ethics in general. This is why it entails the understanding of religion, as a distinct province of meaning that is structured by processes of social symbolization that affects the society’s view on gender, ethics, and culture in most general terms. This might be quite different in different countries and societies. However, the notion of culture and religion is receiving new dimensions and context in the world of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this is a perfect ground for a debate by opening new horizons and perspectives.

Chair:

Franca Daniele, “G. d’Annunzio” University, Italy,

Members:

ESI Program: October 2021 – December 2022

Members:

The sustainable development by definition meets the needs of the present generation of the world population without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. Environmentally sustainable economic growth refers to economic developed society that meets the needs of all living today. Of course, it takes into the consideration the fact that there are developed countries, developing countries, and underdeveloped countries. However, the most important is that this was done without leaving future generations with fewer or less quality natural resources than those we have in today`s world. Someone can argue that sustainable development evolved as that of protecting the world’s resources while its true agenda is to control the world’s resources of today. The essence is the dual relationship between two elements, i.e., (1) the human activities in correlation to the nature of today, (2) in a way which does not diminish the prospects for future generations to enjoy a quality of life at least as good as our own. This may look like some kind of utopia but, in reality, it is the real need of our modern society. The conservation of tropical rainforests, the relations between technology and energy needs, especially of the big cites, and the concept of smart city is seen nowadays from both historical and future perspective.

Chair:

Dr. John B Strait, Sam Houston State University, USA

Members:

ESI Program: October 2021 – December 2022

Chair:

Dr. Iulia Muresan, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Romania

Members:

ESI Program: March 2022 – June 2023

Chair:

Dr. Janaka Jayawickrama, University of York, UK

WG Members:

This interdisciplinary group is composed of academic experts in different fields such as pedagogy, feminism, and politics. It will hold meetings in Spanish language and will try to find joint interest in a specific topic setting the approach through interdisciplinary lances. This topic will be analyzed in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges it brings to our contemporary modern society with the accent of the Ibero-American countries. Also, it will combine the different academic models when conducting research and will make the most out of the different but, at the same time, very similar academic domains.

Chair:

Dr. David Perez Jorge, University of La Laguna, Spain

Members:

ESI Program: October 2021 – December 2022

Chair:

Dr. Eva Mateo, ULL, Spain

Members:

ESI Program: October 2022 – December 2023

Chair:

Dr. Claudia Milena Adler, University of York, UK

Members:

ESI Program: October 2022 – December 2023

Chair:  

Members: