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Open Society University Network:
A New Model for Higher Education
Integrating learning and the advancement of knowledge across geographic and demographic boundaries. Read More
Education
Educating students in the liberal arts as a fundamental part of the process of democratization and a means of promoting an active and engaged citizenry. Read More
Access
Creating new pathways for underserved communities and those denied the promise of higher education Read More
Civic Engagement
Growing a network of young social entrepreneurs and change agents who are engaging with the liberal arts to develop solutions to community challenges. Read More
Research
Fostering collaboration across border and disciplines to address global challenges. Read More

OSUN Events

  • 3/01
    Monday

    Hotspots of Democracy: Grasping Russian Democracy With Mind: Can We Still Believe in It?
    8:00 am – 9:30 am EST/GMT-5 Online Event
  • 3/01
    Monday

    CEU Virtual Open Week
    9:00 am – 5:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Online Event
  • 3/04
    Thursday

    Open Networking Session for Academic Civic Engagement Coordinators 
    9:00 am – 10:00 am EST/GMT-5 Online Event
  • 3/05
    Friday

    Open Networking Session for Student-Led Initiative Coordinators
    9:00 am – 10:00 am EST/GMT-5 Online Event
View All Events

News + Announcements

OSUN and Central European University Statement on Safeguarding Democracy and the Future of Higher Education in Myanmar
OSUN and CEU are deeply concerned about our colleagues and partners in Myanmar. We urge the military authority to cease violence, release those who have been unlawfully detained—including student activists, academics and education officials—and work to ensure prompt restoration of a democratic political system that is based on the rule of law, freedom of thinking and expression, and supports people of all walks of life, faiths and political persuasions in building dignified lives and careers and contributing to their country’s progress.
Read More

View All OSUN News

Opportunities

  • Call for Applications: Oral History and Literature Training Seminar with OSUN Research Hub in Eastern Africa
    OSUN
  • Call for Applications: Fellowship with OSUN Research Hub in Eastern Africa 
    OSUN
  • ExEd Hub Professional Development Program for University Administrators
    OSUN
  • Reading Workshop Series on "The Ethics and Politics of Care"
    OSUN
  • Engaged Senior Projects
    Civic Engagement
View All Opportunities

About OSUN

The Network

The Network

The Open Society University Network (OSUN) is a global partnership of educational institutions that integrates learning and the advancement of knowledge--in the social sciences, the humanities, the sciences and the arts, on undergraduate and graduate levels--across geographic and demographic boundaries, promotes civic engagement on behalf of open societies, and expands access to higher education for underserved communities.

A New model of global higher education



Integrated Curricula

Integrated Curricula

Courses are designed for students across multiple campuses to ensure educational opportunities regardless of geographical location.
Network Courses

Network Courses

Using the latest teleconference technology, classes are held as Virtual International Exchanges, enabling students to learn together regardless of distance.
Blended Learning

Blended Learning

Combined virtual and in-person instruction provides educational access to underserved and remote communities.
Intranetwork Mobility

Intranetwork Mobility

Students, faculty, and administrators can travel throughout the network to grow and maintain in-person relationships.
Exploration of Global Issues

Exploration of Global Issues

Promoting collaboration among students and faculty across international borders.
Civic Engagement

Civic Engagement

Ideas and actions of engagement are embedded into all aspects of higher education to prepare students to emerge from university as engaged citizens.
Student-focused Teaching 

Student-focused Teaching 

Pedagogy revolves around active learning and critical thinking to prepare students to tackle emerging global issues.
Meet Our Members

Meet Our Members

A Global Partnership of educational institutions.

Founding Institutions

  • Bard College
      New York, U.S.
  • Central European University
    Vienna, Austria

Members

  • Colleges and Universities
    Al-Quds University/Al-Quds Bard College of Arts and Sciences (Palestine)
    American University of Beirut (Lebanon)
    American University in Bulgaria
    American University of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan)
    Arizona State University (United States)
    Ashesi University (Ghana)
    Bard College at Simon’s Rock: The Early College (United States)
    Bard College Berlin (Germany)
    Bard Early Colleges (United States)
    Birkbeck: University of London (United Kingdom)
    BRAC University (Bangladesh)
    European Humanities University (Lithuania)
    European University Institute (Florence)
    Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva)
    National Sun Yat-sen University (Taiwan)
    National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (Romania)
    Sciences Po in Paris (France)
    SOAS University of London (United Kingdom)
    Tuskegee University (United States)
    Universidad de los Andes (Colombia)
    University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)
  • Research and Educational Institutions
    Bard Prison Initiative (United States)
    Black Mountains College (United Kingdom)
    Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs (United States)
    Chatham House (United Kingdom)
    Haitian Education and Leadership Program (Haiti)
    Institute for New Economic Thinking (United States and United Kingdom)
    Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade (Serbia)
    Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (Austria)
    Parami Institute (Myanmar)
    Picker Center for Executive Education, Columbia University (United States)
    Princeton Global History Lab (United States)
    Rift Valley Institute (Kenya)
    The Talloires Network of Engaged Universities (United States)
    University of California, Berkeley Human Rights Center (United States)
    University of Connecticut Human Rights Institute (United States)

Philanthropic Partner

Open Society Foundations

OSUN builds on the accomplishments of several major initiatives in higher education supported by the Open Society Foundations (OSF). In the 1990s, OSF’s Higher Education Support Program (HESP) effectively served as a Marshall Plan for higher education in Central and Eastern Europe. CEU, founded in 1991, became a unique model in graduate education, combining cutting-edge research and research-based teaching with a focused social mission.

Philanthropic Partner

For almost 30 years, OSF has supported innovative cooperation between CEU and Bard College, and between their respective national and international networks. During this period, OSF has contributed to the development of groundbreaking higher education institutions, first in Central and Eastern Europe, and then globally. OSF also supported a program of fellowships in higher education that has intellectually empowered tens of thousands of students and educators throughout the world.

The Open Society Foundations (OSF) is an international grant-making network that supports civil society groups around the world, with the aim of advancing justice, education, public health and independent media. Since its inception, in 1993, it has contributed:
  • $15.2 billion in total expenditures
  • 50,000+ grants to organizations, scholars, and activists in 120+ countries
Although originally focused in the 1990s on Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, South Africa, and Myanmar, OSF has since expanded its network to Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, and had a budget of $1.1 billion in 2019.

OSF’s Higher Education Support Program initiated a massive undertaking to reform research and teaching in the social sciences and humanities at universities across Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia in the 1990s. It has since expanded this program to over 50 colleges and universities around the world, with the aim of promoting academic freedom, university autonomy, equal and open access to knowledge and education, student-centered learning, service to the community, and transparent, inclusive governance. This program has yielded significant advances, including:
  • The creation of beachheads of intellectual freedom and critical enquiry at some of its core grantee institutions, such as the American University of Central Asia and American University in Bulgaria.
  • Improvements in the quality of the liberal arts curriculum and pedagogy at the American University of Central Asia, European Humanities University, Al-Quds Bard College, and St. Petersburg University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts, in partnership with Bard.
  • The introduction of innovative models of access to higher education in the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps in Kenya.
  • The establishment of independent external testing system for admissions at Ukrainian universities, which have combat the paying of bribes for student places.
As part of its efforts to expand access to higher education and empowered educators around the world, OSF has provided close to 20,000 scholarships and research grants since the 1980s - with awards in 42 countries, ranging from Haiti to Angola, Eritrea, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Cambodia.

OSF has also demonstrated its deep commitment to academic freedom through its early and long-standing support for scholars who are threatened or imprisoned because of their work. It was a founding contributor to the Scholar Rescue Fund and is a leading supporter of the Scholars at Risk network.

Open Society University Network
For more information contact: 
info@opensocietyuniversitynetwork.org