COMMUNICATING EUROPEAN VALUES THROUGH CRITICAL MEDIA LITERACY: CASE OF ERASMUS+ JEAN MONNET MODULE "EUROPEAN VALUES IN LITERARY ARTS"

The article is prepared based on the results of the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Module «European Values in Literary Arts» (599918-ЕРР-1-2018-1-UA-EPPJMO-MODULE EUVOLIA). The study explores the impact of the course «European Values in Literary Arts» (EUVOLIA) on its target audience (Bachelor and Master students majoring in Humanities, Natural and Exact sciences) in terms of raising awareness of European values. The relevance of the study is determined, on the one hand, by the necessity to articulate сorrectly the European values dimension in the HEI curricula, and, on the other hand, by the lack of a methodological basis for a value-based approach in the teaching of the Humanities. While Ukrainian students’ perception of European values is fragmented due to controversial social and political contexts (i.e., conflicting attitudes to Ukraine’s European integration and growing disillusionment in EU institutions’ functionality), a critical media literacy toolkit developed by EUVOLIA can significantly increase their sensitivity to values-related issues and deepen their understanding of European values as an integral axiological construct. The impact of the EUVOLIA course, which was presented in Zaporizhzhya National University during 2018–2020 for five mixed groups of students (126 students in total), was measured with the help of formalized questionnaires and surveys. The target audience’s portrait of values was created according to the Schwartz Value Survey on the research of value orientations. The results showed that the methodological toolkit used in the EUVOLIA project not only increases students’ awareness of European values but also contributed to the development of critical perceptions of cultural products and materials of mass media, overcoming the phenomenon of «double-think» and strengthening the sense of belonging to the European cultural paradigm.