What is Touristhmus in Reverse

This research investigates the potential for global competence education in universities using the innovative educational experience Touristhmus in Reverse (TIR). The study focuses on a group of third-year degree in teachers for primary education students who engaged in an arts education project inspired by the works of Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Brugge. These artists create large-scale sculptures of everyday objects that symbolically reflect cultural aspects of their installation sites. By examining the artists' cultural backgrounds and the cultural contexts of the installation locations, the project activates a dialectic tension between different cultures. This dialectic is connected to the concept of travel as an intercultural tool, where interaction between the traveler's cultural baggage and host culture leads to personal growth. TIR involves these artistic, cultural, and epistemological dimensions, promoting the acquisition of global competence. This competence enables individuals to better understand and coexist with culturally diverse societies, demanded by globalization.