De Vinci University - Partnership Visit

Jerry O’Connell, Lecturer and Program Lead for International Business in Dorset College Dublin, attended the Leonard De Vinci University’s annual ‘International Week’ in Paris at the end of March 2022. The invitation was to present 4 x 3 hour lectures on the topic “Corporate Governance whilst Doing Business in Global Markets”. Jerry was greeted by Jill Tynan, Associate Professor for the MSc in International Business at De Vinci. Jill is an Irish woman who moved to Paris over 40 years ago! Jill gave Jerry a tour of the University and explained the various backgrounds of the students that would be attending the lectures.  

The students were very engaged throughout the week and learnt about the impact of the UK Corporate Governance Code and explored case studies of how this worked in the context of Global business. Jerry also had the chance to meet other visiting academic staff from other parts of Europe and beyond, from such countries as Lebanon and the USA. Especially poignant was the story of the visiting lecturer from the Ukraine, who travelled 24 hours on a bus to Romania to then take a train and two connecting flights to be in Paris for International Week.  

De Vinci were very great hosts, organising a boat trip on the Seine and a wine and cheese evening in the University for the participant Lecturers. Jerry says “It was a great privilege to represent Dorset College at De Vinci’s International week in Paris. I learnt a lot from both the Academic staff and meeting with the students. I hope to reprise my visit in the future and continue to foster the partnership between Dorset College Dublin and De Vinci”.