Online Fall School IES University of Tübingen

 

 

“Divided in Diversity” – The European Union in Crisis?

November 30 – December 23, 2020

The program provides an overview of the historical, cultural and political framework of European integration, and addresses the current challenges Europe and the EU face today: Brexit, immigration, political fragmentation and radicalization, the EU’s democratic deficit and foreign policy challenges. Furthermore, class sessions will introduce participants to the history and trajectory of human rights in Europe, questions of collective (national) identity and how it is shaped by current developments.

 


  • APPLICATION DEADLINE: 31 October
  • Erasmus & Study Abroad Office will cover the program fee (€175) for up to 5 successful UoR applicants for the University of Tübingen online fall school (Taught in cooperation with Oregon State University (OSU)).
  • Full information available from: https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/182458
  • Successful participation on the University of Tübingen online fall school will be recognised on your UoR transcript as a non-credit / extra-curricular module

 

If you have any queries please contact: international.office@uni-tuebingen.de or  studyabroad@reading.ac.uk

 


Important:

  • Before applying you should discuss this with your Study Abroad Coordinator – any recompense of programme fees is dependent on their approval to participate.
  • In general students are expected to pay for the programme to the University of Tübingen direct, with a refund being processed upon provision of a receipt of payment to the Erasmus & Study Abroad Office (students in financial hardship should contact studyabroad@reading.ac.uk for further information)
  • Recompense of the program fees will be distributed on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis i.e. the first 5 students notifying the Erasmus & Study Abroad Office of successful application will be recompensed, providing they have their Study Abroad Coordinator approval to participate.
  • Attendance on the online fall school must not be to the detriment of your University of Reading studies – University of Reading academic commitments must take priority.
  • Please confirm with the Erasmus & Study Abroad Office if you intend to apply.
  • Students will be required to provide testimonial to and be interviewed by the Erasmus & Study Abroad Office upon completion of the course.

#skillsdeveloment #knowledgegains #studyabroad #readingabroad #erasmusandstudyabroad #internationaleducation

#ErasmusDays2020 – We Need You!!!

Erasmus Days 2020Are you an ex-Reading student who participated on the Erasmus programme? Or are you a current Erasmus student, either studying abroad with or at the University of Reading? If so, we need you….

We plan to celebrate the University’s longstanding participation in the Erasmus programme on Friday 16 October 2020 as part of the wider-European #ErasmusDays2020 celebrations. Given the current global pandemic we need to do this virtually rather than physically, but this provides us with the opportunity to bring more people together online to celebrate and share their thoughts.

We looking for either:

  • Short video testimonials (no more than 20-30 seconds – from your camera or laptop)
  • Short written testimonial with photos (we love photos!)

on one or more of the following themes:

  1. What Erasmus means to you?
  2. What is your Erasmus experience like?
  3. How has Erasmus benefitted you?
  4. Why do you think other students (or staff) should participate on Erasmus?

Whatever you provide will be used on our social media accounts and our website (https://studyabroad.reading.ac.uk/ ) to promote Erasmus programme and study abroad at the University of Reading (hence we will need your explicit permission to use the material you provide).

If interested in helping us please can you email studyabroad@reading.ac.uk for further information. We need to hear from you by 12noon Tuesday 13 October.

We are proud of our long-standing participation in the programme (30+ years), the partnerships and connections we have made (and helped make), and the experiences we have helped provide to students and staff – both incoming and outgoing.

But it is your stories that we want to see and hear, as you have helped make the Erasmus programme what is it.

We look forward to hearing from you!

 

Erasmus & Study Abroad Office

 

 

ERASMUS+ Staff Mobility, University of Bologna, Rimini Campus

From 01-05 April 2019, Dr Tamagnini and Dr Widera from the Reading School of Pharmacy spent a week at the beautiful Rimini campus of the University of Bologna (Italy) to deliver seminars and lectures on Neuroscience and Cell biology to Pharmacy undergraduate and PhD students at the Rimini campus.

Rimini, Bridge of Tiberius.

Founded in 268 BC and located at the Adriatic coast of the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, Rimini is mostly known for its stunning golden beaches, impressive historic architecture and excellent food: above all, its luscious selection of seafood, prepared with love and mastery, and the flat bread known as piadina (almost a holy institution for the locals – aka: romagnoli –, including Dr Tamagnini).

Statue of Pope Paul V on Cavour square

Local seafood in Rimini

Amongst historical buildings, breath-taking landscapes and divine food, the Rimini campus of the University of Bologna unravels its teaching and research offer. The University of Bologna, the oldest university in the Western world and founded in 1088, is the number one in European rankings for ERASMUS+ mobility. UoB currently hosts over 85,000 students, ~6000 of which are enrolled at the Rimini campus where 19 degree courses are offered, including the single cycle degree (combined BSc and MSc degree) in Pharmacy.

The Reading School of Pharmacy – University of Bologna ERASMUS+ student exchange programme has been first established by the Study Abroad coordinators Prof Vincenza Andrisano (Bologna) and Dr Darius Widera (Reading) in the Academic Year 2017/18 and extended to cover staff exchange in 2018/19. Since then, both Schools have initiated an even closer collaboration and are currently co-developing a dual degree PhD programme.

Dr Widera delivering a lecture to Part 4 Pharmacy students

During the visit, Drs Tamagnini and Widera delivered a series of lectures for Rimini-based students of Pharmacy at different stages of progression, had small group discussions wih PhD students and academics and discussed future opportunities resulting from the exchage programme and the formal collaboration between the two Schools. In addition to teaching and administration-related activities, the ERASMUS+ staff mobility included visiting the facilities at the Rimini campus and last but not least enjoying the history of Rimini, the seaside and fantastic local food.

Dr Widera`s teaching sessions tailored for Part 2, 3 and 4 students were focused on the impact of inflammation on neurodegenative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease whereas Dr Tamagini delivered sessions on the electrophysiological aspects of memory, Alzheimer`s disease and dementia.

Dr Tamagnini teaching Part 2 students the impact of neurophysiology in memory and dementia.

In conclusion, the week at the Rimini campus was a great opportunity to teach `out of the personal comfort zone` in an international environment and to interact with international students and colleagues abroad. Thus, the ERASMUS+ staff mobility programme represents a unique chance for both professional and personal development in an international context.

From left to right: Dr Tamagnini (UoR), Dr Widera (UoR), Prof Vincenza Andrisano (Study Abroad Coordinator, Pharmacy, University of Bologna, Rimini Campus), Prof Giorgio Aicardi (lead of the Physiology module, UoB, Rimini Campus).

A Visit to Tübingen

In June Wendy Smith and I spent three days in Tübingen as part of the Staff Mobility programme run by Marcus Dowse of the Study Abroad Office. We had made contact with relevant staff at the Vivat Lingua! language school a couple of months earlier and had found them both helpful and welcoming. This continued when we met, and we were able to spend time with various tutors and the head of the school, and to observe classes at a variety of levels. On occasion we were allowed to join in! We were impressed by the teaching and by the friendly and welcoming atmosphere. We also looked in detail into the possibility of courses for students studying German with IWLP in Reading; the Vivat Lingua! language school offers 3-week courses throughout the year for students studying German as a foreign language, with about 20 hours of language tuition per week in the mornings. There are some outings organised in the afternoons, and students are also free to explore the lovely old town of Tübingen and the surrounding area.

Tübingen is in southwest Germany and is home to one of Europe’s oldest universities. Wendy and I enjoyed wandering through the large pedestrian centre with its maze of old streets full of beautiful old wooden-beamed houses, some displaying old paintings or ornate wrought-iron signs. The weather was hot so we were grateful for the Eiscafés! We walked up to the castle with its wonderful views, where there is a museum of ancient culture, and took the bus to the lovely medieval abbey of Bebenhausen.

We now feel confident in recommending the courses at Vivat Lingua! to our IWLP students and are sure that they would benefit academically and have a very enjoyable stay.

Alison Fenner

German, English and Russian Co-ordinator

Institution Wide Language Programme

Erasmus+ Staff Training Week at Tampere University of Applied Sciences (Finland)

My hosts at Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) definitely rolled out the welcome mat during their Erasmus+ staff training week on the topic of “The Secret of Innovative Partnerships”! Colleagues from Austria, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Palestinian Territories, Slovenia, Spain and the UK came together with our Finnish hosts for three days of activities from 11 – 14 March.

After an introduction to higher education in Finland, including touching on the recent partial merger of TAMK with the University of Tampere, we were given a tour of the campus buildings. Thankfully we did not need to head outside during the tour, for as can be seen there was snow and ice accompanied by a temperature 10 Celsius lower than that I’d left in Reading! It was hence a relief not to have to wrap up and head outdoors! The tour included the Library (home of many origami birds made by TAMK students and staff), student Service Street (home of the Erasmus+ student and staff exchange offices), and the cafeteria. It was also interesting to see some students working on 3D printing projects, including getting the chance to sit on a 3D printed chair they had made (no, I didn’t break it…).

In the afternoon, we split up into two workshop streams. I had decided to join the Research, Development & Innovation stream, mainly as an opportunity to learn about an area of international partnerships I did not know much about beforehand. The first session focused on our institutions’ general research themes and areas of interest, with the second and third sessions over the following two days looking at turning project ideas into viable working projects and boosting our international networks. Building on the latter, if you are not connected with me on LinkedIn already, you are more than welcome to via https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisbonham11/! I had been slightly nervous that coming from a non-research focused role at Reading that I would not be able to get much from the workshops. However, I was proven wrong with the help of the workshop leaders and other participants, and definitely hope to build more support of research focused mobility into my role going forward.

The programme put together by TAMK colleagues also included a discussion of the use of social media in our marketing activities, and an introduction to the Y-campus, an incubator for student-led enterprises. In the social media discussion, it was especially interesting to learn about social media platforms not much used in the UK. These included Jodel, which allows users to post public messages anonymously to other users in their local area, and VKontakte, the most popular social network in Russia and hence used by TAMK colleagues to promote their programmes to prospective students from there.

All in all, my few days in Tampere were great. If you would like information about how you can participate in an Erasmus+ staff mobility, please drop by the Erasmus & Study Abroad Office (Edith Morley 203) or email studyabroad@reading.ac.uk.

Erasmus+ Staff Training week at Aarhus University (Denmark)

Having encouraged 100’s of UoR members of staff to participate on the Erasmus+ staff mobility programme over the years I realised that I had never properly participated myself.

So when Aarhus University (AU) emailed to highlight their Staff Week, with a very short application deadline, I speculatively applied. There was a lingering doubt as to the relevance for an ‘old timer’ like me, but when informed of my selection almost immediately there was no easy way to back out (thankfully!). Did I really have the time to take a week away from work? Not really, but too late…

Was it worth it? Absolutely – 100%.

The 4 day programme consisted of some fantastic sessions run by AU colleagues & external speakers covering a wide range of mobility and internationalisation topics. These included the ‘staples’ of any Erasmus / Study Abroad office e.g. Orientation & Welcome programmes (analysis / innovation); Study Abroad Promotion, pre-departure & re-entry activities etc. There were intriguing sessions about Danish Education and the plethora of ongoing national educational reforms, AU’s ongoing internationalisation plans, institutional priorities and ambitions. There were Faculty lead introductions, campus tours and sharing of detailed local-level information and insights. All very useful and thought provoking. However it was the non-standard content that was truly engaging, including:

– an informative session about Behavioural Design, provoking a lot of group discussion as to its relevance to and appropriateness for Study Abroad activities;

– the HR Director of LEGO – preaching to the converted – noting that Study Abroad demonstrates curiosity, which is the main attribute LEGO looks for in its recruitment of new staff. Study Abroad = International Mindset = Open Mindset = Curiosity. It’s nice to feel validated.

The highlight (for me at least) however was a very passionate talk by an Aarhusian (?) who had set up the Warm Welcome Society – a citizen led initiative to welcome all new arrivals to Aarhus – Danes, students, workers, immigrants etc. He explained the rationale, the history and its development, and how citizens had worked outside of and recently with the municipality in helping to try to make Aarhus one of the most ‘stranger’ friendly cities in Europe. Best described as GIVEISM, there was now an established network in place to help make all new arrivals welcomed in Aarhus and giving them the opportunity to truly be part of their local communities. I think he polarised opinions, but I loved his view that we need to THINK BIG to make any meaningful change! Relevance to Study Abroad? Loads – so many ideas to plunder, but it generated and inspired tangents that will hopefully help ESAO further develop our activities.

On top of the formal sessions there was plenty of networking and discussions with the 28 other participants from all over Europe, the USA, Peru, China and Japan. Each had their own stories, expertise, experience and opinions – I learnt something from everyone, in different ways.

In conclusion, I would massively encourage anyone who is eligible and interested to participate on an Erasmus+ staff mobility week, if you have the opportunity (look at IMotion Erasmus Staff week to see if there is something that interests you!). If the advertised content appears relevant, and you are willing to get involved, then there could be a wonderful learning opportunity awaiting!

Contact us in the Erasmus & Study Abroad Office ESAO (studyabroad@reading.ac.uk ) if you would like any further info about Erasmus+ Staff Mobility.

 

Marcus Dowse

Erasmus & Study Abroad Manager

What have the Romans ever done for us?

What have the Romans ever done for us? Amongst many other things, provided the opportunity for me to participate in an Erasmus+ Staff Mobility Week for libraries and learning centres at Sapienza – Università di Roma in June 2018.

The theme of the week was Libraries ⇆ Research, comprising two interconnected strands: what libraries do to support research and how libraries do research, with each attendee contributing to the programme. As well as a series of presentations, the programme for the week afforded plenty of opportunities for sharing experiences with colleagues from institutions across Europe, with participants from Slovenia, Romania, Lithuania, Sweden, Portugal, Germany and France among them.

As well as interacting with European academic library colleagues the Erasmus+ week organisers also provided opportunities for us to experience a variety of different venues across the city, reflecting the expansion of Sapienza as it continues to grow beyond its extensive purpose built campus in the San Lorenzo district of Rome. Founded as the Studium Urbis in 1303, the university moved to larger premises in downtown Rome in 1660 (now the church of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza) before finally relocating to its present site in 1935. Designed by Marcello PIacentini, the campus footprint is apparently based upon the Vitruvian Man, with the imposing Rectorate Building at the ‘head’.

The university has a student population of c.112,500, with 3,500 academic staff and over 55 libraries, the majority serving specific faculties and departments, co-ordinated centrally by the ‘Sapienza Library System’, whilst maintaining some degree of autonomy. Over five days we heard about the various initiatives and services offered by the Library System and discussed common challenges around data curation and digitisation workflows, increasing engagement with institutional repositories, open journal systems and promoting widening access to important archival material.

The added benefit of a week like this is the opportunity to immerse yourself in the culture of another university. Highlights included an evening concert specially organised for us by Coro Musa, a choir comprising staff and students from the university; a visit to the beautiful garden of the Japanese Cultural Institute in Rome; a relaxing group dinner in a local family-run trattoria in San Lorenzo; and a visit – in our morning coffee break – to the church of San Pietro in Vincoli (just a few metres away from the Faculty of Engineering Building) to see Michelangelo’s majestic, though slightly grumpy looking, Moses.  The Faculty of Engineering is actually only a few minutes’ walk away from the Colosseum and Roman Forum, and a free afternoon scheduled for the same day enabled me to spend a fascinating few hours (in the sweltering heat) trying to make sense of it all, much aided by Matthew Nicholls’ excellent Virtual Rome Open Online Course.

I have really valued the opportunity to participate in this programme through Erasmus+ scheme funding, and the support provided by both the host institution and the Study Abroad Office at Reading made the practicalities of attending this event very easy to arrange. The week long programme provided me with greater insight into the collaborative partnerships and innovations being developed at other HEIs across Europe, as well as the reassurance that, in many areas, we are all offering similar services and support for researchers to meet current and future needs. There was also a collective recognition that we are also facing many common challenges. In general, library professionals have a willingness to openly share good practice and innovation and my week spent at Sapienza demonstrated this without exception. I now intend to follow up on some of the contacts I have made, to continue these fruitful discussions, share best practice and, in partnership with my European colleagues, collaborate further on developing mutually beneficial resources and the sharing of local initiatives in support of research at our respective institutions.

Kerry Webb

Associate Director (Academic Liaison & Support), University of Reading Library

 

Tschüss Tübingen!

University of Reading student studying abroad in Switzerland for a Semester

Angelina is studying abroad at the University of Tubingen with her German and International Relations degree at Reading. Her semester abroad has come to an end, so we catch up to see what she has been up to!

The saying ‘Time flies when you’re having fun’ is so relevant when you’re on your year abroad. My semester in Tübingen is already over and it still feels like it was yesterday when I arrived at my halls with two big bags in tow. Now my room is empty and my flat has been cleaned and then it finally hits, that this time I’m leaving and not coming back.

Unlike the British three term system most German universities follow a two semester system, Winter and Summer. At the end of each Semester students in Germany get around two months off, one starts in August and the other starts in February. This is often the time where many students spend time writing essays as well as travelling. February in Tübingen is exam season just like in Reading the library was very full. Here to be able take part in an exam you have to register for it online which is very different from exams in Reading as well as this during my exams there were no invigilators but this might be different depending on what course you take.

University of Reading student studying abroad in Switzerland for a Semester

During my semester here one of my modules was a German film seminar. In this seminar we watched a wide range of different Germans throughout the twentieth and twenty-first century. After we had all finished our exams for our last film the lecturer had arranged for us to watch a film in one of the small independent cinemas in Tübingen. The cinema itself was very different to the big commercial cinemas that exist, small, quaint and quite old fashioned and was connected to a little bar where we could buy drinks to take with us into the cinema, it was a really nice experience especially for our last class together.

When you go on a study abroad, it is really worth it to try and fill your weekends with lots of different things and to see lots of different places. On one of my weekends I met up with some friends from Reading who are also on a year abroad in Germany. We met up in Düsseldorf which is in the Rhineland region of Germany where one of my friends was studying. Düsseldorf was also a really nice place to visit and we spent the day catching up and eating German food. A lot of German cities have notable television towers but not all of them are accessible to the public. Fortunately the one in Düsseldorf is, so we went to the top and the views were amazing. At the very top of the television tower there is a restaurant where we had ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’ (coffee and cake) which is kind of like the German equivalent of a cream tea. What was really special about the restaurant was that whilst you were sitting down the restaurant actually slowly spun around so within an hour you had seen 360 views from the tower. That was something that I’d never experienced before.

University of Reading student studying abroad in Switzerland for a Semester

University of Reading student studying abroad in Switzerland for a Semester

Some of the other places that I have recently visited which are a bit closer to Tübingen is a small town called Bönnigheim. Bönnigheim is a wine producing town and it was unusual for me to see all the vineyards covered in snow because you don’t really associate vineyards with colder climates. Talking of colder climates I finally made it to the German mountains and Neuschwanstein Castle which had been on my bucket list for quite some time. Neuschwanstein Castle looks like it is straight out of a fairytale but unfortunately the bridge to the side of the mountain where most of the famous pictures are taken was closed because it was too icy. Not too far away from Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Bavaria is Germany’s highest peak which you can reach by a cable car that goes all the way to the top, as expected the views were incredible and made up for the freezing temperatures. Definitely a good place if you happen to be a skier.

University of Reading student studying abroad in Switzerland for a Semester

And with that I’m on the train leaving, thanks for having me Tübingen, it’s been a pleasure. Till next time.

Angelina

Missed Angelina’s last post? Catch up here: https://blogs.reading.ac.uk/reading-abroad/2017/01/14/already-half-way-through/

 

 

Just the start of Studying Abroad in Denmark

University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

Lewis has just moved to Denmark to start his study abroad Semester at Aarhus University as part of his English Language and Literature degree at Reading. Just a week or so in, read on to find out how he’s getting on!

Aarhus has recently been declared the cultural capital of Europe, and this is evident in the mass portrayal and acceptance of many different countries cuisine. This is apparent in the Aarhus “street food” market which contains all different types of food, ranging from ‘Jamaican Jerk Chicken’, ‘Mexican Burritos’, ‘Chinese Duck’, curries and French Crepes. This is a really wide variety of food that shows the wealth of culture present in Aarhus. But to top off this creativity the whole market is built inside an un-used bus station. The stalls themselves are built and set up inside old ship yard containers. This means the theme of the Aarhus “street food” market is to not only re-cycle but to re-use old things and provide back for the public. The food as well was really cheap about 30 krona which exchanges to roughly £3.00. This makes it an ideal place for a student to grab a quick and easy lunch and when you are done, you have to wipe your own table with the disinfectant and towels dotted around the seating area.

University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

This is me outside my house in Denmark, the houses here have a cottage feel as they are small and are packed with essentials from the university such as pans, plates, cutlery to chopping boards and cups. I did not need to buy anything apart from food as it was all provided by the University! It’s not as cold as you think it is here, all though many will disagree but if you come prepared like I did by bringing a thermal coat, hat and scarf you can easily survive the cold weather. There are many nationalities that come to Aarhus to study but in my house I have 2 Canadians, one Australian and one American. So the university put me with fellow English speaker which made it easier to talk and joke with each other.

My lectures at the university were not what I was expecting. I thought I would be in a class of all international students, and this belief was further enforced by the fact my lecture was in English, so I assumed the class of 24 students in my literature course had different nationalities and they were learning in the common language of English. So when I got put in a group I asked them if they were German as I heard them speaking to each other. They looked at me shocked and one of them said “no, we are Danish”. I was, and still am, shocked to learn that I was in a Danish majority English Literature class, with only 4 other international students. The fact the students were all conversing with the lecturer in English for an English literature module shows the high level of language skills many of the Danish actually possess.

This is a short blog of my time so far in Denmark, I have only been here for one week but I have already learnt so much about the culture of Denmark and its history. I expect I will learn much more in my weeks to come.

Lewis

Whirlwind end to Study Abroad

University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

Ellis is studied abroad at Aarhus University in Denmark as part of his Psychology degree at Reading. Although Christmas seems a long time ago already, he looks back on the end of his semester abroad. 

My last month of studying abroad has been a whirlwind; as I approach the end of term and the holiday season, I’ve been overwhelmed by an array of social and academic activities.

Christmas seemed to start early in Denmark, with the holiday season being marked by the release of the Christmas beer (which happens on the first day of November). From this point onwards, you could see the arrival of the Christmas market and can expect to receive invitations to traditional Danish Christmas dinners. I had no idea what to expect from a traditional Christmas dinner, all I was told is to bring my own dish and expect to get very drunk… At these dinners, there was an array of different foods: meatballs, pickled cabbage, fish, potatoes and breads, to name a few. For desert, it was a kind of rice pudding with a twist – in the large bowl of pudding was a single, whole almond. Whoever found the almond first would win a prize, but the only way to find the almond was to eat all the rice pudding. Everyone was desperately polishing of their plates and asking for another, keen to find this sacred almond – it was rather amusing! Another key feature of this tradition was ‘Schnapps’. This is a strong alcohol that everyone shots throughout the evening; by the end of the dinner everyone feels so bloated and drunk. But alas, the evening is not complete without playing different games and dancing off all the calories that have been consumed earlier. To sum it up, it was a fulfilling (mentally and physically) tradition, with plenty of laughter and some great company – which can only be described as ‘hygge’.

University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

As December arrived and the end of term approached, I was set all my university assignments. For each of my three classes I was required to write a 3000 word essay based on the material covered throughout the term. What I liked about these assignments was that the subject of the essay was relatively flexible – you could choose to write about whatever interested you most that term.  This is something which I hadn’t previously been able to do in my degree, and I really liked this as it allowed you to develop your own interest further and come up with original and creative ideas.

Although the end of term was a lot of fun, I was hit by one of the hardest things about studying abroad: saying goodbye. Over the past 4 months I had met the most amazing people and had unforgettable experiences that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Facing reality and leaving it all behind was emotional. I knew that my friends were all going back to different parts of the world and that I wouldn’t be able to see them again as easily as just hoping on the number 13 bus. However, I found solace in the quote: ‘don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened’.

Ellis

Missed Ellis’ first blog post? Catch up here: http://bit.ly/2jzJBF1