ERASMUS+ STUDIES UU Report

(1)

ERASMUS+

STUDIES

UU

Report

2014

‐

2015

e

‐

mail

address

optional;

_{[email protected]}

only if you don’t mind students

preparing for study abroad contacting you directly

faculty/college

social

sciences

level

bachelor’s

master’s

PhD

name

study

programme

Cultural

Anthropology

destination

city

&

country

Madrid,

Spain

name

university

abroad

Universidad

Complutense

de

Madrid

start

date

02 /

2015

(dd/mm/yyyy)

end

date

23 /

06 /

2015

(dd/mm/yyyy)

You are requested to write on the following topics. Text boxes will expand automatically while typing!

PREPARATION

exchange

application

process

First

I

went

to

a

meeting

where

we

were

provided

with

information

about

studying

abroad,

this

happened

in

Utrecht.

I

decided

I

really

wanted

to

go

to

Spain.

I

started

comparing

anthropology

courses

that

were

available

in

the

second

semester

in

a

number

of

Spanish

cities

and

universities.

After

this

little

research,

I

decided

to

choose

Universidad

Complutense

de

Madrid

as

my

number

1. Luckily,

I

got

chosen

to

go

there.

After

this,

we

had

a

meeting

(with

other

students

who

went

to

southern

europe)

and

we

got

some

more

detailed

information.

I

gathered

the

required

documents,

took

some

Spanish

courses

and

applied

via

Osiris

for

a

semester

of

studying

abroad,

in

particular

in

Madrid.

The

university

in

Madrid

sent

me

an

email

that

I

could

apply,

after

Utrecht

had

approached

them.

After

applying

and

sending

them

the

required

documents,

I

got

accepted.

I

made

sure

I

had

insurance,

changed

my

public

transportation

card

for

a

monthly

financial

compensation,

found

an

apartment

etc.

Before

I

went

to

Spain,

I

called

to

make

sure

when

and

where

I

had

to

be;

I

left

early

so

I

had

plenty

of

time

to

arrange

everything,

get

settled

and

take

up

another

short

Spanish

language

course.

counselling

&

support

at

Utrecht

University

I

went

to

the

International

Office

one

time

to

ask

about

some

things

that

weren't

clear

to

me.

Besides

that,

I

sent

some

emails

with

questions

and

doubts.

They

were

really

nice

and

answered

all

my

questions.

They

also

gave

us

a

list

(in

the

southern

‐

european

erasmus

meeting)

with

emails

of

people

who

were

already

there,

so

I

emailed

one

of

them

and

she

added

me

to

a

group

on

facebook.

This

was

helpful

as

well.

academic

preparation

I

am

now

ending

my

third

year

of

my

bachelor

of

cultural

anthropology,

usually

this

is

the

year

when

you

write

your

bachelorthesis

but

because

I

really

wanted

to

study

abroad

and

didn't

do

it

in

my

second

year,

I

decided

to

take

this

extra

year.

I

chose

courses

from

2

nd

,

3

rd

and

4

th

year

of

anthropology

at

Complutense.

I

had

heard

that

the

level

of

the

courses

wasn't

extremely

high,

it

would

be

mostly

the

language

(everything

was

in

Spanish)

that

could

cause

problems.

Therefore

I

did

several

Spanish

courses,

I

wasn't

worried

about

the

level

or

subjects

of

the

courses

itself.

Also,

since

I

am

already

in

my

third

year

of

anthropology,

I

assumed

it

wouldn't

be

all

new

stuff,

since

you

gather

more

academic

skills

every

year

you're

in

university.

(2)

A

home

study

of

Spanish

(up

to

level

B1),

2 courses

of

Spanish

(level

A2.1

and

A2.2)

at

Instituto

Cervantes

in

Utrecht,

each

class

was

3 hours

(so

I

had

6 hours

of

class

each

week)

and

lasted

10 weeks.

Finally

a

week

of

level

B1.1

at

'Estudio

Hispanico'

(with

only

2 others

students)

in

Madrid.

Especially

this

last

one

was

really

helpful,

since

it

was

almost

a

private

class;

a

lot

of

time

for

questions

and

personal

attention.

finances

I

saved

money

before

I

got

here

(about

600 euros),

also

my

parents

contributed

by

donating

money

to

pay

for

my

rent

and

some

extras

(3000

euros

in

total).

I

received

the

first

and

biggest

part

of

the

Erasmus

Grant

of

700 euros

as

well.

The

'stufi'

(a

monthly

amount

of

money

students

receive

from

the

government)

together

with

my

monthly

compensation

for

the

public

transport

was

384 euros

each

month.

All

this

allowed

me

to

pay

for

my

apartment

and

at

the

same

time

have

more

than

enough

to

travel

around

etcetera.

STUDY

ABROAD

PERIOD

study

programme

(content

and

organisational

issues)

I've

chosen

5 courses

to

do, in

English

they

would

be

called: Anthropology

of

Art,

Ritual

and

Beliefs,

Development

Economies,

Anthropology

of

knowledge

and

cultural

knowledge

(which

was

sort

of

cognitive

anthropology)

and

Cultural

differences

&

human

rights.

I

had

chosen

some

other

subjects

before

I

came

to

Spain,

but

after

the

first

two

weeks

of

orientation

(where

you

could

go

to

any

class

to

see

if

you

liked

the

subject

etc)

I

decided

to

change

some

of

the

courses

and

this

resulted

in

the

5 I

described

above.

The

Anthropology

of

Art

course

was

about

the

connection

of

anthropology

and

art;

we

mostly

had

to

listen

to

the

teacher

who

told

us

about

different

painters

etc;

later

we

had

to

give

a

presentation

about

an

object

of

art

and

analyze

it

(but

since

there

wasn't

enough

time

for

everyone

to

present,

I

handed

in

an

essay).

We

also

had

to

do

an

exam.

The

ritual

and

beliefs

class

(I

think

the

name

speaks

for

itself)

was

partly

the

teacher

giving

us

information

and

partly

discussing

the

topics.

(we

had

to

read

one

of

two

articles

each

week).

We

also

had

to

write

a

huge

paper

(about

18 pages)

and

had

to

give

a

small

presentation

about

it.

The

course

about

cognitive

anthropology

was

in

my

opinion

really

'authentical'

anthropological,

with

subjects

like

the

meaning

of

colour

in

different

cultures,

the

way

of

how

people

categorize

(and

how

this

depends

on

your

cultural

background)

etc.

After

the

first

few

weeks

of

the

teacher

telling

us

a

lot

about

these

subjects,

we

had

to

form

groups

and

present

about

articles

the

teacher

had

assigned

each

group.

We

still

had

to

read

an

article

every

week.

We

also

had

to

hand

in

2 essays

and

later

hand

in

our

group

work.

There

was

an

exam

at

the

end

of

the

course

as

well.

The

course

'development

economies'

was

usually

one

class

where

the

teacher

gave

us

information

and

the

one

(for

which

we

had

to

read

articles)

we

had

a

discussion.

Also,

we

needed

to

pick

a

country

and

describe

their

development

in

the

last

20 (or

so)

year,

using

the

indicators

we

discussed

a

lot

during

class.

We

had

to

give

a

presentation

about

this,

I

also

handed

in

2 summaries

of

articles

(which

was

compulsory).

At

the

end

we

had

an

exam.

Finally

the

human

rights

course,

each

week

we

had

to

read

an

article,

and

then

in

class

form

groups

of

3 and

answer

one

or

two

big

questions

about

the

article

that

the

teacher

would

give

us.

We

got

one

hour

every

time

and

then

had

to

hand

it

in.

The

day

we

would

discuss

the

whole

article

in

detail.

This

course

also

had

an

exam

at

the

end

of

the

year.

academic

quality

of

education

activities

In

my

opinion,

the

level

of

the

course

wasn't

always

corresponding

with

the

year.

I

found

the

'cognitive

anthropology'

course

quite

difficult

sometimes

(which

was

a

second

year

class),

while

the

anthropology

of

art

class

was

a

fourth

year

class

and

in

my

opinion

a

lot

easier.

In

my

opinion,

the

overall

level

of

the

courses

was

lower

than

it

would

be

at

Utrecht

University,

although

the

cognitive

anthropology

and

human

rights

classes

were

quite

hard

at

times.

counselling

&

support

at

receiving

university

abroad

I

haven't

had

any

big

problems,

so

I

didn't

contact

anyone

to

help

me.

Especially

in

the

beginning

I

had

some

questions,

I

went

to

the

International

Office

and

they

answered

them

for

me.

Also

there

was

always

the

(3)

possibility

to

have

a

private

session

with

the

teachers

in

case

you

needed

help

etc,

but

I

didn't

go

since

(like

I

said)

there

weren't

any

problems

or

questions

that

I

couldn't

ask

in

class.

transfer

of

credits

Since

my

last

exam

was

the

22

nd

of

june,

I

was

told

I

will

get

my

grades

around

half

july.

STUDENT

LIFE

welcome

&

orientation

programme

There

was

a

bit

of

confusion

about

the

orientation

programme.

Apparently

there

was

a

meeting

for

erasmus

students

the

22

nd

of

January,

but

I

didn't

know

this

until

2 weeks

before

I

would

leave

to

Spain

and

I

had

already

booked

my

ticket

for

the

24

th

of

January.

In

the

end

this

didn't

really

matter,

because

I

had

some

roommates

who

for

example

told

me

how

and

where

to

get

a

student

pass

with

discount

for

public

transportation,

and

in

school

I

met

people

who

told

me

other

important

stuff

about

school

for

example.

accommodation

A

friend

of

mine

had

done

her

Erasmus

semester

in

Madrid

as

well.

She

gave

me

the

email

address

of

her

former

landlord.

When

it

turned

out

he

still

had

a

room

available,

I

decided

to

take

that

one.

My

room

is

about

8m2,

and

there

is

a

living

room

and

a

big

kitchen

to

sit

or

hang

out.

I

pay

350 euros

a

month

plus

some

extra

for

gas

and

water.

I

live

right

in

the

center

of

Madrid,

so

this

is

a

really

good

deal.

leisure

&

culture

I

had

joined

some

groups

on

Facebook

(Erasmus

Madrid,

Citylife

Madrid

etc)

who

organized

a

lot

of

activities.

I

went

a

few

times

to

a

bar

where

you

could

meet

other

erasmus

students,

booked

some

trips

with

them

(Toledo,

Segovia,

Valencia,

Ibiza),

went

to

a

pubcrawl

and

a

few

times

to

salsa

classes

which

they

organized

as

well.

Besides

that,

I

went

with

friends

to

Granada,

Málaga,

Córdoba

and

Salamanca.

I

visited

Ávila

and

the

Reina

Sofía

museum

with

my

parents.

suggestions/tips

When

it

comes

to

apartments,

I

heard

a

lot

of

people

who

paid

a

lot

more

than

was

previously

said.

Some

friends

didn't

get

back

their

deposit

if

they

didn't

find

anyone

new

for

their

apartment

(I

thought

they

arranged

this

via

HelpMadrid).

they

were

told

about

this

later

and

also

were

told

that

it

would

be

really

easy

to

find

a

new

tenant,

but

the

opposite

turned

out

to

be

the

case.

Therefore,

I

think

it's

important

to

do

a

thorough

research

before

signing

a

contract

for

an

apartment.

CONCLUSIONS

would

you

recommend

this

university/destination

abroad

to

others?

please

explain

Based

on

the

looks

of

the

building,

I

wouldn't

recommend

it

(lots

of

graffiti,

really

ugly

prisonlike

ceilings);

it's

not

a

fancy

university

(at

least

not

the

anthropology/ciencias

politicas

department).

Besides

that,

I

thought

the

teachers

were

really

nice

in

general

(except

for

one);

same

goes

for

the

students.

I

thought

the

material

we

studied

was

interesting.

So

taken

this

into

account,

I

would

recommend

it.

I

have

to

say,

you

need

to

be

a

bit

open

minded

(people

walking

out

of

class

during

presentations,

teachers

always

being

late

etc).

On

the

other

hand,

this

is

probably

quite

normal

in

Spain.

do

you

have

any

additional

advice

or

comments?

I

enjoyed

my

semester

abroad

more

than

I

could

imagine.

I

do

think

it's

important

especially

in

the

beginning

to

do

activities

that

are

being

organized

to

get

to

know

new

people,

after

a

while

everyone's

found

their

own

group

of

friends

and

it's

probably

more

difficult

to

join

in.

(4)

ERASMUS+

STUDIES

UU

Report

2014

‐

2015

e

‐

mail

address

optional;

_{[email protected]}

only if you don’t mind students

preparing for study abroad contacting you directly

faculty/college

Law,

economics

and

governance

level

bachelor’s

master’s

PhD

name

study

programme

law

destination

city

&

country

madrid,

spain

name

university

abroad

universidad

complutense

de

madrid

start

date

24 /

01 /

2015

(dd/mm/yyyy)

end

date

24 /

07 /

2015

(dd/mm/yyyy)

PREPARATION

exchange

application

process

I

found

it

dificult

what

efects

certain

choices

such

as

wich

country,

languag

and

university

would

have.

Once

decided

in

Utrecht,

the

aplication

proces

of

Erasmus+

was

very

clear.

Although

íf

unclear,

it

was

dificoult

to

find

someone

who

could

help

me

solve

the

problem

easily…

counselling

&

support

at

Utrecht

University

I

found

the

International

Office,

and

especially

International

Officer

Marleen

van

der

Ven

vérry

helpful.

My

own

faculty

and

"studiepunt"

not

so

much

to

be

honest…

academic

preparation

I

don’t

think

academic

preparation

is

relevant

in

this

case.

I

left

for

the

exchange

in

my

3

rd

year,

and

I

think

it

would

have

been

possible

immediately

in

the

first

semester

of

my

second

year

as

well.

Also

because

of

the

courses

I

chose,

and

the

level

diference

in

Utrecht

University

and

Complutense,

only

1 year

of

academic

preparation

would

be

more

than

sufficient

to

be

able

to

do

this

exchange

program.

language

preparation

Language

preparation

was

verry,

very

bad.

everything

is

"recommanded"

but

nobody

actually

cares.

The

lack

of

knowledge

of

the

lenguage

was

the

hardest

thing

I

have

experienced

during

my

Erasmus

time

(especially

in

the

begening

of

course).

I

was

not

even

able

to

tell

in

Spanish

that

I

couldn’t

speak

Spanish.

If

I

could

change

something,

I'd

recommand

an

obligatory

course,

and

level

of

Spanish

that

is

higher

than

B1,

since

this

was

my

level

and

I

experienced

a

lot

of

troubles

due

to

misunderstandings

because

of

language

diference.

finances

My

planning

was

good,

although

i

didn’t

realize

that

there

are

a

lot

of

Erasmus

activities

that

you

normally

wouldn’t

do,

wich

can

make

it

a

lot

more

expensive

than

planned.

Its

good

to

be

aware

of

that

for

the

exchange

students.

(5)

study

programme

(content

and

organisational

issues)

I

was

told

I

was

free

to

choose,

although

it

turned

out

I

only

could

do

what

I

said

I'd

do

in

November,

without

knowing

the

teachers,

timetables

nor

content.

Utrecht

University

set

very

clear

rules

about

required

levels

and

credits.

At

complutense

it

was

very

hard

to

find

out

the

content

of

each

subject.

Often

it

differed

per

professor

and

subject,

and

the

overvieuw

of

the

content

would

only

be

available

halfway

the

course.

Untill

then,

students

wouldn’t

have

had

any

idea

of

wich

books

to

buy,

what

to

read

or

learn

etc.

etc..

academic

quality

of

education

activities

lectures

in

general

were

very

good.

Practicals

were

often

too

easy

or

useless

(such

as

watching

a

movie

without

any

following

homework).

counselling

&

support

at

receiving

university

abroad

this

was

verry

low.

I

could

do

pretty

much

whatever

I

wanted

without

anyone

to

care.

transfer

of

credits

‐

?

STUDENT LIFE

welcome

&

orientation

programme

I

could

not

attend

the

full

lenguage

test

and

course,

but

the

welcome

session

was

verry

helpful.

After

that

I

knew

where

to

go,

was

able

to

find

out

what

to

do

and

got

into

contact

with

my

fellow

erasmus

students.

accommodation

accomodation

was

eady

to

find.

The

Erasmus

social

network

is

very

big

in

madrid,

so

a

lot

of

house

owners

only

want

students

for

one

or

two

semesters.

It

is

quite

expensive

though,

and

better

to

have

something

with

local

Spanish

students,

but

that

is

hard

to

find

for

a

short

time.

leisure

&

culture

I,

and

with

me

most

other

Erasmus

students,

didn’t

have

any

idea

for

a

long

time.

This

could

be

promoted

better

by

the

host

university,

because

It

was

verry

unclear

when

of

where

things

would

be,

how

to

subscribe

or

join

etc.

Only

Erasmus

activities

were

verry

easy

to

join,

but

I

think

it

is

valuable

to

join

local

teams,

sportsclubs

and

other

activities.

suggestions/tips

CONCLUSIONS

would

you

recommend

this

university/destination

abroad

to

others?

please

explain

Yes

I

would

recomand

this

university,

but

not

better

than

any

other.

It's

the

whole

experience

that

counts.

do

you

have

any

additional

advice

or

comments?

not

for

the

moment.

Save

this

UU

report

for

your

own

records

and

send

it

as

attachment

to

[email protected]

(6)

ERASMUS+

STUDIES

UU

Report

2014

‐

2015

e

‐

mail

address

optional; only if you don’t mind students preparing for study abroad contacting you directly